Peter's Elephantnose

Gnathonemus petersii

The Elephantnose Fish (*Gnathonemus petersii*) is a neuro-sensory prodigy and one of the most intelligent animals in the entire aquatic kingdom. Its nickname derives from a very particular tubular fleshy extension (resembling a trunk) located on the lower chin, used as a highly sophisticated organic metal detector to rummage through the mud and find buried invertebrates. It has a dark, smoke-colored body, almost devoid of visible scales, interrupted only by two white (or silver) brackets between the dorsal and anal fin. Being practically blind, it constantly navigates in the aquatic darkness by generating a low-frequency electric field from the caudal peduncle; through this electrolocation, it communicates with its peers and 3D maps the surrounding environment. Reaching 22-25 cm (9-10 inches), it requires very soft sand for its delicate "trunk" and enormous dedication from the breeder to feed it properly.

Family: Mormyridae
Origin: Africa (Fiumi scuri e fangosi a lento deflusso in tutto il bacino del Niger e del fiume Congo)
Tank use: Used in 0 tanks

Temperature

24 °C - 28 °C

6 - 7.5

Water type

Freshwater

Tank level

Zona inferiore. Radicato al suolo (sabbia o argilla) per il foraggiamento notturno o perennemente insabbiato in grosse grotte o tubi lisci durante le ore diurne.

Adult size

23 cm

Description

The Slow Victim of Nocturnal Hunger:

These huge (and very expensive) 25-centimeter (10-inch) animals eat only and uniquely large lumps of frozen bloody bloodworms poured at night in the dark on the bottom. They are pitifully slow to find it and push it into their mouth. If, naively, in the same tank you put a school of frantic and voracious Corydoras, Ancistrus or Loaches (Botia), these greedy fish will sweep away all the meat before the Elephant has noticed the dinner, literally causing an expensive animal to starve to death.

Care and observations

Normal Gravel Mutilates Them to Death:

Never take this stupendous animal home if your aquarium does not have a bottom of pure, soft impalpable sand or loose tank mud. Its trunk is a very delicate hyper-sensory lip with which it is forced, by nature, to rummage and dig the bottom all day (and night) to look for worms. If you have commercial gravel of broken crushed stone (even fine-grained), its trunk will be cut bleeding, will fill with fungal wounds and will gangrene, killing the fish by starvation.

The Sound of the Electric Radar:

It is almost completely blind. To "see" the logs, food and predators, it spends all day firing low electric pulses from the end of its tail (which return to the skin receptors like an underwater sonar of a submarine or a bat). If you put an hydrophone (or an isolated microphone) in the water and connect it to speakers, you will hear a storm of buzzing, beeping and crackling in Morse code in the room. This is how the fish "sees" in 3D without using light.

Do Not Buy Only Two (The Shock Torture):

Mandatory rule of radar fish. Either you buy one and keep it ALONE. Or you are obliged to buy a real school (6 or more specimens) in a gigantic pool. If you make the unforgivable mistake of buying two (to keep him company), the Alpha male or the strongest will continuously use his superior electric field to overlap it and cancel that of the submissive brother. The weakest will be literally "blind", deafened, terrified by the other's electrical noise and will stop eating until it dies crumpled in a corner in a week.

Fish profile

Temperament: Prettamente notturno e molto timido di giorno. Intelligente e calcolatore. Molto pacifico (se ignorato) con specie diverse. Estremamente bellicoso verso pesci della sua stessa specie (se in acquari non giganteschi).
Diet: Carnivoro / Benthivoro. Si nutre escavando il fondo con la proboscide per "succhiare" insetti sepolti. Molto capriccioso e schizzinoso col secco (che in genere rifiuta se non addestrato e affamato a lungo). Cibo tassativo notturno da appoggiare sulla sabbia: Chironomus congelato (Bloodworms), larve di zanzara nera e artemia o tubifex freschi e vivi.
Tank level: Zona inferiore. Radicato al suolo (sabbia o argilla) per il foraggiamento notturno o perennemente insabbiato in grosse grotte o tubi lisci durante le ore diurne.
Minimum group: 1
Adult size: 23 cm
Minimum tank: 250 L
GH: 5 dGH - 15 dGH
KH: n/a
TDS: n/a
Conductivity: n/a
Sex ratio: Singolo (Assoluto) o Gruppo Massiccio (minimo 6+ in vasche enormi, oltre i 2 metri). MAI IN COPPIA O IN TRE. I loro campi elettrici si sovrappongono: se tenuti in 2 o 3, il più dominante utilizzerà scariche elettriche aggressive costanti per paralizzare psicologicamente gli altri, portandoli allo sfinimento e alla morte in meno di una settimana. Sessi indistinguibili visivamente.
Feeding frequency: 1-2 volte al giorno (RIGOROSAMENTE al crepuscolo, dopo lo spegnimento totale delle plafoniere).
Bioload: Medio-Alto (Date le grandi dimensioni e la dieta umida/congelata inquinante che spesso marcisce sul fondo).
Flow: Corrente da Moderata a Debole. Requisito critico: acqua Iper-Pulita con cambi settimanali del 40-50%, non avendo squame tolleranti all'accumulo di nitrati o medicinali inquinanti.
Jump risk: Covered tank required
Reproduction: Rigorosamente inesistente. Assolutamente inriproducibile in cattività (non si è mai verificata la riproduzione in acquari casalinghi). Tutti gli esemplari commerciali provengono da fiumi oscuri dell'Africa tramite catture selvatiche.
Compatibility: Mantenimento difficoltoso come 'Wet Pet'. IL DRAMMA CON I CORYDORAS: Anche se pacifisti, i pesci Elefante si nutrono sul fondo in maniera goffa, lenta ed esasperante. Se nella stessa vasca mettete voracissimi branchi di Botia, Corydoras o grossi Ancistrus/Pleco, questi ruberanno tutto il sangue congelato in pochi secondi prima che l'elefante, cieco e al buio, riesca a sondare col becco il terreno: l'Elefante morirà atrocemente di fame al buio.

Image gallery

Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.