Elephant nose fish

Hi all, further to my oddball fish discussion earlier. Anyone have experience of these fish and what they think of them in a community tank setting with some tetras etc..

Gavin

Not really community fish, get 12"+ and best in a group in a large tank. Generally only eat live/frozen foods and tetras if given half a chance!!!! best on a sand substrate as coarse gravel can damage their trunks, they are good at jumping out of tanks as well!!!

its 10 years ago now since i kept these, and i have to say one of my all time favs the little bit of extra care is worth it, i had gravel and fed the tank bloodworms and flake/pellets and occasionally i used to get some live food in plastid bags they wer £2, they used to sell them in the pet stops[what ever happened to this type of food i never see it now], i never witnessed them being aggresive with other fish although they like their caves and hiding places, yes they do grow big my largest was 8 inch but i bought him that size the other 3 where all about 3-5 inches and didnt grow much in the couple of years i had them. i kept them with all types of fish if i remember correctly the tank consisted off neons,balla shark(silver),silver dollars, gorami,loach,sfighter and aload more that i cant think of they spent some time in a discus tank also. i was 16 at the time and to be honest i hadnt got a clue, never the less it was a very peaceful tank with very little fish loss.
i am only stating my experience, some1 lik serratus has forgoten more than i have ever known especially regarding tropical freshwater, and yes they will jump through the smallest gap. i had a plastic protection lid which had a small hole to feed and about once a month id find one lying on top of it after i put him back in though they would never show sign of stress which is why i concider them hardy. as i said its only my experience, but i defo would try 1 maybe get 2 2inch and as i found them to grow quite slowly especially as my tank was well stocked also.

I had one of these if only for a few days, When I was buying it it had a pure white circle around its left fin and I mentioned this to the shop assistant before she bagged it but she told me it was the only its colour,so I took it home and three days later it died,, durrind the days I had it not once did I see it move its left fin. (This was one of my first fish so it was partialy my fault for letting the assistant bag him) I think I paid 9euro for it...

But I have to say they are extremly hardy it always kept balance and faught off a red tailed shark who was bullying it constantly... and they are fasenating to watch too.

All in all I taught it was a good fish to have:)

It was hardy and it died after a few days ??!!! Dont think it was overly hardy, maybe its able to defend itself but doubt the fish would survive in conditions that dont suit.
Ive decided against getting one anyhow for now
Back to the drawing board eh!
All suggestions taken on board as always!
Gavin

Ideally these are suited to a species tank and there should be a large group 8 or more. They can be quite shy otherwise. I love them, one of may favourite non-catfish fish

I had a group and they all slowly died one by one over about 8 months, with hindsight I know I starved them to death. They have very small mouths and can be fussy feeders, they love brineshrimp and cyclops, I just did not give them enough of it often enough. It was too late when I realised why they were dying, I was looking for all sorts of diseases and never thought of the obvious.

They are also very interesting fish, google them and read about their brain mass, it is greater than any other bird or animal, in fact I think it is greater than human brain mass to body weight.

I think you made the right decision.

Daragh