Knifefish

I'd say 6 rainbows, 6 giant danio, 3 clown loaches, BKG. is about it.

I'm going for 3 angels, 8 congo tetra, 2 upside down catfish, my BKG, and maybe some apistogrammas. I just dunno....lol (the rainbows are australian which is out of my amazon theme) needs some color tho.....

plecos. gee it changes all the time lol
 
australian rainbows or bosmani rainbows?
 
all the rainbows origionate in australia, new guinea, I believe.
But I think they can be found in south american waters too.
I find different answers on this.

Or maybe I'll just do a community tank because I have a pictus cat that I'd like to move out of my 25g, also. In that case, I might go with rainbow.

You have lots of choices. With your BKG, just avoid the more aggressive cichlids, small neons which he'll eat. Any fish 2'' or larger is safe. I've got him in with a guppy, swordtail and platy, and he doesn't bother none.
He's almost 5 inches now. Keep him well fed and I'm sure he'll get along with most except for squabbling, when anyone gets to close to his 'appartment.' I've never seen him aggressive towards another fish, he roams the tank, bumps into some, but is too busy rooting around the plants for any food to bother. In natural conditions, they live on daphnia and copepods. Small fish only in the confined spaces of aquarium, because they're easy pray.
BKG is a peaceful fish. Alot of people assume he's aggressive, probably because of the clown knife and African brown knife reputation.

I've had him in with a baby platy that is now an inch long, I figured the platy would be food, but he hasn't bothered. He would only eat blood worms at the beginning, now he'll grab a small piece of market shrimp, take it to his den and play with it, until he finally eats it. But, I do see that his appetite is getting bigger, and I'd definately keep him in with larger fish once he's mature...yup!

any fish that matures over 2 inches should be ok. NO FIN NIPPERS or aggressive cichlids though.
 
I shouldnt add too many more, what would be considered overstocked? I am working on getting a 2nd fluval 404 for my tank, so hopefully that will help a little bit!
 
a seventy two gallon and 2 fluval 404's? Overfiltering is best, but you can go with a 304 and that should be more than enough. You can consider, bottom dwellers, mid dwellers and top dwellers. My little 25g is overstocked right now, I have to move my BKG definately, and my pictus cat pretty soon. I keep up with the water changes, and see they are all well fed, so I haven't run into aggression issues. Lots of plants for security, and hiding spots helps.
Its nice to keep in mind the habits of the fish you stock, so that you always see at least a few, not always hiding. The rainbows are top to middle, the BKG is mostly bottom, he gets along well with my clown pleco. I don't know if its the same with all plecos, they are also teritorial, but in the beginning my BKG shared a favorite hangout under some plastic plants until I pulled them out. They seemed to come to some agreement regarding the spot. Now my BKG has taken over the lava rock cave, and the pleco resides under a piece of mopani wood.

Some people say add everything at the same time and let them work out their teritories. Some say, add the most timid first so they can become acclimated before you add the most territorial. In the end everyone, happily finds a place or learns to share lol.

Read read read, not enough to be said on what you can learn when you read about where the fish origionate, biotopes, habits, and preferences. :)
 
Overstocking? In a 72g? Some people would say 3 full grown clown loaches would be that. Others have them in 55g. I'd say you have to look at the tank, add less than you think the tank will hold with reaonable room to swim, Wait awhile, if the community is a comfortable one, you can think about adding more, carefully, watching that there is no evidence of aggression (mild agression is ok) without it being stressful for any one/ or group of fish.
Remember, I'm a newbie too lol. I'm learnig as I go, so far so good. :)
 
Well my shipment of fish are coming in thursday(tomorrow), my excitedness is getting worse and worse as the day goes on!!! I am gonna do water change tonight probably, and then pick the bad boys up at mid day!!!! :)
 
Swimfins said:
BKG is a peaceful fish. Alot of people assume he's aggressive, probably because of the clown knife and African brown knife reputation.
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African brown knife are a quite peaceful species. I have a six inch one and he is very mild mannered. I believe it is the clown knives that one must be wary of.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong:

BGK's are virtually blind, and navigate by using slight electric pulses. They'll try to hide all the time, but what you can do is get a clear glass tube for him. His pulses will tell him he's safely surrounded, but you can see straight through it and you'll always be able to see him.

I can't seem to find any sites to confirm this, but I'm sure I read it somewhere.
 
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I think most Knife fish sre like that, well during the day anyways. I know my clown knife couldnt find its way around my tank at all during the day but at night he would dart around faster than any of my other fish. But I think your right about the BGK being nearly completely blind both day and night.
 
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