The Two Most Asked Questions at Fish Pet Stores

1. Why are my new fish dying?

2. Why is my water murky/bad smelling?

Why Aquarium Water Changes and Water Testing Are Important

Each of my aquariums is a closed but incomplete ecosystem. Sure, I have a heater, thermometer, great filtration, plant and fish friendly lighting, and I add dechlorinater, aquarium salt and Cycle as needed. My fish eat the live plants.

It is incomplete because it is a sealed ecosystem, unlike Nature.

In the wild these fish would have fresh moving water, constantly changing the micro environment in which they live. Thus is true even for lake-dwelling fish, like African Cichlids, since streams feed into their lake habitats, and rainfall (however intermittent) replenishes evaporated water.

I tell all my customers that the first line of defense against poor water quality issues are regular water testing and water changes via gravel vacuuming.

The Solution: Weekly quality tests and weekly aquarium cleaning.

There are three methods for water testing:

1. Bring a water sample in a clean container or even a ziplock bag to your nearest fish store -- after you call to see if they will perform free water testing. Be sure they explain the results to you and help you find any solutions you need. The best places will give you a form with the test results written down. The form explains what is being measured, why, and the normal parameters. Even if they don't have such a form, the really good salespeople explain this to you and even show you how to read the test strip, as well as what products can help if there is a problem. Typically, you get the 6 in 1 test, but can also have ammonia or chlorine tested if you ask for it. Sometimes they will even test your salt level, if you ask nicely.

2. Buy and use dip sticks such as Jungle's 6-in-1 Quick Dip Test Kit. I scoop out water from my aquarium in a container I use just for this purpose. Dip the stick in, then remove quickly. Only an ammonia test strip has to be gently waved in the water. Don't shake! Compare colors on the strip to the paper chart on (or in) the bottle. Nitrate and Nitrite results take a few seconds to develop.

3. The test tube kit (aka Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit). You have test tubes, reagents, and lots of directions and charts -- OK it is a little like Chemistry 101. But the results are the most accurate of all.

NEVER put any of the test water back in your aquarium -- the chemicals from the tests are not good for fish.

The Genteel Art of Gravel Vacuuming a Fish Tank

WHY?
The purpose is to vacuum up the fish waste and uneaten food (you haven't been overfeeding have you?*) so it does not pollute your incomplete ecosystem aquarium. If you don't do this, the nitrates lead to nitrates which in turn causes ammonia, which stresses fish and can kill them. Fish that have been living in an uncleaned aquarium become used to the gradually deteriorating water conditions. Newly purchased fish are less able to tolerate a drastic change from a shop tank to poor water quality in a home tank and so are more likely to gasp for oxygen, drop listlessly to the bottom, and even die.

WHAT?
OK, there is the manual siphon and the tap or faucet driven siphon such as Python No-Spill Clean and Fill Aquarium Kits. There is also the non-water removing sludge extractor, the more expensive continuously working waste removal system, and an inexpensive battery powered waterless gravel cleaner. I have only used the first two products, and they both work well for me. I have the 20 foot extension for the Python so I can thoroughly clean and replenish the water in all four of my current aquariums in less than 30 minutes.

HOW?
First, 1 inch = 10% of your tank's water volume. Change 30% or 3 inches at one time. Follow this rule, and you won't risk temperature-shocking your fish when you add clean dechlorinated water. Having said that, here are the two simple steps to avoiding temperature shock:

a. Prepare water and let stand at room temperature for about 1 to 2 hours
b. For larger (or very dirty) aquariums, mentally divide your aquarium into halves and gravel vacuum the left half of the tank bottom today and the right half in about 3 to 4 days from now. You can even "divide" your aquarium into thirds, so long as you only siphon out about 30% of the water with the fish waste at a time.

I wield the rigid tubing which remains in the fish tank like a cookie cutter. Push down on one spot gently, wait until the cloud of waste rises from the gaps in the gravel, moving high into the tubing, then lift slightly and move the tube to the next spot, gradually going over the entire bottom of the tank. No fish are removed, but decorations can be moved as waste tends to accumulate around their bases. Live plants can be gently gravel vacuumed around.

Each product has its own usage explanations. While you are removing fish waste (which is grey, brown, blackish in color, while uneaten food is pale) you are (usually) also removing water. After using the gravel vacuuming products that remove water, you must of course replace the water with clean, dechlorinated water. Be sure to add dechlorinator/water conditioner to the fresh water either before or as you add it to the cleaned tank.

