Black Ghost Knife (Apteronotus albifrons)

Scientific Name(s): Apteronotus albifrons

Common Name(s): Black Ghost Knife, BGK

Origin: South America

Family: Apteronotidae

Species Type: A. albifrons

Maximum Size: 1 foot 6 inches

Life Span: 10+ years if kept in prime conditions

Natural Habitat: Amazon rivers and Paraguay tributaries

Diet: A carnivore the black ghost knife will eat a variety of woods including blood worms, earthworms and can even be trained to eat pellets

Temperature: 73-80°F

PH: 6.5-7

Minimum Tank Size: 50 gallons when they are small and when they start to break the 1 foot mark they should be put in a 125+ gallon tank

Tank Region: The black ghost knife usually stays on the bottom of the tanks because of it's inability to swim very well

Temperament: semi-aggressive will try and eat smaller fish like guppies and small tetras

Possible Tank Mates: Tank mates for the black ghost knife should be fish that the black ghost knife won't be able to eat but that wont harass the black ghost knife. For instance many Cichlids would be bad because they would pick on the black ghost knife. Fish that would not pick on slow moving fish would be perfect like angel fish,sword tails and gouramis

Filtration and Setup: The filtration should be excellent as this fish prefers the cleaner waters and will live longer if conditions are prime.

Coloration: The black ghost knife is all black except for it's tail which has some white stripes on the end.
Also on some of the older black ghost knifes there is a yellowish line going across the top of the head

Breeding: Breeding the black ghost knife is very difficult and even though some people have claimed to breeding them no one has shared their secrets

Notes: This fish is a very cool and interesting fish in the way it swims. It is a nocturnal fish but will sometimes swim around during the day.
This fish can also swim backwards and will often "rock" back and forth inside it's hole

(picture from http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/images/blackghost.jpg)