Care of Jackknife fish (Equetus Lanceolatus) ???

Theclutziestspazzofaninja

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I've come across multiple videos of this fish in people's tanks recently and have become increasingly interested, but can't find any information unfortunately.
Anyone have any info on them? I've gathered that they don't seem to be reef safe, but I'm not really sure as to why? Any care information or personal experience would be awesome!
Thanks in advance!
 

altolamprologus

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We have a baby jackknife at the store I work at that we've had for a few months now. Honestly I'm not sure if he's an E. lancelolatus or E. *****tus, but as far as I know both have the exact same care needs. They usually have a very low success rate because in the wild all they do is search the sandbed all day for tiny baby fish and have a hard time adjusting to dead food. We've gotten this guy to eat pellets, which seems to pretty rare for this species. At first though, I had to bring in live baby mollies from home because he refused all other food. They're fairly hardy as far as water quality goes and seem to tolerate all tank types and tank mates. What makes them not reef safe is they will eat small fish and possibly shrimp and other crustaceans. I don't believe they actually eat coral though.
 
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Theclutziestspazzofaninja

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Thanks for the reply! It's too bad they don't adjust well... :squigglemouth:
I'm wondering though...do they get "ugly" as they mature? I haven't been able to find a picture of an adult jackknife from would I could tell and was wondering if those striped are just the "baby colors?"
 

Chris_SG

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I have about 4 months with mine, he eats all kinds of food and he also search for worms in the sand bed all the time,I don't see any interested in corals or invertebrates

here is a pic of mine
IMG_0220.jpg
 
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