Black ghost knife help

[busymom23]

Video below shows my 8-9 inch black ghost knife swimming vertically. It is so odd behavior that I thought I would see what everybody else thinks. It's also weird for him because he never comes out when lights are on. He started swimming this way last night, is there something wrong? Is he getting more comfortable with the tank and this is normal? We've had the tank running since the end of February, cycled it with established media, and the ghost has been in it since. Tank is 300 gallon with 55 sump and fx6, water parameters this morning were: ph: 7.4-7.6, ammonia: 0, nitrite: 0, and nitrate: 40. Testing with API master test kit. Any insight to his behavior is appreciated!

 

[busymom23]

 

[jackson123]

Not completely sure but I think that isn't that weird for them. That's a big tank, what else do you have in there?

 

[busymom23]

Jack dempsey-5 inches
Albino oscar- 5 inches
Blood parrot- 4 inches
Gold severum- 1 inch
Green severum- 4 inches
Rhino pleco- 8-9 inches
Firemouth- 2 inches
5 Silver dollars- 2-3 inches

 

[Bichir Bro]

well first I'll answer your question, yes it's perfectly normal for them to do this. Black ghost knifes always swim in crazy patterns! Now your stock is absolutely inappropriate for anything less than around 300-400 gallons IMO.

 

[busymom23]

Thanks for replying. As you can see from my original post, my tank is 300 gallons with a 55 gallon sump. I've used aqadvisor and have not received any warnings for any of my stock. I know I'm within my stocking limits, and I'm only concerned about my ghost. He would always hide except for at night, now he's out in the lights during the day swimming vertically or slow...I just want to know if he is ok..

 

[Bichir Bro]

[ QUOTE=busymom23;2912472]Thanks for replying. As you can see from my original post, my tank is 300 gallons with a 55 gallon sump. I've used aqadvisor and have not received any warnings for any of my stock. I know I'm within my stocking limits, and I'm only concerned about my ghost. He would always hide except for at night, now he's out in the lights during the day swimming vertically or slow...I just want to know if he is ok..[/QUOTE]

Yeah I sorta just skimmed over didn't catch that! Gotta start paying more attention!
But I ran it through aqadvisor and it showed up as 99% stock so I don't suspect anything wrong!
And yes your knife is fine! They're always swimming in the weirdest was so no need to worry!

 

[Freakgecko91]

Your nitrates are quite high btw, you never want them getting above 20 really, a good sized water change is a good idea

 

[busymom23]

We've been doing weekly water changes and taking over 25%...but not 50%, and 40 nitrates was a day after the weekly change. I thought 40 was safe, so should I be doing more water changes? Could the nitrates affect him?

 

[Freakgecko91]

40 is at the very high end of the "safe" range. 10-20 is gonna be the best range IMO

 

[busymom23]

Ok, thanks!

 

[Freakgecko91]

No problem! Obviously water changes on a 300 aren't easy, but 40 is a little bit high. Removing a fish might help, if you are having those issues in such a large tank

 

[busymom23]

The only tank I have that's big enough for him is my 150, but I have 2 oscars in that one and they're mean, so moving him isn't an option. Water changes aren't too bad, just time consuming. I was concerned with the ghost behavior being as he would never come out in the light, let alone swim the way he was swimming which was vertical. If the nitrates are bothering him, I'll make sure that the water gets changed today and tomorrow if need be. However, nobody else in the 300 is acting any different, which was why I didn't really think the water was the issue. I want to do whatever I need to do to keep them all healthy.

 

[Freakgecko91]

The nitrates won't cause that behavior, that's pretty normal for knives. Make sure he has a cave, as they are pretty much blind. It's just not a bad idea to get the trates lowered before it does become a problem