ghost knife - ? about quality of life

iamntbatman

This is a myth. Fish in too-small tanks either die before they can reach adult height or undergo stunting. A stunted fish's skeleton will stop growing but the internal organs will continue to grow, leading to all sorts of health problems and generally a much shorter lifespan. Fish should be housed in tanks that can support their adult size as soon as possible. Common plecos might be able to live in something as small as a 75g long term, but since they can reach 18" or more in length they should ideally be kept in at least a 120g or so.

dacooley

My Ex has a 250 gallon tank. She started with a 55Gal, 2 tiger oscars and a Clown Knife.
All about 4-5 inches long. As they grew she upgraded her tank, and now in the 250, she has had to replace the oscars, as they died of old age, but the CK is about 26" long, and happy as can be... He is also almost 10 years old.
She feeds him pellets instead of live feeder Goldfish like I have see a lot of people do...
I'll have to get her to take a pic of him and send it (She's in TX, I'm in Cali).
I was out there last summer. He is a MONSTER!

iamntbatman

That would be very cool to see a clown knife of that size. It would also serve as a good warning for people attempting to keep these large fish in too-small tanks!