Black Ghost Knifefish (Apteronotus albifrons)
© Clifford J. Aliperti
This is a beautiful jet-black eel-like fish. There are also splotches of white on the tip of its tail. A unique characteristic of the Black Ghost is that it can swim both backwards and forwards. I can recall reading that Native Americans felt this fish contained the souls of past warriors. I don't know about that but they definitely have some character.
Okay, they can get pretty big, but I've had mine for just less than two years now and have raised him from about three inches to about eight to nine inches. They are a laterally compressed flat fish so there is not a tremendous amount of bulk to their body size. This is helpful to know when calculating the stocking levels of your tank. I've read in numerous places that they can get to be as large as twenty inches to two feet, but most accounts seem to place them at about half that size, from nine to twelve inches.
For the most part the Black Ghost has a peaceful demeanor, but I've noticed that mine gets angry at other fish when anticipated pieces of food are stolen away. The Ghost then zips throughout the tank moving every which way delivering a message of respect to his neighbors. He will also open his deceptively large mouth and point it in the direction of tankmates coming too close to his feeding zone. His bite seems somewhat harmless, but keep in mind that I said deceptively large mouth. Don't be fooled by its peaceful demeanor and surround your Ghost with tiny Tetras--they will disappear!
Regarding the feeding of the Black Ghost, I have read about some being finicky eaters, but I've never had that problem. This is a good time to remind you, what you read about a species is not necessarily true for every specimen. Fish have unique personalities-I have a very meek Jack Dempsey for example. Do you think the fish would be named after the tough boxer from the twenties if the general experience were peaceful individuals? So again, my Black Ghost will eat about anything. Yours might not. Try frozen Krill (tiny shrimp-like food). Just about any Ghost will go crazy for this, plus the pieces are big enough where you can hold them between your fingertips and feed your Black Ghost by hand. I'd say that Bloodworms are a close runner-up to the Krill, but not as fun because they are too tiny to be handfed. My Ghost will take both flakes and pellets and I recently tried some frozen squid that he gulped down quickly. You have to hit the fish with flake and pellets as soon as you get them or they probably will end up passing it by. This goes for any species. I find that my fish will respond to variety.
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