Elephant Nose, Elephant Fish (Gnathonemus petersii)

wyeto

This fish originates from the muddy, dark rivers of Africa. It has adapted to these conditions so well that it has very poor eyesight and sends out electrical impulses not to harm other fish but to find its way around and to find food. These fish are nocturnal and not very active around mid day but in the evening they start to perk up and search for food.

This fish is very sensitive to water quality so keep up on your water changes if you keep one of these.

Feeding should be done in the evening to night time even after lights are off. The mouth of this fish isn't able to eat dry food so worms and live foods should be fed.

When you first get this fish it can be very shy so to get it on its feet I get a turkey baster suck up some worms and gently squirt them right onto them. Make sure to have a tight lid on your aquarium because these fish jump!

Dense cover should be provided to keep this fish feeling secure in the form of rocks driftwood and plans(they like to get under the broad leaves of anubias and other swords). Also some place where they can rest there light sensitive eyes.

These fish are extremely sensitive to rid-ich and other medicines. This makes ich very dangerous for them. One of the only treatments for ich is raising the temp and doing a water change leave the temp high for nearly a week and it will slowly go away.

These fish are very fun to watch and I highly recommend them for anyone with a planted tank!