# New Black Ghost Knife Died



## Jordin (Sep 14, 2011)

Hi everyone,

I'm disappointed to report that my Black Ghost Knife died... I was hoping he was hiding but I sucked up his bones yesterday when I was cleaning the tank. I'm really curious why or how he died and I have a few ideas... Maybe other people can comment with their own experiences and opinions... I'd love to get another one but I don't want to get one if he's probably just going to die aswell.. Not fair to the fish....

I had him in my 65 Gallon Community. I had him for about 5 days and he was pretty active swimming around the tank and looked like he was nibbling on algae on the plants and wood.

The tankmates were:

1 Red Tail Black Shark
6 Angels
6 Gold Danio
3 Danio
2 Black Tetra
1 Rubber Pleco

Tank is about 4 months old. Ammonia/Nitrate/Trite all 0/0/0. Temperature around 79c.

The red tail seemed to try and pester the knife a bit when he got too close to his territory but it really didn't seem to bother the ghost knife at all... I'm wondering if maybe the red tail killed him in the night or when I wasn't watching? I did find him dead behind the log where the red tail hangs out and defends... The red tail is still young and only 3 inches long max... The ghost knife was about his size, just a little bit smaller...

I am also wondering if maybe he starved... They told me at big als they were feeding him blood worms... I tried feeding frozen blood worms but I didn't see the ghost knife eating very many... I squirted some with a turkey baster near him when I saw him but he only nibbled on one once or twice that I saw... I also tried feeding after all the lights were out.

If anyone has any ideas, suggestions or comments, I'm all ears!

I'm hesitant to rush out and buy another but it was a beautiful fish and I'd love to have another.

I realize a 65 Gallon is too small for a fully grown Knife Fish and would transfer him to a 120 - 150 Gallon once he grew to 8 - 10"...

Thanks,


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

Ours died too after a month. I think ours starved though and was constantly stressed out due to a lack of proper hiding spots for him.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*knife fish*

hey there i have had two knife fish one grew to just under 12 in he always hid and only came out at nite i fed him bllod worms and i am sure when he got bigger he ate most of my small fish .
the smaller one i have is still kicking and doing well .
i think once u get over the first few weeks and they adapt it could be ok u possibly could of gotten a bad batch .


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

BGNs are not a begginer fish if you buy another one try not to buy a small one they really need to be watched closly at the beginning if anything is picking on them they wont eat . This is another reason people have QT tanks so when you get new fish you can watch them for eating sickness etc. I would not be surprised if the shark killed it. You cant watch them all night so you really do not know if the shark was not attacking it at night. Hope this helps Pat


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## mrobson (Mar 5, 2011)

i used to keep one of these guy when i had my 55g fw tank, i agree they are a finiky fish. Also they are mildly electric which can annoy other fish and can cause them to become aggressive towards the BGK. My guess is the black shark stressed it to death or just out right killed it.


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## SKurj (Oct 26, 2011)

Its not possible to have 0 nitrate, you sure your test kit is ok?


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## Jordin (Sep 14, 2011)

SKurj said:


> Its not possible to have 0 nitrate, you sure your test kit is ok?


There are lots of plants in the tank and I do regular water changes. It's very possible to keep levels near 0. This can be common in planted aquaria.

I use the same test kit on my 2 other tanks and I get nitrate readings between 1 - 5ppm so I know the test kit is fine and working.


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## Jordin (Sep 14, 2011)

I went back to the store yesterday and got a couple sword tails... While I was there, I told the employee at Big Als that the Black Knife I bought from them the other week died... I asked him if they sold the rest and he told me that they actually lost all their knife fish aswell... He told me it was a bad group and they don't travel well...

Would have been nice if they offered some kind of refund or a different fish if they lost all their fish in the same batch! 

I might get another one the next time they are stocked and hopefully it will do better. I guess these fish aren't very hardy....


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