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.