Elephant Nose Fish

The elephant nose evolved to locate prey through a low voltage electric field. This takes a lot of brain power, so in one aspect these fish have a higher brain mass to body weight than humans or dolphins. There has never been a report that anyone has successfully applied for their assistance with homework. However, most agree that they are a fascinating feature in the tank. They do need live and/or frozen foods, not known as flake or pellet eaters. We feed frozen blood worms to our elephants.

Quick Facts

Care Guide

Tank setup: Give them a soft sand bottom, caves or tubes to hide in, dim lighting and a tight lid. They are most active in the evening.

Feeding: Feed small frozen foods like bloodworms once or twice a day, ideally in the evening. Some learn to take small sinking pellets.

Tankmates: Elephant noses are peaceful with other fish but may squabble with their own kind. Keep them with calm fish that won't outcompete them for food.

Good to know: Elephant noses use their long "trunk" to probe the sand for worms, and they sense food with a weak electric field.