Elephant-nose knifefish

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a large, specialised electric knifefish for experienced keepers, best kept singly in a dim, soft-water tank. It carries a long, downcurved snout that it uses to probe sand and crevices for hidden prey, working at night and navigating by a weak electric field. It is mostly peaceful toward fish it cannot eat, but it is a night hunter, so choose tankmates with caution and avoid small fish and shrimp that could become food. Feed meaty foods after dark: frozen bloodworm, blackworm, chopped prawn, and other small sinking items it can extract from the substrate. Give it a soft sand bed, tubes and shaded cover, and at least 400 litres.

In the wild

It lives in the channels of the Amazon and Orinoco and their tributaries, over sand and among submerged wood in warm, flowing water. Recreate that with warm water of 23 to 28 degrees Celsius, a soft, acidic to neutral pH of 5.5 to 7.2, gentle to moderate flow, a soft sand bed it can work over, and dim light with tubes and wood for daytime shelter.

Good to know

It belongs to the ghost knifefish family, Apteronotidae, and reaches about 47 cm, its most striking feature the long, tube-like, downcurved snout. It feeds on insect larvae and other small invertebrates, which it draws out of the substrate, guided by both the snout and a weak electric sense. It is not known to breed in the aquarium.

Did you know

It hunts with tweezers and radar at once. The curved tube snout reaches into burrows and crevices for insect larvae, while a weak electric field, generated and sensed by the fish, helps it find prey it cannot see in the dark.

Common questions

Related species

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• 

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