How hardy are elephant nose?

[spongebob281]

Oh yeah, rope fish! I had one way back when. IIRC He ate frozen shrimp but live aquaria listed them live food fish. Kinda wonder what happened to him. Cool little fella. Too bad I got guppies so he may not play well with other.

Didn't know there's more than one type of AB.

[ensign_lee]

If you get a black ghost knife fish, make sure you have no little fish (< 2 inches). Or they will soon be dead.

I got mine really small, thinking if he grew up with his tankmates, he wouldn't murder them horribly. I was wrong...

Everyone started losing eyes, then their lives.

[mnemenoi]

Knifefish and Elephantnoses are both from huge families (mostly Gymnotidae and Mormyridae) that we see 1-2 species regularly, though they have hundreds that we rarely see imported. Its hard to categorize them as all one thing or another. There are large predatory EN relatives that are top predators in lake malawi (Cornish jacks) and eat cichlids. There are tiny centepede knifesih and glass knifefish that are generally safe with anything but the tiniest of fry, to 6' electrical eels (yes, they are all in the same family) so knowing what you have and their habits will help in knowing what to expect as to their behaviors.

[mnemenoi]

Black Ghosts are the most commonly seen Gymnotid eel, but not the best suited for most tanks. They can get to 24" and eventually become predators. Brown Ghosts stay smaller (5-6"), but are rarely offered. I used to see glass knives, they can really get big (18") but are sensitive and really fragile. Centipedes and mouse knives are being seen more lately and are also well suited to smaller tankmates. Occasionally I see Osso and duckbilled knives, but costs really should keep them in specimen tanks. Gold Lined, Buffalo, and Carapo (tiger) knives are more aggressive carnivores. The other oddballs are even rarer and never usually have trade names even, just being listed as the latin name or something the dealer/store made up.