70g tank -- Knife? Bichir? Eel?

**es31710** · 05-28-2012, 10:19 PM

I think a Fire Eel would be sweet. I don't know if your tank is to small though.

**Angelfish11788** · 10-08-2012, 02:29 PM

BGK, get TOO big for 70, i have seen the brown knife and oscar pulled of in a 75, clown knives get too big as well, when i had my 500 set up i had an aro and a clown knife, great fish

**a_blast** · 10-10-2012, 08:41 PM

Ive got a black ghost and an african brown knife living in the same 75 gal. They are awesome fish. everyone says the 75 is too small when they hear black ghost knife, but there is more too it. 75 is too small for the LIFE of the fish, if anyone expects me to believe that a 4 inch fish cant do well in 75 gallons, they are crazy. Consider the size of the tank they are selling it out of. A full grown black ghost is going to need more room than 75 gallons, but you will have time to upgrade, i couldnt imagine someone buying a full grown bgk. If you know that in a year you wont have aquired a larger tank, then skip out on the bgk.

The african brown knife is almost as awesome as the black ghost knife, i guess some of the things i see as cons in comparison are the color, first, i mean it is just a plain ole brown fish. It doesn't get as big as the bgk, which could be good for you. It also seems like that awesome anal fin that knife fish have going for them, is longer. I call it a skirt lol. Seems like his skirt is longer than the african brown. My bgk reminds me of a puppy, and the shape of their face, with those odd eyes, they're a joy to watch.

my afircan brown knife seems more at ease, he's almost twice the size of my bgk, and easily the largest fish in the tank, at about 8 inches. i see him more than the bgk, but there could be other solid reasons. both of them prefer night, so you wont get a lot of daytime viewing in on either of these fish. ive seen em come out during day feedings, but mine figured out that they dont get bloodworms and beefheart untill night time, so they dont bother the lighted feedings. the bgk especially seems like he doesn't want to be out and about for no reason; he's always got business, or he's hiding.

i could take up another twenty pages on this, but i'll end with saying that a 22inch bgk is uncommon, thats the max size in the wild, 18 inch is more common in the wild, and as far as the 18+ inch estimates go for captivity, that's possible but not very probable. On average they top out at 12 to 16 inches. I don't care if im ousted for this. A tanks overcrowdedness is particular to an individual tank, the 'rules of thumb' are just guidelines and helpful averages. I say, get the black ghost knife, either way, let us know!