Our beloved BGK died! :(

[lkck]

My husband and I are new aquarists. We started a 15-gal. aquarium back in December (which currently houses some Tiger Barbs, Red-Eye Tetras and a little spotted catfish) and have a 10-gal. tank that houses one African Clawed Frog. In January, we purchased a used 90-gal. tank which has been up and running for two months now. We have a sand base in it, and it is well-filtered with two AquaClear 110 power filters. We do regular weekly 25% water changes and thus far, when we tested the water, it has been acceptable in all areas. This tank currently houses 2 Sunburst Plattys and 2 Black Mollies.....but we also had an adorable Black Ghost Knife who died 2 days ago from ???. The only thing we can think of that may have caused his death, is that we had been trying to lower the pH of the tank to 6.5-7.0 so that we could purchase some Discus. We were going to move the Plattys and Mollies into another tank and use the 90-gal. strictly for the BGK and Discus. From everything we've read, BGK's are tolerant of a lower pH (which the Discus apparently require) so we didn't anticipate a problem. In fact, after 3 days of treating the tank, we didn't even see much of a drop in the pH. Then we left the tank alone, and hadn't added the pH treatment for about 3 days, when our BGK started to act differently. He was hiding in his rock cave and didn't come out at all - even for food. Prior to that, he was out most of the time, even with the tank lights on! He enjoyed frozen Brine Shrimp and even ate some Flakes. We also purchased Ghost Shrimp for him, which I imagine he would eat at night (since we never actually saw him get one, but would find them dead and him picking on them during the day!). So perhaps that pH treatment weakened him? Or maybe he got something from the Ghost Shrimp? Or maybe he was ill from the start (although he seemed quite healthy and well for a good 2 weeks)? We just don't know. So, if anyone has any thoughts, we'd love to hear them. We sure do miss "Black Willie"..... ....and we'd love to purchase another, but are skeptical until we can figure out why BW died.

 

[carey]

So sorry to hear about your beloved fish. :-( Its always sad when one of out loved ones goes.

I wish I could help, I can only think that the ph issue has something to do with it. I'm sure a knowledgeable person will come along soon.

welcome to the forums, and sorry about your BGK.

 

[lkck]

Thanks so much, Carey....appreciate the thoughts and the welcome.

 

[shady3210]

Have you checked the ph since he died? You said it wasn't moving and you had been adding something(what were you adding btw) so it may have crashed.

 

[lkck]

Hi, socalsprinter. Yes, I did, in fact, use a quick test strip to check the water after I removed BW....and you're right: it seems the pH is now somewhere between 6.8 and 7.0. But I don't think that would be considered a "crash", would it? If it happened over a few days?

 

[lkck]

Oh, and sorry - I missed that piece about what chem we used. I can't recall if it was Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Liquid pH Control (pH Down), or Top Fin's formula (pH Decrease)? It was definitely one of those, though.

 

[Jason7894561230]

I think that it might have been the tank just wasnt ready for him. A BGK likes a nice tank that has been established for quite some time, also for discus i think that a PH of that would be OK. But put a few schooling fish for example the Rummynose or the Cardinal tetra for the bacteria. Also these fish will be fine in a tank with discus.
But i would wait before adding discus for sometime. But i need to congratulate you on getting a 90gal and putting the BGK in that not many people know it can get big.
Also if you would like to know about discus then in my signiture there is a link to profiles there is a profile on the discus that might help you with it.

GOOD LUCK AND DONT GIVE UP!

 

[ejaramillo01]

Hi, socalsprinter. Yes, I did, in fact, use a quick test strip to check the water after I removed BW....and you're right: it seems the pH is now somewhere between 6.8 and 7.0. But I don't think that would be considered a "crash", would it? If it happened over a few days?

I learned my self, in the hard way, that trying to change the pH can cause a crash in some sensitive fish, I don't k ow how slowly did you adjusted the pH, but if you were reducing it, I'm assuming that the main ingredient of the product is an acid, acids can be easily overdose...

My guess is that the change in the pH could be the cause of the death.

It's just an idea...

Sorry to hear about it

 

[lkck]

Thanks, everyone....

Thanks, ejaramillo01 and Jason7894561230. You both provided us with lots of good information. We are still unsure if it was the pH lowering that caused BW's death, as it was only added for about 3 days in a row, and then not added again. BW died about a week later. In any event, we have opted to wait to get another BGK or to add Discus, as we are planning to get an RO filter now, since that seems to be the best type of filtration system....especially for Discus. We'll let everyone know how that works out, once we finally purchase the unit. We're still styuding as to which one to get and where we're going to place it. On another note an "up" note, we did save one baby Mollie from being eaten by her parents and the pair of Platys we have. She's so cute! Thanks again for everyone's advice - it is greatly appreciated!

 

[Jason7894561230]

No problem! Have fun with discus