FishProfiles.com Message Forums

i recently lost a beautiful black ghost knife fish.. our tank seemed fine.. he normally just hide all day.. but last few days hes been all over the tank.. we were so happy.. then i came home from school and he was gone.. i think it was a water problem.. but not sure we had the carbon outta our tank for 2 days treating a fish for ich could that cause it?

Just treating the fish for ich could have destroyed enough of the biofilter that you had a minicycle causing the death.
The use or non-use of carbon itself isn't likely to kill a fish. In the case of contaminants in the water (say someone decides it's funny to dump beer in the tank ) using carbon may help remove it but otherwise carbon is generally used for minor things like polishing water.
Welcome to the site , sorry your first post had to be on the death of a fishy .

^_^[hr width='40%']"Has someone taken your faith? It's real, the [link=pain]http://babelfish.qwertydigital.com/" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link] you feel.
The life, the love, You die to heal.
The hope that starts, The broken hearts...
I’ve got another confession my friend, I’m no fool.
I’m getting tired of starting again, Somewhere new."

It was most likely the medicine that killed the fish (unless there were other problems with the water parameters). Scaleless fish like Ghost Knives are very sensitive to the dye in the ich meds.

With these fish, and other scaleless fish like catfish and loaches, it is best to only dose half the recommended amount.

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

k thanks.. we recently bought a smaller tank for my room and we have most our fish in there 9 or so.. we emptiesd the big tank completely cleaned it.. and not its clear as can be.. thinking about buying these 2 iridescent sharks.. like 9-10 inchs 39$ at our local petstore.. very cool fish but theyd be alone anyone know what they eat at that size?.. like feeder goldfish or somtjhing

Irridescent sharks get too large to keep in anything other than a small pond really. Could you give us some more info about your tanks (copied from the sticky at the top of the forum)

Help us to help you with your sick fish:

When making a post to the hospital forum, you will save valuable time by providing the following to us. Post what you can now then bring the rest back later if you are missing something. Copy and paste the info into your post as a guideline, then edit out what is not needed. based on symptoms, we may ask for more info later.

It is also important for us to know what country you are in so we can recommend medications that are actually available to you.

ENVIRONMENTAL DATA

Water Parameters
There are many things in a fish tank that can cause a fish to appear sick, when natural toxins or water chemistry are not just right.

Ammonia:
Nitrite (note the “I&#8221:
Nitrate (note the “A):
pH:
Temp:

If you do not have one or more of these, please take a bag of water to the fish store and ask them to test it for you. Most will do this for free. If not, try another store. Make sure you write them down so we can review the numbers with you.

Tank Information

Tank Size (gallons and dimensions if known (20 gal long versus regular 20 or 20 gal high):
Stock List (Quantity/Species):
Fish size for larger fish (a 5 inch angel or a 9 inch oscar has a different effect on water parameters than a half-dollar size angle or a 3 inch oscar).
Filtration (ex: Penguin 330, Whisper 40, Fluval 204, etc).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Additives
Tell us what you add to your tank or replacement water like conditioners to remove chlorine/chloramine, fertilizers for plants, aquarium salt, pH adjusters, etc. Describe for us how often you use and how much.

INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR SICK FISH

Be as descriptive as you can and provide pics, if possible (see the post about how to add pictures at the top of the hospital forum).

We not only need detailed information about what you see ON the fish, we need to know about it’s behavior. This does not attempt to capture everything, but gives you some ideas on how to present what you are seeing. Don’t limit yourself to what is here.

Examples of some physical attributes
Pale, darker, grey fuzz/white fuzz/off-white fuzz, grey slimey film, blue haze, gold dusting, salt grains/spots, blood bordered white area, ulcer, pustule/boil, cloudy eyes, protruding eye, eroding fin, etc.

Examples of some behaviors
Lethargic, rapid breathing, sits on the bottom, hangs out at the top with head down (or head up), darting in a spiral fashion, swimming slowly without orientation, choking, flicking against objects in the tank or gravel

Don't get iridescent sharks unless you have a few thousand gallons of a tank somewhere.
[link=They get a bit bigger]http://f15.aaa.livedoor.jp/~ichthy/imageP/tapah.jpg" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link] than your LFS is likely to tell you. Generally 3-4 feet long. Additionally they're very active fish even at a young age and would not be comfortable in anything less than a few hundred gallons.
Since you are new, I'm going to suggest looking thru the [link=profiles section]http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link] on this site as well as elsewhere on the web. Keep in mind that many sites will understate the size tank necessary and you need to consider for yourself the adult size of a fish compaired to what size tank any given site is suggesting. Dont forget that many fish are active swimmers and will find being in a tank that's only slightly larger than they are rather uncomfortable.

^_^[hr width='40%']"Has someone taken your faith? It's real, the [link=pain]http://babelfish.qwertydigital.com/" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link] you feel.
The life, the love, You die to heal.
The hope that starts, The broken hearts...
I’ve got another confession my friend, I’m no fool.
I’m getting tired of starting again, Somewhere new."

hey.. i also found out what couldve killed my ghostie.. lol our Nitrate level was to high because of excessive feed.. but now what we have done we moved all fish to a smaller tank temp.. and cleaned the big one.. makeing it all right before we add any fish.. as for the sharks i will take ur advice and keep away at the shops there in a 55 gallon and they are amazing to watch but about the report im pretty sure on what happend and im upset about it but it was my stupidity that caused it.. in the future i will get another but make sure everything is perfect.. at the same time we bought the ghost we got a small dragon fish.. and hes my special fish.. haha hes alot bigger now.. and either completely blind or doesnt mind light cause hes out alll the time.. its great


oh yea and i live in usa .. florida woo haha
Last edited by KnX042 at 10-Aug-2005 17:34

Last edited by KnX042 at 10-Aug-2005 17:35