Sick Black Ghost Knife?

[follicle]

My BGK is acting really strange. He almost never comes out during the day but he came out tonight and was swimming around really strange. He would quickly zoom up to the surface and then he would all the sudden stop, become still, and sink to the bottom. At times, he would be swimming at the bottom of the tank and then would suddenly become still and would fall asleep. When I tapped on the glass, he suddenly came back to life. Now he's just laying on his side quietly at the bottom of the tank. I've seen him sleep like this before, but I just don't know. He's acting very strange. I've seen him act odd before, but it was normal BGK activity. I've just never seen him become very active and then suddenly stop and become still like this. Is it normal?

All water paremeters are fine. No ammonia, no nitrites, very little nitrates. pH is stable.

Any idea what might be going on? Swim bladder disease? Something else?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[GhostKnife]

How long have you had him?

 

[follicle]

I had him for about 4 months now. He's still pretty small. About 4 inches or so.

I feed him once a night – one half of a frozen blood worm cube every night...

 

[susankat]

Thats too much bloodworm in a night. At his size all he would need is maybe 1/2 of a cube. It sounds like he is getting to much rich protein. I had one at 18 inches and only gave him one cube a day and fasted him one day a week.

 

[Zagz]

Can you post your exact parameters and when was your last water change? Does he have any bloating? Have you seen him poo lately? Any physical discolorations at all? I would not feed him for a day or two at the least.

What size tank and what size tank mates?

 

[follicle]

Well, the thing is that the Rosy Barbs take care of most of the blood worm cube. Right now, I put in 1/2 cube once a day.

Now he's starting to act more like usual. I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid and it's just normal BGK behavior. I mean, a few days ago I came home from work and he was sleeping in one of the plants – nose facing the gravel and tail up in the air. He slept like that for close to an hour.

I'll let you guys know how he is tomorrow.

 

[follicle]

Well, I lost him early this morning. I took him out of the tank in the middle of the night and quarantined him while he was still moving around a little bit.

Water parameters before last water change and as of now are as follows:

pH= 7.6 (Stable)
Ammonia= 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = Between 0 and 5.0 ppm (but I'm really leaning towards 0)

I do a 50% water change once a week and test the water weekly as well. I've been feeding only a small pinch of flakes lately and 1/2 frozen bloodworm cube a night.

He didn't seem to show any other symptoms other than swimming oddly. No bloating, no color change, or anything else. I've never seem him poop. Also, I've had him for about two months (I miscalculated). He's never really ate that much at all. I would stick my hand in with a blood worm cube and he would swim up, take one nibble and then go else where. I would lay the worms on the gravel and within 10 minutes they would be gone, but that might be the barbs taking care of them.

My tank is 55 gallon (I plan on upgrading soon) with the following: 1 Pleco, 2 Serpae Tetras, 2 Rosy Barbs, 2 Angelfish, and 1 African Butterfly Fish.

It might also be worth noting that I lost my one of my Serpae Tetras a few weeks ago. He turned white, began gasping for air, and was dead within about a five day period.

Everyone else has been acting perfectly normal.

Any ideas!?

And thanks. Everyone here is always a big help!