Scientific Name. Notopterus chitla.

Comments
Clown Knife Fish are delicate, until they grow to be about 10 inches long. They grow fast, become much less delicate, and swallow any fish that they can get in their mouths. But they are peaceful with fish that are too big for them to swallow.

As a Clown Knife Fish grows it can swallow larger and larger fish, so tank mates must also grow to stay too big to be swallowed or swim fast enough to avoid being swallowed.

Clown Knife Fish are members of a group of fishes called notopterids. Click here to read a brief article from the Encyclopaedia Britannica about this group of fish.

Appropriate Home
An aquarium with at least 29 gallons of water, an exterior power filter with a BIO-Wheel, a maximum of 1/4 inch of gravel, and an aquarium heater adjusted so the water temperature is between 78 and 82 degrees F. Click here for more about warm water aquariums. Each Clown Knife Fish needs its own cave or piece of plastic pipe as a home. The Clown Knife in the picture at the top of this page usually stayed near the piece of white plastic pipe that you can see in the picture. Be sure the rocks or pieces of pipe and everything else you put in your aquarium will not contaminate the water. Click here for more about how to avoid contaminating your aquarium.

Recommended Diet  
When young, say less than 10 inches long, feed them live Black Worms, live guppies, live and frozen brine shrimp, and live Ghost Shrimp. Later as they grow bigger feed them live fish. Click here for more about Black Worms. Click here for more about how to feed fish.

Compatibility 
Clown Knife Fish are best kept with fast swimming fish that can avoid being swallowed, or with large fish that are too big to be swallowed, and with catfish too spiny to be swallowed. Good tank mates are large fast swimming fish such as Large Tinfoil Barbs, Siamese Tiger Fish, large Rainbow Sharks, and Pangasius Catfish. Clown Knife Fish are often seen in aquariums with Oscars and Pacus. Click here to read more about several other groups of compatible fish.

Size and Life Span
Clown Knife Fish can grow to 32" but are rarely larger than 18" in an aquarium. They can live for 10 years and sometimes longer.

We sell this fish from time to time, but it is usually not available, and we do not really know in advance when we will get some. If you want to buy one, click here to see if it's available. If it is marked "Out of Stock" then check back from time to time to see if we've gotten some back in stock.