black ghost question!

[DDani740]

I'm new here and would like to say this is the best forum I've found! My question is.. I have had 3 black ghosts in the past year and they all have not made it past 4 weeks in my 55 gallon tank. The first one died over night, the 2nd on made it a week and the 3rd one around a month. I have a ghost house and plenty of other hiding places in my tank. I check my water conditions all the time and it seems to be fine. The last one I had stayed in his little house most of the time and I would check him after work every night. I just loved him. Anyway, when I found him dead in his house one night I was devastated! I took him out and noticed his bottom fins looked kind of jagged and it looked like part of his tail was missing. All I have in the tank is 3 green cory's, 1 zebra danio, a 3 inch long upsidedown catfish and 2 painted tetras. I would really like to have another one but don't want to kill any more of them. Could someone let me know what my water should test that would be best for them and maybe who the culprit would be nipping at them?
thank you!
Dani

[shev]

You should never house more than one black ghost knife in the same tank, or house any 2 fish that use an electric current. when you keep themn together they try to kill eachother, and they get confused and cant navigate and find food properly.

black ghost knife are pretty sensitive to water conditions.

After mine died its fins became very frayed.

And they werent like that before it died. it had not been left dead in the tank very long. this fin is very important to the fish to swim around. either the previous BGK's did it, or it wasnt like that before it died.

Was it eating properly? what were you feeding it. and what are the parameters of the tank? (ph too)

[maxpayne_lhp]

You should never house more than one black ghost knife in the same tank, or house any 2 fish that use an electric current. when you keep themn together they try to kill eachother, and they get confused and cant navigate and find food properly.

That was what we've been thinking haven't found any record of any experiement on that... some other person also says 2 black ghosts can also act agrssively to each other and kill each other physically.
So, as shev said, the reason is likely to be the other black ghost knife manance...

EDIT: Oh and another possible reason is your tank size... it may be too small for 3 of them. What were the ghosts' sizes, anyway?

[Lydia]

I'm not sure, but I think he was saying that he had 3 black ghosts at 3 different times. Like he bought one, it died, he bought another one later, it died, and then he bought another one and it died too. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that is what he is saying.

[DDani740]

I guess I worded that wrong. I did have 3 Black Ghosts in the past year but not at the same time. I do know not to put them in the same tank together. I should of made myself more clear. That is why I was so confused about them not living very long. Sorry for the mix up! Now, any suffestions would be great.
thank you
Dani

[maxpayne_lhp]

Oh got that... never mind, we mess our languages ourselves sometimes.
Oh well... finally you didn't tell the fish's size... as above has said they're prone to chemistry changes, a small tank can be a cause. But...

The first one died over night

That was fast... how did you acclimate him? Well I mean how did you introduce him to the tank?

[DDani740]

They were all about 2 to 3 inches long. I float the bag for 15 minutes then add some of the aquarium water to the bag and let it float and add water about every 15 minutes. I do that several times before putting them in the tank. I always add stress coat also. It's depressing because these are my favorite fish!

[maxpayne_lhp]

2 to 3 inches? Then they're quite small... so I don't think tank size were the point. Did you record the parameters of your water? They're prone to bad water quality so...
Hmmm I'm very sorry for your loss. They're really cool fish to have. I experienced the loss myself; been with the guy for a year...

[Jonno]

Sorry to hear about you lost these are also my fav fish as well. where u sure he was getting food ? and feeding him at night when the light where off?

[DDani740]

Yep, he was eating well. I fed him every night when I got home from work. Can you tell me what the water conditions should be for one of these. I keep thinking it was the water in my tank!

[starrfish71]

Black ghost actually are pretty hardy once acclimated. They are however, very sensitive in the early stages of getting into a tank. I give them a "two week" window- meaning, if I can get them past the first 2 weeks, they usually will live fine.
How big is your upside down cat? It's the only thing on your list the just might be picking on a small enough ghost, and 2-3 inches are tiny little guys.
Also, what exactly are your water condition parameters? Mine is `78*F, 7.6 pH, flourite, planted tank, driftwood, cannister filter.
When you pick out the ghosts from the store, do you check them carefully for : condition of skin/fins, ich, parasites, full or concave belly, white sheen to their skin? Scaleless fish are prone to skin problems, and if the ghosts are housed together in the pet store, they are often very stressed while there. they are also, of course, very sensitive to medications, and I've seen in stores 20 ghosts and 30 tiger barbs all in one tank- so everybody was picking on everybody.

Some of what I do, that seems to work: I add Stress coat, FW salt at least 1tblspoon to 5 gal, and if the fish look like they might have compromised skin issues, I increase the salt and use formaldehyde for treatment. It's very important to get the ghost's to feed ASAP, and being shy and in a new tank, it might take a few days to a week to get them to eat, or if your lucky, they eat immediately. The best food to try first is frozen blood worms. Everybody loves frozen bloodworms. If you have competitive feeders in the tank, overfeed*a little for the first few days, until you SEE the ghost eating. Also, at first, feed at night, with the tank lights off.
* overfeeding: normally I feed once every three days or so, only as much as all the fish can eat in about 2 minutes. When trying to establish a baby ghost, feed everynight for a while, and make sure that after all of your other fish are sated, there is still a little(very little!) bit left on the bottom for the ghost to find.

[TheOldSalt]

This species, like all scaleless & knifefishes, is very sensitive to chemicals. They prefer soft, slightly acid water around pH 6.8, but are not too picky. medicines or metals in the tank can be very toxic to them. They also are not big fans of salt for the same reason, so while it may have it's use for therapeutic reasons, keeping them in salted water longterm is not a good idea. The tablespoon per 5 gallons is about the limit you'd want to risk.

Personally, I think the upside down cat is the problem. They like to eat the slime off of slimy fishes, and black ghosts are decidedly slimy, with skin thin enough to be irritated by such annoyances.

[DDani740]

My upsidedown catfish is about 2 1/2 to 3 inches long. My pH stays around 6.8. I have to say that every pet store I've been to they have all the ghosts in the same tank. I always try to look them over really well before purchasing. Can you believe I purchsed one at Wal-Mart for $3.00? They had them priced wrong and had another name of fish on the tank. I was shocked. Anyway, I guess I better not get one again while I still have my catfish. Thank you all for being so helpful!

[maxpayne_lhp]

Oh my.... $3 for a black ghost? It's even cheaper than in VN lol
Ah also, it may be a problem of the petstores to keep them overstocked thus lead some of the fish into potental risks so it's also good to find out at a good dealer.

[fishboy]

This thread is almost A YEAR OLD. Please do not post on old threads

[Lydia]

Fishboy it is FINE if people post in old threads. But just to make it easier for people to reply, I made it a new thread for him. It is a good idea to tell people it is an old thread though.

[MDsaints]

well they like dark enviornments so try to buy a cover for the light... it might cause less stress on the fish.. also along iwht the others dont buy more than one for it.