Elephant Nose Care/ How Do I Keep My Elephant Nose Fish Happy?

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knep57

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Jan 13, 2008
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Illinois
Hi! I am a new aquarist and have recently purchased an elephant nose fish. It's name is Trunks ( I don't think there is any way to tell the gender besides their electrical pulses. Even then though, I think you'd need an alpha male or an alpha female to tell the gender apart and be absolutely certain about it. But I digress.) What I would like to know are specific tank parameters, basic information, and what to do and what not to do with this fish in my tank. Here are some of my questions. :help:

He hides all the time and tries to swim upward. His cave let too much light in, and I believe this may be the cause of this unusual behavior. Is this true?

He was falling sideways when I first let him out of the bag, after conditioning him for 30 minutes. This was definitely a bad sign, and I read that salt can cause this. Is this true?

They grow to be 9-13" long, but what is their full grown height?

I put a piece of aluminum foil in the tank ( I washed it first) that I rolled up into a ball. I heard that they like to play with these. Is this true? Will this affect my tank's water condition?

He hasn't eaten yet and is skiddish. I am worried that my tank's water may not be clean enough for him to calm down and eat in. The tank is also way too small and overstocked (If you read my other post, you will see with what. Except for the Rainbow Shark, he was too aggressive and territorial for Trunks and my angelfish, Uriel, to handle, so I moved him to a 5 gallon tank and exchanged him for Kirby, my Kribensis *Get it, KRIB-ensis?* ) What will he eat for sure, what will he have to get used to, and what won't he eat at all no matter how hard I try to feed him it?

Note: I am planning on getting a 75 gallon tank within the next week and a half so don't think I'm going to let my fish suffer.

Finally, what will kill this fish. I'm not planning on it, don't worry, but what should I definitely NOT do?

Also, I would like to know if he is compatible with his tank mates. I have read that these fish are compatible.

Thanks for all the help and don't feel like you need to answer all of these at once! Much appreciated.
-John:)
 

Beasts

Beasts
Jan 15, 2007
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A few thoughts;
I have seen very few fish whose height does not retain a fairly consistent ratio to its' length throughout its' life - beyond the tadpole stage.
My elephant nose shows no interest in flake food but does eat frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms quite readily.
More information on particular species is available on several websites - I'm sure someone who reads this can provide an address.
If you're worried about cleanliness do additional water changes and improve your filtration and aeration until your new tank is ready. And please, in the future try not to put the cart before the horse - have an appropriate aquarium set up and cycled before you purchase new fish and risk overcrowding. In addition, have a quarantine tank set up and cycled for any new fish.
Never have heard that aluminum foil thing but I would skip it. Provide him/her with good hiding places and watch for aggressive behavior.
Unless I have a specific reason for adding salt (disease treatment, brackish water fish) I don't use it.
It would be helpful if you could provide a list of his tankmates on this thread.
He "tries" to swim upward but fails? He should be able to swim in any direction he chooses with no problem.
Beasts
 

davexstumpe

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Mar 8, 2007
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best of luck to you. elephant noses are among the hardest FW fish to keep, and keep healthy.

first off, they are BIG TIME jumpers. so make sure all openings between the hood and tank are covered.

They like dim light, and places to hide.

They are real picky eaters. They love live blackworms, frozen bloodworms/brine shrimp. And rarely do they ever eat flakes.They'll probably starve before they eat them.

I've read that they like to be in schools.

You can keep them with anything that isn't going to become aggressive with it.

Also, they are scaleless so be VERY careful whenever treating them for illnesses.
 

knep57

AC Members
Jan 13, 2008
153
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Illinois
I have the tank stuffed currently. I'm getting a bigger fish tank as soon as I find one though. There are:
1 Freshwater Angelfish-2 inches long, 3 inches tall
1 Kribensis Cichlid- 2 inches long
1 Striped Peacock Eel- 5 or 6 inches long about 13 or 14 cm
1 Blue Dwarf Gourami- 2 inches long
All in one tank with the Elephant Nose.
It's a ten gallon tank.
I read that these are compatible but I don't believe my Kribensis is actually compatible with my Angelfish. He picks on him a lot now that the tank is settled. Also I've read that they should be kept in pairs. Is this true?
Thanks for all the information!
-John
 

Dwarf Puffers

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Dec 11, 2006
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Krebensis should be kept in pairs if you want to breed them, yes, but then they go from almost docile to super agressive. So no, unless you have fish that can handle the attacking kribs, you shouldn't keep them in pairs.

I would either A) Get another elephant nose & 2 female dwarf gouramis or B) Keep 1 or 2 of the original fish and get him 2-3 friends. He'd prefer option 2, of course.

What you should NOT do with the elephantnose is:

-Add salt to the water
-Keep him with agressive fish
-Try to feed him food he won't eat
-Brightly light the tank
-Provide little or no places for him to hide in
-Skip water changes because "he looks fine"
-Underfilter the tank
-Put him in an uncycled tank
-Keep him in a tank too small
-Neglect water testing/changes
-Overfeed
-Overstock your tank
-Do no research on him and his tankmates
-Trust your LFS's advice on him; They sold you all of those fish, some are incompatible.

The list goes on.
 

knep57

AC Members
Jan 13, 2008
153
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16
Illinois
Hey again! My Elephant Nose is eating just fine and I changed the water a few times in order to lower the salinity. I removed all the aggressive fish from the tank and I bought a testing kit from my local store in order to check the tank's parameters. My LFS said that this fish would have a hard time with the tank, since I've only had it set up for a few weeks, but that the beneficial bacteria and the ammonia detox I bought would help it significantly. I also have found a few larger tanks that I may potentially buy over the next few days. This will help Trunks out a lot. Thanks for your advice, and I did do research on my this type of fish and found that it is very fragile, I just wanted more information to compare with the information I found. In addition, it's very difficult to find more than 4 sites that have useful information on the Elephant Nose. I am also dedicating myself to keeping this and my other fish alive and happy for as long as possible.
 

Lupin

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Sep 21, 2006
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Lupin Information Super Highway/Goldfish Informati
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What test kit did you buy? I hope you chose the liquid test kit as test strips are rather unreliable. If you detect 0.25 and above ammonia and nitrites, do a water change immediately for the sake of your fish.

Good luck with your fish.:)
 

Dwarf Puffers

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Dec 11, 2006
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NS, Canada
What do you mean by you bought "benificial bacteria"?
 

knep57

AC Members
Jan 13, 2008
153
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16
Illinois
I bought a bottle filled with a liquid rich with the bacteria that breaks down ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites.
 
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