Black ghost - Apteronotus albifrons

Black ghost ( common name )

Apteronotus albifrons ( fish name )

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Maximum size in aquariums (min-max): 40 - 50 cm ( 15.75 - 19.69 in )
pH of water: 6 - 8
Water hardness (dGH): 4 - 12 °N
Recommended temperature: 23 - 28 °C ( 73.4 - 82.4 °F )
Compatibility (temperament to it's family): peaceful (read this answer)
Compatibility (temperament to other fish species): aggressive to smaller (read this answer)
Place in the aquarium: Bottom levels
The way of breeding: Spawning
Fish origin: South America

Information about care

Food
The Black Ghost is mostly carnivorous but may accept peas in their diet. They prefer to eat foods such as bloodworms, beef hearts, brine shrimp and krill. They are not to be trusted with fish that are small enough to fit in their mouths.

Sexing
There is no way to determine the sex of this fish just by looking at it.

Breeding
Little information is known about their breeding habits in the aquarium. Successful breeding is taking place in Asia and Australia but information cannot be found about what their methods are.

Lifespan
The Black Ghost can live for approximately 10 years or more in the aquarium if they are well cared for and their water condition needs are met.

Origin
This fish originally comes from the Amazon Basin in South America.

Short Description
The Black Ghost is a very shy fish. Keep plenty of plants, some floating and some ground cover, to help this fish feel more at ease. It is a good idea to keep a short section of empty pipe in the aquarium for the Black Ghost to hide in. This fish is sensitive to bright light and water conditions. The Black Ghost uses a weak electrical discharge to locate its prey.

Pictures
Bought by aqua-fish.net from jjphoto.dk.

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Black ghost

has been viewed times since June 30, 2009.

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Contributed by: Ackerz»13

On: January 13, 2007, 5:39 pm

This is probably the most amazing fish in the hobby but is also a potential tankbuster. Make sure you have space for this amazing fish. This fish has the most extraordinary way of swimming in that it can swim in any direction and be able to change direction in a split second. If you try to breed this fish all I would say is don't as it is uncharted and considered impossible in the aquarium. I have tried using an exact biotope and well I had he space the live food etc..

Well they just dont seem to want to get it on.

Contributed by: Zach»1

On: March 14, 2007, 9:12 pm

Will the Black Ghost knifefish be able to be with neon tetras while it is still a juvenile?

Contributed by: Jan»19

On: March 14, 2007, 11:52 pm

I wouldn’t keep the Black Ghost and Neon tetras in one tank together no matter if it’s just a juvenile. It would probably end like with my Paradise fish and Guppies. I think you don’t need any explanation what happend, since Paradise fish like to eat Guppies.

On the other hand I’ve seen tanks with the Black Ghost and various Tetra species. It depends on how large your Ghost is; If it’s of 5-8 cm, it will probably not attack smaller fish.

Contributed by: Wayne Burns»1

On: July 15, 2007, 8:51 am

My knife fish is eating my neons every now and then. I find if you feed him just before lights our it keeps him off them as he would normally hunt after lights out.

Contributed by: Rocco Mapua»1

On: August 6, 2007, 9:24 am

My black ghosts tend to go for things on the floor of my aquarium before going for any fish. The balls of live bloodworms that I leave out for them disappear first before any of the baby guppies do.

My ghosts are around 1.5" and I just got them 3 days ago. (yes I watch them a lot)

Contributed by: Wayne»1

On: September 6, 2007, 1:20 pm

My black knife ghost is around 25 centimeters and I can't keep it with Tetras as I found the only 2 fish he really gets along with is my Bumble Bee Catfish and Eruptus or anyhow it's spelt. Oh, and any help on how to tell sex would be a help.

Contributed by: Stephen»2

On: September 28, 2007, 4:49 am

Years ago, I once had a black ghost knifefish around 7cm but it died because it's tail was cut off by a shrimp. My tip, don’t put shrimp into any tank that has a ghost knifefish as they need their tail. I’m thinking of getting another black ghost knifefish soon, I wouldn’t mind a brown ghost knifefish though, these fish are cool.

