Most often this bizarre mormyrid is kept as a single specimen. This is due to the fact that small groups of this fish most often don´t do well in a long time sight and they can perform mobbing against each other even to death. However, in the wild these up to 30 cm long, but rarely longer than 15 cm found animals form sometimes really large schools. In our facility they are kept in groups of about 50 animals in tanks of 200 x 60 x 60 cm. Here the elephant fish forms schools and shows a schooling behaviour as it is hardly seen in any other fish in the aquarium.
More information on Gnathonemus petersii is provided here: https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/the_possibly_rarest_fish_in_the_world_lives_in_aquarium_glaser_s_fishhouse_en/
For our customers: the fish have code 133502 (7-10 cm) and 133503 (10-12 cm) on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
