Black Ghost Knife Fish problem

[purplewallz]

Hello, first of all I'm new here, so a big hi to everyone. I have only just got an aquarium with a pair of blushing angelfish, pair of silver dollars, one fighter fish and one black ghost knife. Things seem fine so far..however the BGK hasnt eaten anything since yesterday..he swims around and everything but refuses to eat. I'm giving the fish floating pellets. Does anybody have any idea what could be wrong here? or any other suggestions? also are the fish i mentioned compatible tank mates? thanks a lot for your help!

[Abbeys_Mom]

Try offering frozen meaty foods, brine shrimp, bloodworms, tubifex etc.
Are you aware that BGK get to be 48" long?
All the fish you have are compatible as far as I know. Just a few questions, how big is your tank and did you cycle it before adding the fish?

Oh, and welcome to the forum [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Lady Hobbs]

First of all, your black ghost will get up to 20 inches long! They grow giantic.

And like Abbeys Mom, I also would ask if your tank has been cycled. If not, you need to start out small with just a very few fish (not angels) but perferrably zebra danio's, and do daily water tests on ammonia and nitrite levels. Both will kill your fish.

[purplewallz]

My tank is 30 gallons and no I did not cycle it before putting the fish in :( ...and yes I know that BGK's get quite big and I will get a bigger tank in some months. btw thanks for your help! I'll try giving the BGK bloodworms.

[Lady Hobbs]

Read the Tips for Newbies in the Tank Setup thread (in red). It's a quick read and should help some.

[purplewallz]

OK since I haven't cycled the tank, I'm getting extremely worried here. I suppose I should have researched more, but here I am now with a tank full of fish and no cycling done. Will the fish definitely die?

[jeffs99dime]

hi. welcome to a.c. i would take the ghost knife back to the store if you can. he's way too big for a 30 gallon. i would advise downloading the free aquarium e-book located in the menu at the left of the screen. it will help you out a great deal.--jeff:thumb:

[Severus]

OK since I haven't cycled the tank, I'm getting extremely worried here. I suppose I should have researched more, but here I am now with a tank full of fish and no cycling done. Will the fish definitely die?

Its alrite we all make mistakes. I know i have before. Your BGK may or may not die. As jeff said try taking him back to the store and either reserving him or wait awhile and buy a new one.
Welcome to AC

[cocoa_pleco]

i had one that wouldnt eat for a bit, but now he eats flakes

[purplewallz]

thanks for all the suggestions! im contemplating taking he BGK back and reserving him.

[Abbeys_Mom]

If you can, take them all back and wait the 4 weeks it takes to cycle your tank before bringing them home. You can also buy refrigerated bacteria that will speed up you cycle. If you are going to keep the fish, at least get a test kit to help determine if the water parameters are safe for your fish. If the ammonia or nitrates get too high, your fish will die. You will need to keep on top of the water changes, but be careful not to clean the gravel till the tank is cycled.

[jeffs99dime]

If you can, take them all back and wait the 4 weeks it takes to cycle your tank before bringing them home. You can also buy refrigerated bacteria that will speed up you cycle. If you are going to keep the fish, at least get a test kit to help determine if the water parameters are safe for your fish. If the ammonia or nitrates get too high, your fish will die. You will need to keep on top of the water changes, but be careful not to clean the gravel till the tank is cycled.

the refrigerated bacteria abbeys_mom is referring to is called "biospira"

[Chrona]

the refrigerated bacteria abbeys_mom is referring to is called "biospira"

How well does that stuff work compared to say...swirling a ripe filter around the tank? My tanks always seem to cycle slowly and I'm an impatient person :)

[Glasstapper]

I did fishless cycling on my last tank, and it was all cycled in 12 days. I just added about four drops of pure ammonia (the kind that doesn't bubble up when you shake it) per gallon a day for the first 5 days, then two drops per gallon until my readings for ammonia and nitrite were 0. I also added some mesh bags of gravel and a used filter media from my established tank. I'm sure others have done it differently, but it worked awesome for me. My ammonia spike was pretty low at a reading of 1.5 and nitrite spike at about 4. When I did a fishy cycle on my bigger and first tank (I didn't research first either and had a school of 10 tetras before I knew about cycling), my ammonia spiked ridiculous high at 5 and nitrite spiked too high to even read. Good thing the little guys were hardy, but they certainly weren't happy, and I probably shortened their life span because of it. :(

If you take all of your fish back to the store for them to hold them for you, I strongly suggest removing your undergravel filter, keep your hang on back filter, and go the fishless cycling. you'll be done in two weeks or less.

[marcryan11]

Are you aware that BGK get to be 48" long?


I have always seen 18-20. Clown Knife Fish on the other hand will get to 40+ inches.

We got our BGK when he was about 7 inches long. He ate bloodworms, black worms, squid believe it or not, and occasionally brocolli flowers (if you have never seen a BGK REALLY open his mouth you are missing out. It opens like a python almost 90 degrees)... When we got ours, he would spend an hour or so sucking down small earthworms... Now he is 14 inches or so, and downs a large earthworm like spaghetti and still comes back for regular feedings with the other fish. They are tempermental, but when they are happy they are a totally different fish.

Oh and they like caves, not tubes in case anyone tells you that. Theyir eyes have an opaque lid over them to diffuse bright light because they dont like it.

[gm72]

I don't think the BGK will make it through the cycle if you keep him, but you might get lucky.

[joe123]

Hello Friends

Can BGK Fish and Gouramis live in one tank (2 foot).

Thank you
Joe

[Futureboy]

ive never had success with bgn fish eating floating foods

they seem to be pretty hardy fish though so i think you might make it through the cycle

its still not advisable to keep him in the tank though


and to the other person asking questions please make your own seperate thread and no the tank is much to small

[CAF]

Welcome to AC!!!