I Need Help!!!

[SharkBait1992]

i have a clown knife fish and he is very sick my parents told me to find a forum to post on and that we will go to the fish store tomorrow. my fish has been losing scales on only the left side of his body and although i tried some treatments its just getting worse. he is only about 4 inches long so he is very young. this is probably the coolest fish i have ever owned and i don't want to lose him.

this is his torn up side
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs509.ash1/30063_1304991703390_1188442772_30743893_2561430_n. jpg

this is his side that is all clear
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs509.ash1/30063_1304991743391_1188442772_30743894_3775109_n. jpg

[Sarkazmo]

More details are needed so we can help you out.

Is the tank cycled, how long has it been up and running?

How big is the tank, how often do you do water changes and how much do you change out?

What are your water parameters? Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Temp, PH

Are there any tank mates and if so what are they?

How long have you had the fish? What're you feeding it?

What treatments did you try and what was the outcome?

ANY extra info you can give us will help.

Sark

[Northernguy]

Welcome to the Fabulous AC!

Sark has asked some questions that we need answers to.We cannot help you help your fish without knowing more.

[SharkBait1992]

thanks for the help guys,
- my tank is currently a ten gallon though I'm working on getting a larger one
- i don't change the water very often I've only done it once since i got the tank (about 2-3 months ago)
- I've had my fish about the same amount of time I've had the tank the only other fish in there is an algae eater (not a pleco) that is about 2/3 the size of my clown knife
- he eats blood worms
- ammonia: 0.5
- Ph: 7.2
- nitrate: 5
- nitrite: 1
- i just used generic external parasite/fungi treatment
** one thing i also notice is that he is rubbing his side on the gravel at the bottom of the tank.

[Brhino]

that is way too small of a tank for a knifefish, even when he's young. An adult can reach 4 feet long! This is a huge fish that needs a huge tank.

Your water change schedule needs to be much more frequent, independent of the tank size issue. With a healthy bioload weekly water changes are best, with your situation, daily changes will be needed to bring toxin concentrations down to livable levels.

You're also under-filtered, which is not surprising given the tank size. You need 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite for a healthy tank. Detectable amounts of either are bad. Detectable amounts of both, doubly so.

I'd recommend starting 50% water changes daily until you get those levels down and start shopping immediately for a much larger tank. Otherwise this fish is not going to live much longer.

[Northernguy]

Yup I must agree!
You need a very large tank for both those fish.They are stressed right out and suffering big time from the level of those toxins.
Start doing water changes every day.Get a larger tank fast.
You could even fill a large rubbermaid tub and run some good filters on it.Its better than that little tank for such awesome fish.
You need a tank at least 6'x2'x2' and thats will be too small for a full grown knife.
Read the ebook below.It will help.
Look into a used tank on Craig's list or Kijiji.depending on where you are.You can save a small fortune buying used.
Please do not wait too long to take action or your fish will be die real soon.

[tanks4thememories]

This type of fish has very sensitive skin. It requires very clean water. In a tank of that size you should be having WC every 3 days or so. This was likely brought on by bad water conditions. It appears to be some type of Bacterial infection of the skin, there is also "fin rot" on the top fin. It could be skin irritation due to the water conditions however since it is only on one side of the fishes body & fin rot appears to be present as well, I suspect it is actually a bacterial infection or an extension of the fin rot onto the fishes body. Do you have a quarantine tank? If you treat with antibiotics it will wipe out your cycle.

Suggestion:
- You need to do 40% WC immediately.

- Read the E-Book (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/ebook.html) for basic info in general maint..

- Get a larger tank and start cycling it. While you treat the fish in the tank they are currently in.

- Treat current fish in the tank they are in now with broad spectrum antibiotics. IE: Maracyn I & II, Jungle Binox, Aquatronics Kanacyn, etc...

- Even though only one fish is presenting symptoms, with a bacterial infection and since there are only 2 fish in the tank, I would treat them both simultaneously.

- Once you start meds you will need to do daily 40% water changes.

[Demjor19]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I think the Algae eater may be sucking the slime coat on your knife. I have seen plecos, algae eaters, Fei fengs, and Syno's do this to many fish in the past.

