I've heard that these fish can get aggressive when they get larger, anyone have any experience? I have a 29 gallon tank (little cramped?).
African Brown knife/African knifefish aggression?
- Thread starter The Arbiter
- Start date
Well, they are a predatory fish that feed on live foods, so it kind of comes with the territory that it is considered aggressive. Also, a 29 gallon is about half of the tank it needs to live in.
I've got one that is about 6" long in my 210g tank. There are copious areas to hide in, and I wouldn't definately label this fish as aggressive from my own experience with it. It will come out to look for food when the other fish are finished (one 6" sengal bichir and one 3" L75).
I wouldn't recommend this fish for a 29g tank.
I wouldn't recommend this fish for a 29g tank.
Swimfins
This is as good as it gets.
African brown knife gets to about 8 inches. African Ghost Knife can reach up to 20 inches in the wild, but not usually longer than 12 to 16 inches in captivity. I haven't found mine to be aggressive. My pictus catfish is the most likely in my tank to hunt small fish. The ghost knife lives happily with corydora and even ottocinclus at the moment. I keep a careful watch, but so far bloodworms, brine shrimp and market shrimp bits seems the food of choice. A 55g is minimal for 'aggressive' fish of any type.
From my experience, they each have their own personality. I've had friendly ones, and highly aggressive ones. But, 29 gallons is definitely too small.
Mine was not aggressive but almost any fish that CAN fit in its mouth WILL go in its mouth. He never bothered any adult cichlids though, he usually lounged around a cave all day.