Ghost Knife Fish

McTackett

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Mar 12, 2013
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Gladstone
Hi all
I have kept black ghost knife fish forabout 4 years now. I had two lovely adults about 20-25cm long, until my cat decided was going to go fishing a few years back.
Now I have one adult and I had bought a baby one about a 2 months ago. It was going really well, happy and feeding well.
I did a 50% water change last night, after I noticed he seemed quite stressed but the big one was acting the same. I found the baby dead this morning, :cry: but the adult was fine.
did I do too big a water change for the baby? does anyone know much about BGNF??
Any input would be greats thanks
 

bigbird

Pleco Profiles Moderator - RIP FRIEND
Sep 9, 2010
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sorry for your loss. was this the first big water change you did ? maybe shock caused the death, but that fast astounds me jk :thumbup:
 
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McTackett

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Mar 12, 2013
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I usually do smaller water changes more often but I was abit sick so was about 2 weeks between last change and the plecos had made a hell of a mess with some zuchini.. he was happy before I did the change he was eating the blood worms from top of tank (he used to follow my hand for them) and everything. then noticed after the change was laying down like stressed. my big fellow was doing the same thing. he came good but little fella didn't.
I can only think I stressed him out with the water change??
all the other fish plecos mainly, are happy as and look good..

Sorry no it wasn't the first big water change I did with him in the tank, about a week or so after I got him a did a big one too. just waiting for my other tank to be ready then gunna switch over some plecos. they are in a 4 foot tank atm, but I wanna let the tank run for a week or so before switching, I don't wanna lose any of my plecos
 
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bigbird

Pleco Profiles Moderator - RIP FRIEND
Sep 9, 2010
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maybe reduce the water changes to 20% every 3days.
I do not know how long you leave the vegies in your tank, but I would leave them for only 12hours and then remove, otherwise they will make a hell of a mess. again sorry for your loss, but i think the large water change, especially after 2 weeks stressed out the little fella. cheers jk :thumbup:
 

McTackett

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Mar 12, 2013
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thanks that was what I thought but just wanted to double check. I will keep on top of it now. and I left it in over night but they love it and ate prettty much all of it.
I hurt my back so was travelling between docs which was why so long between water changes.. poor fellow
 

Mark421

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Aug 19, 2012
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Was there a big change in water temp when you did the water change?

A mate of mine did a big water change and the temp dropped below 20 and the black knife went mental. He put it in another tank and it was ok again.
 

McTackett

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Mar 12, 2013
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I didn't look at the thermo, to check but I think it would have been maybe a degree or two cooler. I could check what comes out of the tap but I think so.. Pity tho. the adult is all good. babies dont seem as tough.. he was about 6.5cm long. Didn't think of that.
I need to go away in a few weeks time when i get back, would it be better to do a couple of small changes over a couple of days then a big one??
 

zeebo

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Jun 11, 2010
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I was thinking the ph too, as I have a 20g that the ph drops without my knowledge, as I don't do daily wc's in that tank . I find it is safer to test the ph if it has been a while , then try to match the ph by lowering it with buffer down, until I can get back to normal ,doing every-3-day wc's . Then it pretty much stays stable. When it becomes my q-tank, I will do wc's daily .

Years ago , I lost some harlequin raspbora in the 20g after doing a wc, due to my tap being 7.9, and of course it had dropped in the tank .They flipped over right in front of me. Now I test first if it has been a while.

sorry to hear of your loss. perhaps testing ph could help next time to prevent shock. just a thought from my experience.

I would do small wc's daily to play it safe, but see what others say. If your tap ph and temp match the tank at the time of wc, a larger wc might be ok,but I am personally uncomfortable doing large ones myself.
 
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zeebo

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Jun 11, 2010
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oh, question, is someone experienced gonna keep an eye on the tanks and feeding while you are gone ? Good to have someone keeping an eye on everything, filters too, in case of a power outtage.
 

McTackett

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Mar 12, 2013
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i don't think she has had fish before but I was going to give her a crash course in looking after them. Just going to show her how to get the filter up and running if it has any problems and how to clear it etc. hopefully won't have any eggs or anything in the tank when I have to go.. the BN that I'm tryin to breed will be in a four foot tank with two baby gold spot plecos, Just got a 5foot tank and going to switch some of the fish around..
 

McTackett

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Mar 12, 2013
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Gladstone
I have been back and forward from Brisbane. Hurt my back so been to specialist, tank was yuck when got back which is why I did a large water change. and I have done them in the past before with no problems. so didn't think about it till after. But everything I have read on ghost fish is that they don't mind a ph of 7 - 7.5. but i have been searching the net for as much info as I can find and there really isn't much information about them (well that I can find). Been reading any website I can find. and I know my adult one which I raised from a baby is pretty tough. you can almost pat him and he doesn't mind, pretty quiet.
Ill check the ph and see what it reckons when it comes out of the tap.
thank you for the help :)
 

McTackett

Member
Mar 12, 2013
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Gladstone
I will keep on top of the water changes now that im home again. and thankfully all the other fish are healthy and happy looking.
Thank you for all your help tho. I will look into the ph and check the temp of the water before putting it in. Be alot more carefull from now on..
 

beencees

Member
Nov 5, 2011
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Brisbane
Hi C.

Finally had a chance to read about your BGNF. Really sorry to hear about your loss, Black Ghosts are such cool fish and usually get really tame so it's hard not to get attached to them:yes:
It definitely sounds like a shock issue. I am assuming you de-chlor your water with Prime or something when you do your changes.
As everyone has said, try and stick with your smaller more frequent water changes but i understand the extenuating circumstances you had at the time.
I had a friend look after my L's while i went on hols last year and wrote him a list of instructions for feeding etc for each tank and ran him through everything before i went. I still couldn't help emailing him a couple of times to make sure all was well but had no problems at all :thumbup:
Hope your back is on the mend and good luck with everything.