# Got a clown knife fish



## Fishfeind (Jan 16, 2007)

My impulse set in and I bought a clown knife to supplement my central and south american cichlids that are all around 2.5-3 inches. The knife is about 6.5 inches. I was wondering how fast these fish grow and whether or not my fish are in threat of complete ingestion. My smallest fish is a firemouth. Should I just scrap the knife as soon as possible? thanks a lot!


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## a7oneal (Dec 30, 2004)

I've never had a clown knife, but I've seen their mouths... I would imagine they could consume some pretty large prey. Half their size, I don't know. I've seen 5'' oscars try it, so it would not surprise me. If someone with a clown knife could provide some information, it would be appreciated.

I do know, however, that they get absolutely massive, so if you don't have the space for it, I'd take it back or give it to someone who does have space for it.


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## Zack2112 (Jul 11, 2008)

Ok, I hate to tell you this because I LOVE clown knife fishes. It was my first and favorite fish I have ever owned. But I would recommend you return it to your LFS. In my experience not only do they grow very fast, but they also will eat everything they can fit in their mouths and will keep eating. I bought mine on halloween one year at about 6 inches. I sold it back to the LFS mid January at 13 inches.... I missed that fish but it had to go. He beat up my 5 and 6 inch oscars and almost killed the one. When he was about 6.5 inches I tried a 2.5 inch flowerhorn with him that was returned because the clown knife was after it all the time. They are AWESOME fish but they need lots of room and some very stout tankmates. One day I plan to build a HUGE tank and keep a few of them. Such graceful fish...


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## remarkosmoc (Oct 19, 2005)

I had a similar experience as zack. These are a very fast grower and very predatory. I have seen them with other large fish okay though. My lfs has a tank with 3 of them cramped into a 100 gal. They are about 15 inches. They live seemingly peacefully with a couple 8 inch fish.

With the knife having a head start in size over the SA's I'd say you are in trouble. If you want a knife I'd take this one back and get a 6 incher later when your SA's are full grown. This of course assumes you have a large tank.


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## Fishfeind (Jan 16, 2007)

it is a 135 gallon tank, and I might switch him out with a bichir of some sort. It is sort of a bummer, but when I look at him, he is a sinister presence in my tank! Scares the bajesus out of my mom. My LFS has a 150 or 180 he would be happy in.


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## Zack2112 (Jul 11, 2008)

Fishfeind said:


> It is sort of a bummer, but when I look at him, he is a sinister presence in my tank! Scares the bajesus out of my mom.


HaHaHa... Thats great. :lol: My mom thought the same thing about mine. She eventually grew to love it tho. It does look somewhat sinister but at the same time its very beautiful and graceful. That being said the hook tounge thing always was kinda creepy. Have you seen it yet? Next time it opens wide for a meal take a look at it. Its weird. Its the one fish I never liked biting at me haha.

Oh, and what have you been feeding it? I always fed feeders to it and was able to get it on hikari large cichlid pellets. I found it strange because I have not really heard of anyone successfully getting them on pellets. Mine was such a pig he would take down the feeders and go for the floating pellets I fed my oscars.


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## pugwash (Sep 11, 2006)

Fishfeind said:


> it is a 135 gallon tank, and I might switch him out with a bichir of some sort.


 :thumb:

Much better imo. I think the largest knife you could have in that tank would be the black ghost knife, but a bichir would be better suited for life in that tank.


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## Fishfeind (Jan 16, 2007)

I will grow him out until he is about 13 or 14 inches, which from what I ear could be within the next 6 or so months! I have been feeding him live blackworms and will try minnows on wednesday. thanks for the reassurance and I know this fish will live a happy life. (I don't try to push the envelope of overstocking)


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## Zack2112 (Jul 11, 2008)

Fishfeind said:


> I will grow him out until he is about 13 or 14 inches, which from what I ear could be within the next 6 or so months! I have been feeding him live blackworms and will try minnows on wednesday. thanks for the reassurance and I know this fish will live a happy life. (I don't try to push the envelope of overstocking)


It is your choice to give it a shot. They are awesome fish but I would keep a close eye on it. It will grow faster than you think. With good feeding and frequent water changes I would not be surprised to hear that it hit the 13"-14" mark within 3 months. Thats about the rate mine grew. I do think you need to keep an eye on its tank mates. Watch for nipped fins and missing scales. My knife always attacked my oscars sides. It lived fairly peaceful until it got around the 8"mark, then it really started to become a bully. Clown Knife fish are nocturnal, so if they are to attack your other fish, this is generally when most problems occur. The knife is out cruising the tank at night while the other fish are chilled out and attacks.

I am not telling you not to give it a try, just to keep an eye on your other fish. I really hope it works out well for you. Best of luck.

Oh, and I recommend that you quarantine your feeders for at least a week before feeding them to your fish. They are notorious for carrying disease. Also, minnows will not do anything to your knifes color, but if your other fish eat them too you may see that their colors wash out a bit. I have not experienced this but I have read about it, I always fed feeder goldfish. Again, they are notorious for carrying disease and were quarantined before feeding.

Oh!, and one more thing. I recommend to feed the knife at night with the tank lights off at least once a week. They are nocturnal and it is most natural for them to hunt at night. Just something I read about them when I had mine and always tried to do.

Hope everything works out well!


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## pmac (Dec 1, 2008)

I think it's all up to chance with any fish, I had a Clown Knife for a couple of years, it got to about 18" and it was living with two 6-7" Oscars, a 4" Yellow Lab, a feeder gold fish that somehow kept avoiding everyone until it grew to about 7" and a large Pleco. All of this was a swimming hole inside of my 7' x 6' Water Dragon/Basillisk/Tree Frog/Salamander terraium. (Really random mix, but somehow worked out just fine haha). I had no problems with this setup for quite some time until I went away to school, and my parents couldn't keep up with the maintanence. My oscars eventually both got HITH and died, and I don't know what happened to the Knife fish, I just got a call from my dad one day saying that there was a huge grey fish floating on top of the tank. When I got back from school I could barely even see through the water... (Apparently by "couldn't keep up with the maintanence", they meant "Didn't do ANY maintanence").

But that was a year or so ago, and I've since upgraded to a nicer tank, and I still have my yellow lab and pleco. (I've still got the gold fish and planned on putting him in my pond when the snow melts, but I guess it's too late now, as the cichlids have taken their toll on him and he got pretty badly beaten up a couple of days ago...)

Suprisingly though, out of all of those fish, the Knife fish was actually one of the more placid ones in there, and the only live food I could get him to eat were very small feeders.


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## pmac (Dec 1, 2008)

oops, double post...


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