Glass Knife Fish Is It Dying?

[giant19000]

ok hes been in my tank for about 3days now i came home from work and saw him on the sand lying down...his fins where messed up badly will he be ok??idk if it was my balloon mollies or my tiger barb???i took them out in case will he be ok?what can i do to help him pls give me answers asap?will he survive or whaT?pls dnt ignore?

 

[nmonks]

Let's recap the needs of Eigenmannia virescens. This is a timid subtropical species that prefers relatively cool water and moderate currents. Water chemistry needs to be soft and acidic. Social behaviour is gregarious, the species essentially being a schooling one although individuals do have a hierarchy, so needs to be kept in reasonably large numbers to avoid bullying, i.e., six or more. Should not be kept with anything nippy. Does not eat dried foods; only live and wet-frozen.

Now let's look at your aquarium. First, it's a tropical tank. Second, you have tiger barbs, which are nippy. Third, you have mollies, which need hard and preferably brackish water conditions. Fourthly, you have one specimen, not six. Fifthly, you've said nothing about water quality.

I suspect with a little reflection, you'll be able to join the dots yourself!

Cheers, Neale

ok hes been in my tank for about 3days now i came home from work and saw him on the sand lying down...his fins where messed up badly will he be ok??idk if it was my balloon mollies or my tiger barb???i took them out in case will he be ok?what can i do to help him pls give me answers asap?will he survive or whaT?pls dnt ignore?

 

[Hokum]

Ouch, harsh but fair comment...

 

[the biffster]

do you know the stats on your
tank and how long as the tank
been cycled

 

[giant19000]

Let's recap the needs of Eigenmannia virescens. This is a timid subtropical species that prefers relatively cool water and moderate currents. Water chemistry needs to be soft and acidic. Social behaviour is gregarious, the species essentially being a schooling one although individuals do have a hierarchy, so needs to be kept in reasonably large numbers to avoid bullying, i.e., six or more. Should not be kept with anything nippy. Does not eat dried foods; only live and wet-frozen.

Now let's look at your aquarium. First, it's a tropical tank. Second, you have tiger barbs, which are nippy. Third, you have mollies, which need hard and preferably brackish water conditions. Fourthly, you have one specimen, not six. Fifthly, you've said nothing about water quality.

I suspect with a little reflection, you'll be able to join the dots yourself!

Cheers, Neale

ok hes been in my tank for about 3days now i came home from work and saw him on the sand lying down...his fins where messed up badly will he be ok??idk if it was my balloon mollies or my tiger barb???i took them out in case will he be ok?what can i do to help him pls give me answers asap?will he survive or whaT?pls dnt ignore?

its not harsh its allright 1st balloon mollies are freshwater not brackish there are brackish but no.
2nd the water quality got tested before i bought any fish so everything was good..
3rd i did research on mollies and the barb and nothing ever told me they were fin nippers since i kept them with my bgk i thought it wouoldnt do anything since the bgk fights back?
4th if im not an expert obviously thats the reason im asking for help..not to be tormented by those who are rude know it alls,im sure you didnt get it the 1st time u had your 1st tank
the tank has been up for 2years now,

but thanks for answering

 

[kizno1]

Let's recap the needs of Eigenmannia virescens. This is a timid subtropical species that prefers relatively cool water and moderate currents. Water chemistry needs to be soft and acidic. Social behaviour is gregarious, the species essentially being a schooling one although individuals do have a hierarchy, so needs to be kept in reasonably large numbers to avoid bullying, i.e., six or more. Should not be kept with anything nippy. Does not eat dried foods; only live and wet-frozen.

Now let's look at your aquarium. First, it's a tropical tank. Second, you have tiger barbs, which are nippy. Third, you have mollies, which need hard and preferably brackish water conditions. Fourthly, you have one specimen, not six. Fifthly, you've said nothing about water quality.

I suspect with a little reflection, you'll be able to join the dots yourself!

Cheers, Neale

ok hes been in my tank for about 3days now i came home from work and saw him on the sand lying down...his fins where messed up badly will he be ok??idk if it was my balloon mollies or my tiger barb???i took them out in case will he be ok?what can i do to help him pls give me answers asap?will he survive or whaT?pls dnt ignore?

its not harsh its allright 1st balloon mollies are freshwater not brackish there are brackish but no.
2nd the water quality got tested before i bought any fish so everything was good..
3rd i did research on mollies and the barb and nothing ever told me they were fin nippers since i kept them with my bgk i thought it wouoldnt do anything since the bgk fights back?
4th if im not an expert obviously thats the reason im asking for help..not to be tormented by those who are rude know it alls,im sure you didnt get it the 1st time u had your 1st tank
the tank has been up for 2years now,

but thanks for answering

I agree with every thing Neale said. It was put quite blunt but IMO perfectly fair. A quick google search would have shown you Tiger barbs are nippy, Mollys (and ballon mollys) need alkaline water, GKF need Acidic water and that GKF need to be in groups. You should always do the research before you but any fish which you cant have or you would have known all the stuff Neale just told you.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Neale (who write articles for well-known fish magazines and alike, by the way) and kizno1 have said it all really. Buying fish on impulse rarely leads to "happy ever after" results, their needs and compatability with current tankmates need research before bringing fish home from the store...

