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well most likely when i get my own place lol. i was planning to get a 150 gallon or so tank (whatever the biggest i can find at a reasonable price) i would like to base it around a black ghost knife i have been wanting one of those for a long time now but unfortunately they get huge. I was thinking of possible tank mates and im not sure since i've never really seen a bgk besides the small ones in the stores, and im not sure what would be suitable to keep with it. Keep in mind its going to be atleast 150 gallons. if anyone would like to present some stock list ideas it would be appreciated

ok lets try this if you had a tank this size what would you do?

Thinking of a full grown BGK and what can live with it.... You will want fish that are on the large size scale. No tetras, no guppies, nothing as small as a molly. BGKs do have VERY large mouths. One that is 5 inches can easily swallow a neon.

I would keep Severums, Angels, a BN or two, and you could try blue rams. If the blue rams end up missing, I would go with the larger Bolivian ram.

I would fill the empty space with a nice group of Hatchet fish.

All of these fish including your BGK will appreciate lower PH and soft water.


Last edited by . at 03-Dec-2004 19:13

my water from the tap is soft and a lower ph anyways so that would work out fine.

Billy (iltat) has a BGK, but you don't see him around here much any more. You might like to PM him. I can't remember what he keeps in the tank with it...

He had a green scat in there at one stage but I think he's moved it into a brackish tank. I also remember a couple of parrot fish, a red-tailed shark and some algae-eaters of some kind.

I think the basic principle is that they need to be biggish fish (like dottie said) so the BGK can't swallow them.

*finds Billy*

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

I have been found and though I don't get on here as often as I'd like, I DO still have my BGK...

He's about 11-12" long and he lives in a 55 gallon. He'll be moving to a 62 gallon with time, but for now, he just chills in some caves I've designed for him for the most part...

His current tankmates are some Ottos (which are highly recommended against, but mine have done fine and never been eaten), 2 SAE's, and an RTS. He's also lived with a Blood-Red Parrotfish and a Green Scat, as whetu mentioned...

My water is VERY hard water (approx 18 degrees GH) and has a pH that bounces a little every water change due to my tap water having a pH of 8.5 and the bottled water I buy having a pH of 6.0. I mix and match to get a pH of around 7.0 for wc's...

*attempts to attach photo(s)(?)*



Last edited by iltat at 05-Dec-2004 17:27

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

*tries again*

iltat attached this image:


*is now the man*

Last edited by iltat at 05-Dec-2004 17:31[/font]

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

I have heard somewhere that Angels and Severums do not do well together, though I may be wrong. At one point I also thought they would be fine together. Severums would definately be good with a BGK. They get around 8-10 inches and are rounded sort of. Gold Severums are pretty cool, but really it depends on if you prefer gold or green. If the tank is going to be at least 150 gallons, you could also probably put in a firemouth too if you end up getting a larger tank. If you do decide to get angels and severums, try not to get 2 pairs of both or either fish, as you might run into territory disputes.

Bolivian Rams may be bigger than blue rams, but really you would have to get male bolivians because the females are probably just about the same size as blues, so if you go with blues and lose some, you might just want to go looking for males (extensions on the top and bottom of the tail fin and the back of the dorsal fin)

i would like to have silverdollars in with a bkg, only problem is i would like to make the tank planted, since i heard silver dollars will uproot plants i don't know how that would work.

As for severums and other aggressive cichlids, they wouldn't work very well at all with a BGK. BGK are some of the most peaceful large fish out there. True they have a habit of eating considerably smaller fish, but they're not aggressive at all and would get torn to bits by those cichlids that would be considered rather aggressive...

As for smaller rams, etc, I wouldn't recommend those too highly either due to the possibility always being there that they may get eaten...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

yes but on my previous post what do you think of silver dollars?

Silver dollars would be fine with him except for if you want the tank to be planted because they will dig those up in a heartbeat...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.