When I first saw the injury I thought it looked like the work of a pleco or algae eater, then you said he had one as his tankmate. Keep a close eye on him, if nothing else.

Also the tank is way too small. I have a small 5" Clown Knife growing out in a 15 gallon, but I have a 180 waiting for him, with a 375 gallon coming later this year. Growout tanks are fine as long as they have proper housing waiting for them. This is a fish that can reach 24+ inches.

[SharkBait1992]

thanks so much for the help everyone i really appreciate it im starting my search for a lager tank now hoping i can get one in the next few days. i really hope things start getting better from here. once again thank you so much

[Helixander]

Keep us updated on your progress!

[SharkBait1992]

well everyone thanks for your help i should have come here sooner, he passed away last night its such a shame to lose such a cool fish. i know what i did wrong though, i saw him at the pet store and i bought him without knowing anything about him of course the pet store workers could have helped me a little more they said a 10 gallon tank was fine, but at least now i know what i need to do before i get another.

[Brhino]

Grab the people that work at the pet store. Stick one in your washer, and one in your dryer. You might have to slam the lid a few times to get them to fit all the way. Tell them it's plenty of space for them to live, and you'll throw in a Big Mac every day.

Freakin' pet store workers. Is there any other retail field where the workers are allowed to give out such blatantly false advice about the requirements of a product? Actually, that'd be a fun topic in of itself.

[SharkBait1992]

i agree it makes me sad to know that these people are more worried about making sales than they are about the wellbeing of the fish they sale. if they would have given me the proper information i would have waited to but him and this whole problem could have been avoided

[tanks4thememories]

well everyone thanks for your help i should have come here sooner, he passed away last night its such a shame to lose such a cool fish. i know what i did wrong though, i saw him at the pet store and i bought him without knowing anything about him of course the pet store workers could have helped me a little more they said a 10 gallon tank was fine, but at least now i know what i need to do before i get another.

Sorry to hear that. I'm convinced it was a bacterial infection so if you plan on keeping the other fish I would still treat the tank. Can I see a pic of the other fish? Both sides please? Try to make sure his fins are raised in the pic.

[rothenb1]

Holy moly. What pet store did you go to??? It must have been a LFS, I don't think chain pet store carry clown knives... and shouldn't be allowed to, if they do. That's ridiculous. Sorry about your fish, and I'm sorry about the ignorance of the workers.

[SharkBait1992]

yes it was a local fish store and i dont think i will be going back

[SharkBait1992]

i could only get a picture of one side but his sides both look the same he just swims away when i pull the camera out

http://si.dailybooth.com/pictures/large/2d634cfd63a14e2b1c26d50bdb72daec_4646747.jpg

[tanks4thememories]

i could only get a picture of one side but his sides both look the same he just swims away when i pull the camera out

http://si.dailybooth.com/pictures/large/2d634cfd63a14e2b1c26d50bdb72daec_4646747.jpg

Well he looks ok. Doesn't look like he got infected from what I'm seeing. That was a pretty bad infection on the knife though, so you decide if you wish to med or not. You take very good pics of your fish BTW. a lot of the time with when someone is new to the hobby the pics are so blurry you can't tell what fish it is never mind diagnose anything.

[Bristley]

Welcome to the AC. I have to say that I'm very impressed by you and I'll tell you why.

Like many of us here you entered into this hobby not knowing much and trusted your LFS to give you good info. So, some mistakes were made. But the reason I'm impressed is that you got onto a forum and asked for help, AND took it to the best of your ability. thumbs2:

I am sorry to hear that your knife fish died, but I'm very glad to here that you aren't discouraged and that you plan on arming yourself with knowledge from now on prior to getting more fish. :22:

Good luck with your other fish, hopefully now that you've got some help and a willingness to use advice from people who've been there and done that, things will get easier instead of harder. Keep up the research and never be afraid to continue to ask for help.

Glad to have you aboard.

[SharkBait1992]

thanks i will definitely continue to use these forums you guys were all very helpful and its a good way to get real help quickly