Urgent help needed with black ghost knife fish

C

Coulter

AC Members
Feb 27, 2005
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My BGK isn't looking to good. It literally looks like his skin is peeling off in certain spots. At the beginning of his tail, it looks as if his fins are all ragged as well.

My water levels are fine, ammonia 0, phosphate 0, nitrate 0, but my nitrite is running about 2.0. The only thing I could think of was the other day I was trying to raise my pH, it has always been like a 6.2 and I could never figure out why it wasn't higher. Well, I had some stuff to raise the pH, and I accidentally dropped the entire thing in there, which shot the pH up from 6.0 to 7.2. My other fish seem to be doing fine, looking good, etc.

The knifefish isn't swimming too weird or anything, but normally he hangs out in the corner of the tank and now he's up around the heater in a vertical position, but still moving.

Any help??

**Edit - I just got him on Tuesday, and the other BGK's looked fairly similar, but this guy looked good, until now.
 
That stuff was simply baking soda. My LFS said to throw a handful in, and I merely threw in a pinch. I'm not so concerned about the nitrite, especially since it'll be around 5 soon after the tank is set up -- and I'm only at 2. I had some major phosphate/ammonia problems about a week ago, and I proceeded to literally do a 100% water change, so I imagine my biological system is just a bit behind and that's why the nitrite is what it is, but it's nothing dangerous yet.

Right now he's just in a 29g , but I'm gonna be moving him to a 125g when he outgrows this one.

It took 12 views before anyone responded, thanks for being the first one to help me!
 
Well your question is on the harder side and takes a more detailed respond so some people maybe didnt want to type it all out.

A BGK really needs a 75g tank, with blood worms beeing feed every day. And your nitrites are still way too high. 1ppm os stress, 2ppm is major stress, and 5ppm is death. Has your tank cycled before?
 
Yes, I did a fishless cycle at the beginning.

The problem with the phosphate/ammonia arose when I was over-feeding them. I was giving them a cube of either krill, blood worms, or brine shrimp each day. When I cleaned the tank out, the gravel had a *TON* of gunk in it, and I was doing 25% water changes weekly with a gravel vac!

I trust my LFS a ton, and he has suggested feeding a cube every other day.

So what can I do to help my knife fish?
 
Hello: I have a bkg, and its quite normal to see him upside the filter intake or hanging upside the log in my tank. They like vertical objects...dunno why.
I would worry that he got burned by the ph drop. This to me is why his skin is peeling. Feed bloodworms (hig protein) and water change and don't add any more ph adjuster. You don't need it. He will adapt to ph of 7.8 or 8 no problem. Just keep it stable by regular tap water changes.


I do 50% water canges 2x per week, he likes fresh water
 
Swimfins, that was a 'spike' not a 'drop' :rolleyes:

Hi Coulter,
I agree with what has been said about your Nitrites, this is your main concern. I really wouldn't be too worried about Phosphates unless your local water supply has abnormally high levels.
Stable PH levels from 6-8.PH will suffice for almost any fish once acclimated, specific PH levels are usually only really necessary for some enviromentally temperamental fish and some breeding situations IMO.
Fiddling with PH, KH and GH is asking for trouble without first thoroughly testing your waters parameters - out of the tap fresh & aged - after aging/maturing in the tank, then studying/researching the best methods for altering your particular water and careful prep for the actual alteration.
Without this your very liable to PH swings.
Tapwater PH, KH and GH - fresh & aged 24 hrs
Tankwater PH, KH and GH - current steady levels with no adjustments, tested weekly for atleast a month.
Type(s) of substrate, driftwoods, CO2, Plants and filter medias?
But really, I'd just stick with the 6.0PH ;) , thats not too low for the majority of fish.
 
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It wasn't 6.5, it was 6.0 ... possibly even lower, but that was the lowest the test kit could go. It's now 7.2

The reason I wanted to raise it a bit is because I would like to have a red claw crab, which needs a ph between 7 and 8. I had purchased one and it died within 24 hours while the ph was 6.0. I thought maybe he was just sick or something, so I went and got another (they are cheap), and he died as well.

I'll speak with my LFS tomorrow to see what he says.
 
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