*N.B. As a general rule feed fish once a day, and only what they can consume in 3 to 5 minutes. If possible, turn off the filter while feeding. It teaches the fish to recognize feeding time, and keeps your filter from grabbing up the food before the fish do. As an added bonus, this extends the life of your filter media by not plugging up the micro pores with uneaten food.

Top Tips and Tricks of Keeping Black Ghost Knifefish (Apteronotus albifrons) Alive and Healthy

Water Conditions:

Temperature should be between 76 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Never let the ph drop below 6.6 (acidic end of the spectrum), it causes the Black Ghost Knifefish (BGK) slime coat to start vanishing, and the fish to become sluggish and stop eating. If more than 2 to 4 days pass under these conditions, the BGK will start dying.

Juveniles are more sensitive to water quality than fish older than 2 years. I keep salinity at about .18 to .20 which helps stop the Ick parasite from acting up, as well as preventing many bacterial and fungal problems.

Never use any ammonia locking water conditioner with a BGK. I almost killed my first BGK with this.

If facing poor water quality, use water changes of 30% (3 inches of water) every 3 to 4 days for two weeks, and place bagged ammonia absorbing pellets (AquaClear pre-bagged or loose Marineland (Diamond) into an aquarium-safe mesh bag; rinse in clear water before using either one) into your filter to solve the problem. I replaced the pellets once every two weeks for a month. By the way, these pellets are aquarium-safe zeolite. Rinse thoroughly with cold water before use.

It is because of the easily interchangeable media that I chose to use AquaClear products over 16 years ago. RENA Filstar, Fluval and Magnum have created canister-style filters with similar capabilities. These canister filters are more costly, sit on the floor, and are primarily designed for aquariums of 55 gallons and larger. RENA just introduced a smaller version that hangs on the back of the tank, just as filters by AquaClear, Whisper, Top Fin and others do.

Aquarium Habitat:

Sand and small gravel bottom, fake driftwood, silk type soft leaf plants -- no hard edges to scrape the BGK's delicate scaleless skin. BGKs do not appreciate a lot of bright light, so I use ambient house light, rather than an overhead light. I have used Lees brand knifefish tubes, hamster tubes, and even custom cut plastic tubing (over 18 inches long and about 5 inch diameter) all with the edges carefully sanded to remove possible rough spots.

Some more sites to visit to learn about the Black Ghost Knifefish:

Badman's Tropical Fish

Drs Foster and Smith Pet Education web site

Tropical Fish Forums

I found this article about "training" (actually acclimating) a BGK to being touched quite interesting.

Black Ghost Knifefish (Apteronotus albifrons)

One of my favorite fish is the Black Ghost Knifefish (Apteronotus albifrons). It is just amazing to watch. To freely mix descriptive metaphors a Black Ghost Knifefish (or BGK) is matte velvet black with two white tail rings, and resembles a rippling curtain (the bottom fin is almost the length of its body) hanging off a curtain rod (the back/spine area) with its tail as the gently waving rudder. It has reflective eyes, a gaping mouth (although less gaping than a moray eel), is light sensitive and uses electrical signals and receptors in its head to navigate and find food. It likes caves, or cave-like structures, or any decor that makes it feel (electrically) secure. See my other post for current habitat and favorite foods.

The problem with many commercial aquarium decorations is that some have internal sharp edges which can severely damage this scaleless fish's body, even killing it. My second BGK, purchased a year after our first one died, somehow scraped "his" face damaging the electrical sensors. In spite of my efforts to hand feed him, he did not survive. After 6 months I decided to try again.

Wikipedia gives a nice summary, although my experiences with pH and temperature vary from what they suggest. In aquatic stores I have never seen BGK line up as the Wikipedia article suggests, in fact in they seem to avoid each other, with the larger ones chasing the smaller ones away. In store tanks with 3 or more BGK's, they are all hiding in separate locations.

The Wikipedia entry states: "The black ghost knifefish, Apteronotus albifrons, is a tropical fish belonging to the ghost knifefish family (Apteronotidae). They originate in South America in the Amazon Basin in Peru and from Venezuela through Paraguay in the Paraná Rivers. They are sometimes found in aquaria. The fish is all black except for two white rings on its tail. It moves mainly by undulating a long fin on its underside. It will grow to a maximum length of 20 inches (50 centimeters).

The black ghost knifefish natively lives in fast moving, sandy bottom creeks in a tropical climate. They prefer water with a 6.0 - 8.0 pH, a water hardness of 5.0 - 19.0 dGH, and a temperature range of 73-82 F (23-28 C). They are nocturnal, but they are weakly electric fish and use an electric organ and receptors distributed over the length of their body in order to find insect larvae.

Due to their electrical charge, a close, contained group of knife fish (as in an aquarium) will line up side by side."