Black Ghost

[Kazaf]

Can someone tell me what does a black ghost do? and what it eats? What type of fish it is? well just telll me everything about it.. they look MAD when it swims.. its side swivels and wriggles.. hehe so telll me somethings about it.. thanks

[Kazaf]

Oh and tell me how fast they grow? and how much it is worth when it grows over 20cm?

[BadBlueWS6]

Black Ghosts like to hide. They are going to be a live food eater...but you can try freeze dried Tubifex, Bloodworms etc. They appear to be night time movers, but see if you can get one of those clear ghost houses they like to hide it. I don't know the family they are from but they are in the same one as Elephant noses....I do believe they could also be close to brackish water dwellers as well.

They are interesting, but never did much for me because they do nothing and look like they are blind. :w:

[aymenz]

YEP

u need a magnifying glass to see their eyes

but it is nice to watch them swimming though

c ya

:^:

[Exiledonmainstreet]

90% of ghosts are "live feeders" if you find the rare one that eats frozen youre quite fortunate. They are great fish, and get along well with cichlids of all types.

[gecko99]

Hi,

My two black ghost knife fish are far from shy - they have hollow logs and pots to hide in but they are often out and about. They eat bloodworm from my hand and also swim upside down for flakes on the water surface. They seem to get on well with my tropicals (bristlenoses, gouramies, angels. etc.).

Actually, I see from this discussion that they can live with cichlids - would they go with my mbunas (juveniles) - I thought maybe the salted water and higher pH would upset them.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Exiledonmainstreet]

They actually do quite well with the higher salinity content. They will get along fabulously with your mbuna's once they're bigger. If you keep a decent sized ghost with juvenille mbuna, your simply giving mr. ghost an expensive meal:)

[Barca888]

One very cool fish which i can watch for hours on end. Mine is constantly moving around the tank and started doing this after a few days. Perhaps my java fern gets rid of most of the light. Well my Ghost usually searches the gravel when i feed the fish (no live) food. Every second day i leave some frozen food (at night) on the gravel just in case it doesnt get its fair share.

[gecko99]

Thanks for that, Exiledonmainstreet,

Would I have to acclimatize them first before moving them into the mbuna tank and, if so, what's the best way to do that?

Also, what about feeding? The BGK's favourite food is bloodworms but I don't feed worms to my mbunas, just flake, spirulina and zucchini.

The ghosts are still small - about 7cms. The mbunas are about 5cm on average - would that be ok?

[Ant]

clear ghost houses they like to hide it

They are a nocturnal species and a clear housing lets light in, i personally dont think this is a good idea. Every BGK fish i've seen love frozen food, especially brine shrimp and blood worm.

look like they are blind

This is because they are basically blind and see objects by emitting an electic signal (much like a sonar)

they do nothing

They do nothing probably because your lights are on, dim the light or simply turn it off then you'll see how amasing they move and how active they are at night.

Anthony

PS: Sorry to use you as an example BadBlueWS6, i am just using your post to give Kazaf some info

[Kaizen I]

Wow, that's very sci-fi anthony!

They use some signals to pick up objects however, they aren't really 'blind'. If they were so they would not be able to sense differences in light. Their 'eyes' are photosensitive.... They can still see, just not well. Electrical signals... hmm... :

Adam

[Ant]

I didn't say they were completely blind i said they were basically blind. Of which they are. They do emit a small electrical field, they do use this to find food and hunt, they do use this to navigate. I'm telling it how it is man. This is called electroreception:

Gymnotiforms use electroreception to communicate and navigate using a highly specialized electrosensory and electrogenic apparatus

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/tropical/JSA/gymno.htm

Anthony

[YeW]

Hi Guys -

I've kept these guys and got them up over 30cm. So I thought I'd share my experiences.

The fish is south american - and does better in softer more acidic water.

They are generally timid fish I would not be recommending keeping with with aggressive cichlids (at least not in my experience with them).

Mine was 6 years old when it got over 30 cm, so they are relatively slow growing. He also lived in a large heavily planted 6x2x2 without damaging plants.

This is not too say they are not predatory. They will eat any small fish that will fit in their relatively small mouths - and they are very adept at sensing these at night.

Although they prefer live foods - they can readily be trained onto a variety of frozen foods and even with time dry foods.

If you are keen to keep one - I'd recommend a big tank (say a 4x2x2) planted heavily with some larger (over 6-10cm) tank mates. Good cichlid suggestions are keyholes, angelfish, kribensis, bolivian rams etc. Non-cichlid tank mates - peaceful rasporas (big ones), larger tetras (congos etc), non-predatory catfish.

Be sure to provide the fish with somewhere dark to hide.

HTH -

[Kazaf]

Thanks guys, now im thinking of getting a planted tank with a few BGN.

Thanks once again for your replies and help

[E4G13M4N]

With the BGK dont let the water get to low in PH as they fungus up prety quick similar to the salmantail cats..

I have seen a BGK with virtually a white jumper and after checking the PH for the owner Ph was 5, they raised the PH back to 7 and the fungus dissapeared with no treatment over night..

Both the BGK and elephantnose complex use electroreception to communicate and navigate..

[JimmyCalvus]

They grow very quick! They love blood worms. Good fish to keep but hide alot.

[thermofish]

While were on the topic has anyone ever seen clown knife fish in Oz ??

just curious.

cheers.