[i never drink water]

Scientific name: Chitala blanci
Common name: Royal Knifefish
Synonyms: Mystus chitala, Chitala lopis, Notopterus chilata
Genus: Chitala
Order: Osteoglossiformes
Class: Actinopterygii
Family: Notopteridea



Size: 120cm (45”) although this size is uncommon is aquaria (20”)
Origin: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Minimum Tank Size: 170-210 litre 100cm tank whilst young (<12”)/ 340-410 litre 150 cm tank when adult, possibly bigger again if grows to be very large.
Tank setup: Lots of hiding places in rocks – a clay pipe often used. Densely planted with an open swimming area covered by floating plants.
Temperament: Once adult becomes aggressive towards same species, unlike the banded knifefish it is not to worried about similar shaped fish. Will eat anything that can fit in its (large) mouth – which ‘unhinges’ like some snakes – but is peaceful to anything that it cant eat. With large fish it is a good community tankmate.
Compatibility: Large community tank with large community fish like: Arowana, Bichir, Oscar, Cichlasomines, Pimelodids, Loricarids, Asian Catfish, Giant Gourami: needs to be big or fast
Water Type: Freshwater
Temperature: 75-82°F (24-28°C)
Hardness: 5.0-19.0 dH
pH: 6.0-8.0
Sexual dimorphism: Unknown.
Breeding: Hard but not impossible to breed – the main problem is that fish need to be fully grown to spawn which is hard to achieve in aquaria. Impossible to sex so recommended to keep 6 or 7 in an indoor pool amongst tree roots. Will spawn in very soft water and lay eggs on floating plants and occasionally hard surfaces. Chances are you won’t be able to find two. Probable that they can breed with Chitala Ornata but to my knowledge this has not been successfully done in captivity
Feeding: Live; fish, Tubifex , snails, crustaceans, earthworms. Very much a case by case species as most fish will have been caught in the wild. Some will only take feeders but most can be tempted onto frozen bloodworm or even pellets. However there are multiple cases of fish being permanently damaged as feeding habits are attempted to be changed. Most will only feed at night. Is possible to feed from the hand.

While the low number of royal knifefish (and even fewer gold royal) in captivity mean that finding information is quite hard, however they are almost identical to the Clown Knife (Chitala Ornata) which are readily available and information should just be taken from this species. The main difference between royal and clown knifefish is the number or spots – the royal having many many more. The only other thing of note is that while young the clown and royal knifefish both have identical stripped markings. For this reason I would not purchase anything marked royal knifefish if you cannot see its ocelli. Considering the fact that you will have to pay significantly more for royals than clowns I would think long and hard about how much you want one. At the end of the day you are paying for spots and nothing else and when clowns are so easily available I wonder if it is worth the effort.