# Conflicting Information



## critterena (Nov 5, 2008)

I have been researching perspective fish for the new 130g tank I bought and am in the process of cycling. The worst with reading online information, is that there is just too much information, and what site a might recommend, site b doesn't. 

Its a rather large, and long tank and i have been considering putting in medium-large fish rather then smaller community fish which is what I am accustomed to caring for. 

I was wondering if there are people here who have hands on experience with some of these species?

- Black Ghost Knife Fish
- Elephant Nose Fish
- Blood Parrot
- Teacup Ray

I understand that I cannot have the Blk. Knife and the Ele. Nose together. But if the Blk. knife is unsuitable then I would like to have the other, at the end of the day I would just like to have one of these beautiful characters in my tank.

I read on the knife fish, and understand it grows to about 18 - 20" and the tank is 72" long so that isn't too bad. I read on one site that these fish are not suitable for the home aquarium, but the mass of the sites do not state this. I also read that these fish like beefheart, how is the meat prepared exactly? Cut the fat off and cut the meat into small edible cubes? Is it ok to freeze whats left over and thaw when needed?

A cross-bred fish, Ive seen these in community tanks and seem to have a general peaceful attitude and sometimes timid- but are still a cichlid. If i get a pair, I am worried that their aggressive behavior of their background will come out and cause problems down the road. 

Edit: I -just- came across a smaller sized freshwater ray, could you get away with housing one with other large fish that wont fit in his mouth? 

Any and all information, suggestions would be great. 
Thanks.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

If I had a big giant tank like yours I would just do huge schools of small fish, because I like small fish. If you like some of the bigger varieties mentioned, pick one and go with it.

I'm pretty sure frozen beef heart can be found in most pet shops.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I've heard of people buying beef heart (literally the heart of cattle) from butchers and chopping them up for fish. They have a lot of protein. 

Blood parrots are a hybrid and like all central/S. American cichlids, they are nice when small and get meaner as they get older, especially when breeding. They are more likely to kill fish of the same kind, but will defend a territory and trash anything that won't stay out of their personal space. If they are less mean than other cichlids, its because they are too deformed to attack effectively. 

That tank is big enough to have a pair of most moderately sized cichlids (not peacock bass) and still have room for other fish. There are so many nicer cichlids than that ugly hybrid and many have better dispositions. Look at cichlid-forum.com profiles. Check out Uaru.


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

Folks:

I obviously cannot help with cr's initial question as I have el zippo experience with anything larger than angels.




COM said:


> I'm pretty sure frozen beef heart can be found in most pet shops.





emc7 said:


> I've heard of people buying beef heart (literally the heart of cattle) from butchers and chopping them up for fish. They have a lot of protein.


This I can help with as I determined that the frozen beef heart was not worth the $ and for once one my experiments yielded joy.

Not only can the home made recipes be prepared with beef heart but also with shrimp and different veggies can be added so the fish "will not get tired of eating the same fare". These recipes also include Centrum Vitamins, garlic cloves, yeast, etc. (as well as special sauce, special chesse :chair:   :grin: :wink.

All of my fish go berserk over these recipes from the Tetra's to the RTS's.

If anyone is interested in the base recipe I will try to find one and publish it.

TR


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

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## crazyfishlady (Nov 4, 2007)

Yes, I am most definetly interested in these recipes. Anything to save $.


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

I have a large blood parrot cichlid in a 55 gallon community tank and trust me, she is the meanest thing in the tank. They take their aggressivness from both gene pools so it kind of compounds the mean streak. She unmercifully chases any other fish that gets near her territory and constantly digs and tears up the fake plants so I wouldn't recommend having one in a planted tank. Although they can't bite (in the traditional sense because they can't close their mouths), they CAN ram other fish and kill them. I lost a beautiful large koi Angel to her battering ram antics. They are ok with other semi aggressive fish their own size or smaller fish that are fast enough to get out of the way but I wouldn't try it with anything that is slow moving or can't fight back.


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## crazyfishlady (Nov 4, 2007)

jones57742 said:


> ......
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.............Waiting for your recipe...;-)


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Come on Jones...WE WANT THAT RECIPE!!!:lol:


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

Folks

I could not find it on my computer but finally remembered posting the *recipe* on the Forum and was eventually able to find it.

TR


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

years ago i used to process about 50 pounds of beefheart at a time..as well as fish and squid.always mixed in veggies like peas,spinach and carrots.
if you want to make your fishes(especially african cichlids);go to your local healthfood store and get some L-Lysine.mix a little in when you are processing.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

When I do set up my 135G in a couple months my Black Ghost Knife will be the centerpiece along with medium size schools (6-8) of Silver Dollars, Tiger Barbs, Rosy Barbs, and maybe Serpae Tetras. That will cover my mid-top level of swimming room. For the bottom I intend to have 3 schools of Cories (Emerald, Albino, and Peppered) at about 8 per school. Along with my 7" Pleco I am considering a couple catfish, maybe 2 Pictus catfish or something.


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## critterena (Nov 5, 2008)

I was also curious with giving the fish veggies, wouldnt that foul your water (such a cucumber?)

And thanks so for with the information, i'll be looking into most of it.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

critterena said:


> I was also curious with giving the fish veggies, wouldnt that foul your water (such a cucumber?)
> 
> And thanks so for with the information, i'll be looking into most of it.


Actually I have done many tests with this and fish won't generally touch a vegetable until it's been in there for about a day and gotten soft. I have tried many different types of fruits and veggies, but the favorite always seems to be Zuchini, except for my Goldfish because they'll eat literally anything I thrown in there.


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## frogman5 (Mar 13, 2007)

yeh the bgk and the elephant nose wont work the bgk will eventually kill the elephant nose except for some rare occasions the biggest bgk i have seen in captivity was 18'' and was pretty old they are pretty slow growers....and for the ray just make sure the bgk is a decent size and he will not bother him...for another fish go for a bichir there great fish or clown loaches you could get away with a big school in that tank


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