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Common name: Asian Knifefish, Ghost Knifefish, Bronze Featherback
Synonyms: Gymnotus notopterus
Genus: notopteridae
Order: Osteoglossiformes
Class: Actinopterygii
Family: Notopteridae
Size: 14" (36cm)
Origin: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Viet Nam
Minimum Tank Size: 40inchs (101cm) – around 200litres.
Tank setup: Needs lots of hiding places such as caves, pipes and densely planted areas.
Temperament: Aggressive towards own species although in a reasonably large tank will form own territories and ignore each other. Very timid towards bigger fish.
Compatibility: Suitable for a large community tank with larger community fish, eg: B. schwanenfeldi , Asian Catfish, Loricarids, Pimelodids, Giant Gourami, Loaches, and peaceful cichlids
Water Type: Freshwater
Temperature: 75-82°F (24-28°C)
Hardness: 2-9 dH (6)
pH: 6.0-6.5
Sexual dimorphism: Unknown
Breeding: Takes place at night like most activity when 150-200 eggs of dropped onto rocks or the floor of the aquarium. The male will guard the eggs for the entire two week incubation before hatching. Remove fry to rearing aquarium and feed on Artemia
Feeding: Live; fish, Tubifex , snails, crustaceans, earthworms; tablets. Mine take frozen bloodworm but one of my two prefers to take dried bloodworm of the surface rather than the slow sinking fresh stuff – the other and clown knife will not touch the dried.
The Asian knife is another knifefish labelled as hugely aggressive. While this may be the case towards their own – although hugely is a bit much, mildly annoyed may be better, they most certainly are not towards other species, leaving corydoras and plecs alone and giving the clown knife a very wide birth. They are in fact incredibly timid, far more so than black ghosts, clown, or banded knifefish, and a s a result they are very rarely out during the day, instead spending it a dark cave or beneath bog wood. At night however they come out and are quite a sight. While they don’t have the distinctive markings of other species they have huge and quite fascinating eyes which catch and contort every beam of light which hits them. While the fact they are nocturnal means they may not suit all hobbyists, the fact that they have a size about half of a clown and as a result need a far smaller tank will encourage some. Not the most spectacular of the knife fish but certainly give a tank something at night. NB: These look very similar to African knifefish which are generally more peaceful but with similar characteristics. The difference between the two species is that the Asian has a small dorsal fin while the African has an arched back and no dorsal fin.
This post has been edited by i never drink water: 08 September 2004 - 09:44 AM