Contributed by: brian»3

On: December 17, 2007, 8:26 pm

The bottom fin of my BGK seems like it is coming off, and also it doesn't go to the bottom of the tank, it only stays on top. Is there anything wrong with it? Is it sick?

Contributed by: Puffy»15

On: January 30, 2008, 3:50 pm

This year I was thinking about getting a different fish that is not common. I was thinking discus but mum has a friend who is into fish and kept them before and said they're too difficult, he must be right as he legally orders fish from the wild which are more picky than captive breed ones. I understand ghost knife fish come from the wild too. But I know angelfish won’t grow bigger if they don't have enough space is that true with ghost knife fish too and if it is I will get ghost knife fish this year, so please answer?

From Puffy

Contributed by: admin»665

On: February 1, 2008, 9:10 am

@Puffy: Actually, raising Discus fish is not as difficult as people say. These fish are very demanding for breeding purposes only, but they can live normally in many aquariums. But let’s get to your question...

Angelfish grow even though they don’t have enough space! This is my personal experience. When they grew larger than I expected, I had to give them to people whose aquariums are bigger than mine.

A friend of mine kept the Black Ghost and it didn’t stop growing. Maybe this fish can stop growing when it’s 35 cm long, but don’t expect that it will stop at 20 cm.

Basically, every fish grows as time goes by. Even adult specimens grow (just very slow).

Contributed by: Puffy»15

On: February 7, 2008, 1:17 am

What is better to have, a discus or black ghost knife fish? Because seeing that the knife fish is large that my tank may not hold the only way I can keep one really is to somehow slow down growth and is discus or Knife fish easier to care for?

Contributed by: admin»665

On: February 8, 2008, 12:25 am

@Puffy: Discus fish are not very demanding in my experience. As I already mentioned in my previous post.

I’d definitely decide for a Discus species if I had to choose between them and Black Ghosts.

Contributed by: joe4444»1

On: March 6, 2008, 4:20 pm

I've had my ghost for just over a year. He eats blood worms and flakes. If you are looking to get one it's best to keep it with non aggressive fish that are around the same size. They are very slow at reaching their maximum size so if you don't have a big tank but plan on upgrading soon, you don't have to worry about him outgrowing the tank.

Contributed by: anna»4

On: November 28, 2008, 11:11 am

The ghost fish are very unique. They kinda look like new born puppies if you look at their face very well.

Contributed by: Amanda Reed»1

On: May 6, 2009, 10:40 am

I have heard that Black Ghost Knifefish can give an electric discharge and kill a fish or at least knock them out, is this true?

Contributed by: admin»665

On: May 10, 2009, 3:49 pm

@Amanda Reed: These fish do have electrical organs, however it is very unlikely to see this fish using these organs for killing purposes. Instead, these electrical organs are used for navigation.

Contributed by: kongmong»2

On: August 18, 2009, 1:30 pm

I want to get a ghost knife but my uncle told me that they were hard to feed {meaning that they are very picky}. And I was wondering, are they sensitive to the water condition? Such as very sensitive that they would die.

Contributed by: admin»665

On: September 15, 2009, 9:23 pm

@kongmong: As it’s already mentioned above, Black Ghosts are sensitive to dramatic and sudden water changes, improper water conditions.

By "being picky" in terms of feeding you should understand that this species is a carnivore. Many people will wonder why Black Ghosts don’t accept flakes as much as Guppies do, for instance.

Contributed by: Cátia»1

On: October 19, 2009, 10:15 pm

I have a Black Ghost for about 1 year and a half now. It is huge. Maybe around 25cm. It’s an amazing fish, very peaceful. I have it in the same tank (a 40l tank) with it 6 Guppies, 1 Botia and 1 Gyrinocheilus aymonieri and they get along quite well, never had problems with any of them. The Gyrinocheilus aymonieri is said to be aggressive but I brought it to the tank almost at the same time then the Black Ghost, and the Guppies when the Black Ghost was around 1 year. Just to show you that they don’t always eat small fishes. You just have to try.

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