black ghost knife illness?

[GrullaQuarters]

I just noticed this morning my fairly active BGK is less black than he was just yesterday. He was black black, and now this morning he's a faded black. Is this a sign of illness? He's been eating, and quite active during the day, even with the hood light on. Maybe it's just the light and he'll look better later, I'm just wondering what to look for should he ever become sick. The faded color made me a little nervous, but, like every morning, when I turn the lights on, he goes into his cave for the morning, then comes out after lunch and is usually out the rest of the day. He's my favorite fish in there, just don't want to have anything happen to him. Is a faded black something to worry about? He still "acts" his normal self....as normal as he usually is this time of day. No ammonia or nitrites, nitrates are at 40 which is normal for our tap water, temp is normal (78), and I am doing twice a week 30% water changes now (and gravel vaccuuming each time, although not a thorough job, or with the Python, I'd remove too much water).

Thanks

 

[Perky]

You don't have to do 30% water changes twice a week. The only reason to do this is if you have Discus or Stingrays that need water tip top. A 20%-30% water change a week will be sufficient. Sometimes doing too much water changes can make the filter not mature as efficiently as it could. My tank is smaller than yours(only a bit) and I have a BGK. I do a 25% weekly but I have missed on occasions and gone two weeks with no problems. Having said this it is your tank but I thought I would tell you it is not needed so often. Back to the real question. Fish get there colours from reflecting light and if fish have had no light they are usually paler than normal. Also fish darken or go paler if they are threatend so maybe it was having a confrontation or when you turned the light on and off you scared him. It is usually better to do it more naturally like have a light in the room and slowly dim or brighten it. That way you give them chabce to hide and get to dark spots. If he is fine now then I would not worry too much. Just check him, and all your other fish every day and there sho0uld be no problems and if you notice any you will catch it early.
P.S. You may not know that BGK are intolerant of some Meds. If you ask you will find out what not to put in. I can't remember what they are but the Meds I use have been checked and say they are fine for fish similar to BGK.

 

[GrullaQuarters]

Thanks for the input!

As far as the water changes, I have been doing 2x/week the past couple, only because I have been moving caves/ornaments and such to get the waste that's in them (A LOT!) but can't do it all in one sitting, or I take out too much water! I did a w/c today, and will go weekly now.

Maybe it was just the light...he looks better now. I was a little concerned, as he had a small scrape on his side the other day, no fish are bugging him that I'm aware of, when he comes in, they leave and go somewhere else. The scrape is getting better....and again, it was very small.

As far as the lights, what I'm doing is, after it gets light outside and let some natural light in the room, I turn the room light on (living/family room). I leave the room light on for about an hour before I turn the tank light on. The tank light is then on about 10 hours per day.

Anyway, this lack of color may have just been a false alarm, he really didn't look right to me this morning, but he looks fine colorwise now. Maybe it was just the lighting in the corner of the tank he was in. (or maybe I wasn't quite awake yet!)

Thanks for the heads up about medication, something I will look into. I can't believe how much enjoyment watching this guy has brought to me, so I certainly want to do the best I can to take care of him.

With each water change, I am also adding Stress Coat and Stress Zyme. We have well water, it is not chlorinated, but was told to add the stress coat anyway, to help with the slime coats of the fish. So that I do. When we first got him, he spent darn near the first week not being seen at all during the day. Now that he's comfortable (I hope!) he is all over the tank many times throughout the day. The cave he has chosen is more empty than not now. He'll swim around for awhile, then lay on his side in a back corner of the tank and take a nap. When he's awake and swimming around, he spends a lot of time up near the water's surface....I've given him food right out of my fingers, so he knows he may get some up there. Thanks for the input! I just love this guy, and he was well worth the wait!