 

[giant19000]

Let's recap the needs of Eigenmannia virescens. This is a timid subtropical species that prefers relatively cool water and moderate currents. Water chemistry needs to be soft and acidic. Social behaviour is gregarious, the species essentially being a schooling one although individuals do have a hierarchy, so needs to be kept in reasonably large numbers to avoid bullying, i.e., six or more. Should not be kept with anything nippy. Does not eat dried foods; only live and wet-frozen.

Now let's look at your aquarium. First, it's a tropical tank. Second, you have tiger barbs, which are nippy. Third, you have mollies, which need hard and preferably brackish water conditions. Fourthly, you have one specimen, not six. Fifthly, you've said nothing about water quality.

I suspect with a little reflection, you'll be able to join the dots yourself!

Cheers, Neale

ok hes been in my tank for about 3days now i came home from work and saw him on the sand lying down...his fins where messed up badly will he be ok??idk if it was my balloon mollies or my tiger barb???i took them out in case will he be ok?what can i do to help him pls give me answers asap?will he survive or whaT?pls dnt ignore?

its not harsh its allright 1st balloon mollies are freshwater not brackish there are brackish but no.
2nd the water quality got tested before i bought any fish so everything was good..
3rd i did research on mollies and the barb and nothing ever told me they were fin nippers since i kept them with my bgk i thought it wouoldnt do anything since the bgk fights back?
4th if im not an expert obviously thats the reason im asking for help..not to be tormented by those who are rude know it alls,im sure you didnt get it the 1st time u had your 1st tank
the tank has been up for 2years now,

but thanks for answering

I agree with every thing Neale said. It was put quite blunt but IMO perfectly fair. A quick google search would have shown you Tiger barbs are nippy, Mollys (and ballon mollys) need alkaline water, GKF need Acidic water and that GKF need to be in groups. You should always do the research before you but any fish which you cant have or you would have known all the stuff Neale just told you.

i diddo the research and then the guy at the fishstores told me they are fresh that the other mollies are brackish
annd he had brackish and freshwater..?
and yeah he might be right but still im new at this..nobody starts off knowing everything.
ok so what can i do to keeepthem...can i keep 2??or 3 minimum??and what should i do about the water?i its tested every week and its been good soo far...?

 

[kizno1]

i diddo the research and then the guy at the fishstores told me they are fresh that the other mollies are brackish
annd he had brackish and freshwater..?
and yeah he might be right but still im new at this..nobody starts off knowing everything.
ok so what can i do to keeepthem...can i keep 2??or 3 minimum??and what should i do about the water?i its tested every week and its been good soo far...?

Like Neale said 6 is the minimum because if in a pair or trio one will bully the others.
I wouldnt add any more before you sort out what you want. Do you want the GKF or do you want the Tiger barbs and mollys? They cant all live together so you need to choose what you want and go from there.

 

[giant19000]

i diddo the research and then the guy at the fishstores told me they are fresh that the other mollies are brackish
annd he had brackish and freshwater..?
and yeah he might be right but still im new at this..nobody starts off knowing everything.
ok so what can i do to keeepthem...can i keep 2??or 3 minimum??and what should i do about the water?i its tested every week and its been good soo far...?

Like Neale said 6 is the minimum because if in a pair or trio one will bully the others.
I wouldnt add any more before you sort out what you want. Do you want the GKF or do you want the Tiger barbs and mollys? They cant all live together so you need to choose what you want and go from there.

well ima get rid of my mollies and the tiger barb i dont want any fin nipping on my other fish could i get 3 for this week and the other 3 the next??or what if i only want two??you think theyll bully eachother.??

 

[kizno1]

i diddo the research and then the guy at the fishstores told me they are fresh that the other mollies are brackish
annd he had brackish and freshwater..?
and yeah he might be right but still im new at this..nobody starts off knowing everything.
ok so what can i do to keeepthem...can i keep 2??or 3 minimum??and what should i do about the water?i its tested every week and its been good soo far...?

