Tiger knife fish

attackfish21

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I found this guy for $15 at my LFS, is that a good deal? I am thinking about going back for him, I have never seen one before. Does anyone know their temperament ? I have found that they are shy like most knives.

 

Tadash1

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Sep 28, 2007
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its highly unlikely thats a gymnotus tigre at your lfs if its only $15.....thats more like a carapos price range rather then a real "tiger".
 

King-eL

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Tadash1;3758653; said:
its highly unlikely thats a gymnotus tigre at your lfs if its only $15.....thats more like a carapos price range rather then a real "tiger".
$15? More like a zebra knife. Zebra knife looks very similar to Tiger knife than carapos.
 

King-eL

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attackfish21;3758228; said:
I found this guy for $15 at my LFS, is that a good deal? I am thinking about going back for him, I have never seen one before. Does anyone know their temperament ? I have found that they are shy like most knives.

That picture of that tiger knife was taken by Charles Lam which is now in my tank. They are very territorial and will nip anyone who gets close even my fingers. And they are not shy at all and will come out almost anytime chasing other fish.
 

attackfish21

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ok cool, I will see what it it really is, I will bring a few picture references. thanks guys!

And, that is a great pic, I was just using it as reference as I could not get a good pic of it at the store. lol. the water was dark and he was hiding in a boglog.

I think if it is the lesser rare of the two, I will still buy him cause from what I am reading they are not seen very often in comparison to more common knives like african browns, and BGKs.

I aslo saw a group of glass knives for sale for $7ea, and am thinking about adding them to the group after I do some research to see if they are compatible.
 

King-eL

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Nov 28, 2008
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attackfish21;3758948; said:
ok cool, I will see what it it really is, I will bring a few picture references. thanks guys!

And, that is a great pic, I was just using it as reference as I could not get a good pic of it at the store. lol. the water was dark and he was hiding in a boglog.

I think if it is the lesser rare of the two, I will still buy him cause from what I am reading they are not seen very often in comparison to more common knives like african browns, and BGKs.

I aslo saw a group of glass knives for sale for $7ea, and am thinking about adding them to the group after I do some research to see if they are compatible.
If it's a really a tiger or a carapo, that glass knife will likely get shredded and will get eaten. Gymnotus species likes to trash it food around if it's way too big till they can grab a small chunk of meat and eat it. Even a smaller species such us zebra can do the same. Best keep to their own or larger more robust or aggressive naked knife such black ghost knife or goldline knife. Smaller species of naked back knifefish will only get nip till they die of stress.
 

King-eL

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zackxf;3759049; said:
Not to hijack this thread, but whats the name of your LFS and where about in Seattle is it? Also, how big do glass knives get?
In aquaria males will get up to 12"+, bigger in the wild 15-18". Females grow smaller around 6-8". Even at 12", they are still very skinny.
 

attackfish21

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I went back and got a better look at him. He is a "banded" knife fish. Not quite as pretty as the Tiger. I decided to leave him behind because they raised the price to $25. :( I just brought home a cute albino senegal!


There is a good list of local stores that I like to go to:

Sumner: Tropical fish world & Pet
Puyallup: The Wild Side
Kent: Midway Pets
Burien: A Place for pets
Seattle: Fish Store (yes it is actually just called "fish store")
Seattle: QT aquatics (this store has some things I dont agree with, and I rarely go, but if you want to see some rare fish go there.)
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store