Like Neale said 6 is the minimum because if in a pair or trio one will bully the others.
I wouldnt add any more before you sort out what you want. Do you want the GKF or do you want the Tiger barbs and mollys? They cant all live together so you need to choose what you want and go from there.

well ima get rid of my mollies and the tiger barb i dont want any fin nipping on my other fish could i get 3 for this week and the other 3 the next??or what if i only want two??you think theyll bully eachother.??

I think it would be best to add them all at once other wise when you have 3 already in the tank im not sure how they will take to new ones. If you only got a pair the dominant one would bully the other one which is likely to lead to death.

 

[giant19000]

i diddo the research and then the guy at the fishstores told me they are fresh that the other mollies are brackish
annd he had brackish and freshwater..?
and yeah he might be right but still im new at this..nobody starts off knowing everything.
ok so what can i do to keeepthem...can i keep 2??or 3 minimum??and what should i do about the water?i its tested every week and its been good soo far...?

Like Neale said 6 is the minimum because if in a pair or trio one will bully the others.
I wouldnt add any more before you sort out what you want. Do you want the GKF or do you want the Tiger barbs and mollys? They cant all live together so you need to choose what you want and go from there.

well ima get rid of my mollies and the tiger barb i dont want any fin nipping on my other fish could i get 3 for this week and the other 3 the next??or what if i only want two??you think theyll bully eachother.??

I think it would be best to add them all at once other wise when you have 3 already in the tank im not sure how they will take to new ones. If you only got a pair the dominant one would bully the other one which is likely to lead to death.

its because the guy who i order them from has only 3 right now and he said he wans them out so he can get new 1s or else he wont order them anymore???

 

[kizno1]

its because the guy who i order them from has only 3 right now and he said he wans them out so he can get new 1s or else he wont order them anymore???

Im not to sure then. The best person to ask is Neale but im not sure how willing to help he will be now.

 

[giant19000]

Let's recap the needs of Eigenmannia virescens. This is a timid subtropical species that prefers relatively cool water and moderate currents. Water chemistry needs to be soft and acidic. Social behaviour is gregarious, the species essentially being a schooling one although individuals do have a hierarchy, so needs to be kept in reasonably large numbers to avoid bullying, i.e., six or more. Should not be kept with anything nippy. Does not eat dried foods; only live and wet-frozen.

Now let's look at your aquarium. First, it's a tropical tank. Second, you have tiger barbs, which are nippy. Third, you have mollies, which need hard and preferably brackish water conditions. Fourthly, you have one specimen, not six. Fifthly, you've said nothing about water quality.

I suspect with a little reflection, you'll be able to join the dots yourself!

Cheers, Neale

ok hes been in my tank for about 3days now i came home from work and saw him on the sand lying down...his fins where messed up badly will he be ok??idk if it was my balloon mollies or my tiger barb???i took them out in case will he be ok?what can i do to help him pls give me answers asap?will he survive or whaT?pls dnt ignore?

hey neale you think id be able to keep 3 glass knife fish ??my bad about bieng rude its my 1st tank and idk anything so im trying to get it?what do you think?

 

[always4lora]

Let's recap the needs of Eigenmannia virescens. This is a timid subtropical species that prefers relatively cool water and moderate currents. Water chemistry needs to be soft and acidic. Social behaviour is gregarious, the species essentially being a schooling one although individuals do have a hierarchy, so needs to be kept in reasonably large numbers to avoid bullying, i.e., six or more. Should not be kept with anything nippy. Does not eat dried foods; only live and wet-frozen.

Now let's look at your aquarium. First, it's a tropical tank. Second, you have tiger barbs, which are nippy. Third, you have mollies, which need hard and preferably brackish water conditions. Fourthly, you have one specimen, not six. Fifthly, you've said nothing about water quality.

I suspect with a little reflection, you'll be able to join the dots yourself!

Cheers, Neale

ok hes been in my tank for about 3days now i came home from work and saw him on the sand lying down...his fins where messed up badly will he be ok??idk if it was my balloon mollies or my tiger barb???i took them out in case will he be ok?what can i do to help him pls give me answers asap?will he survive or whaT?pls dnt ignore?

hey neale you think id be able to keep 3 glass knife fish ??my bad about bieng rude its my 1st tank and idk anything so im trying to get it?what do you think?

Try writing in full in full sentances without things like 'idk' in , it generally irratates people.
If you cannot get enough to get a group then i would re-home them until you can get a decent amount.

Also you mention your water is fine, a lot of people make this mistake by not actually testing the water properly and presuming it is fine. Get a decent a test kit such as an API Master test kit and check your water for Ammonia, PH, Nitrate and Nitrite, don't trust the shop if they're testing the water.