Soften/acidify water for black ghost knife fish

[Blackghostknifekid]

Hello, I was wondering if I could boil oak leaves and use the water from that to soften/acidify my tank water for a black ghost knife, Thanks.

 

[Byron]

Possibly, but there is more to changing parameters, I will briefly explain.

The GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness or alkalinity) and pH are closely connected. If the GH and/or KH are significant, they will work to keep a higher pH. They have a "buffering" capacity, especially the KH, and attempts to lower the pH by adding any organic substance (wood, dried leaves, peat, etc) may be futile, depending upon the GH and KH. CO2 also enters into this, but we can leave that.

The GH is the most important of these three for the fish. BGK are from very soft water, and the "hard" minerals in hardish water cause internal problems such as blockage of the kidneys. Having very soft water will usually mean an acidic pH, though there are exceptions; but the GH is very important.

Can you post the numbers for the GH, KH and pH of your source (tap) water? You may be able to ascertain these from the water authority, check their website. Once we know these numbers, it should be fairly easy to predict things.

While I'm here, I will mention that a BGK needs a very large tank. It needs to be 6 feet in length by 2 feet width at the very minimum. As the fish matures it will need this space in order to turn, as it has an inflexible spine.

 

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

---------------------
If you have hard water with a high GH and KH, boiled leaves won't make any difference and you will need to use a reverse osmosis (r/o) unit, rain water or distilled water to reduce the GH, KH and pH of the tap water.

If you have soft water (GH below 150ppm), then leaves can help reduce the pH but the GH shouldn't need to be lowered much.

Leaves and other organic material won't lower the GH but will lower the KH and pH.

 

[Blackghostknifekid]

Thanks, TD 2 1/2 feet by 1 foot by 1 foot.

 

[Blackghostknifekid]

Possibly, but there is more to changing parameters, I will briefly explain.

The GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness or alkalinity) and pH are closely connected. If the GH and/or KH are significant, they will work to keep a higher pH. They have a "buffering" capacity, especially the KH, and attempts to lower the pH by adding any organic substance (wood, dried leaves, peat, etc) may be futile, depending upon the GH and KH. CO2 also enters into this, but we can leave that.

The GH is the most important of these three for the fish. BGK are from very soft water, and the "hard" minerals in hardish water cause internal problems such as blockage of the kidneys. Having very soft water will usually mean an acidic pH, though there are exceptions; but the GH is very important.

Can you post the numbers for the GH, KH and pH of your source (tap) water? You may be able to ascertain these from the water authority, check their website. Once we know these numbers, it should be fairly easy to predict things.

While I'm here, I will mention that a BGK needs a very large tank. It needs to be 6 feet in length by 2 feet width at the very minimum. As the fish matures it will need this space in order to turn, as it has an inflexible spine.

 

[Blackghostknifekid]

PH I know that tank is under 6 by a little bit. PH for tap is 7.3. GH I am not so sure of but I assume that it would be acid because of the bogwood, there is also petrified wood. Can you tell me how to test for them? To answer your final statement I have a fifty five for the BGK will be getting a hundred gallon.

 

[Colin_T]

PH I know that tank is under 6 by a little bit. PH for tap is 7.3. GH I am not so sure of but I assume that it would be acid because of the bogwood, there is also petrified wood. Can you tell me how to test for them? To answer your final statement I have a fifty five for the BGK will be getting a hundred gallon.

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

 

[Wills]

Thanks, TD 2 1/2 feet by 1 foot by 1 foot.

BGKs need huge tanks, they can grow well over a foot and have quite a rigid body - minimum size would be a 180 gallon 6x2x2.

With any fish a good rule of thumb is the tank should be 6 x length and 2 x width the length of the adult size, if you can't meet that minimum you need to think about if they are the right fish for you. There are of course exceptions, such as Reedfish with an adult size of 30 inches but often live coiled up so there is a balance there and equally on the other side of things some smaller fish like Zebra Danios are far too active to live in small spaces.

Wills

 

[Blackghostknifekid]

I have well water so no water company. It would be possible to go to the pet shop, thanks.

 

[Blackghostknifekid]

BGKs need huge tanks, they can grow well over a foot and have quite a rigid body - minimum size would be a 180 gallon 6x2x2.

With any fish a good rule of thumb is the tank should be 6 x length and 2 x width the length of the adult size, if you can't meet that minimum you need to think about if they are the right fish for you. There are of course exceptions, such as Reedfish with an adult size of 30 inches but often live coiled up so there is a balance there and equally on the other side of things some smaller fish like Zebra Danios to are far too active to live in small spaces.

Wills

Yes I understand that they
Need a larger tank for some reason this book which I used to work out What tank to use was very wrong. Thanks.

 

[Byron]

On testing your water, you can acquire a test for GH and KH. However, since you may only use it the once (to find out the source water parameters, which are unlikely to alter much on their own), uou could have it tested by a local fish store, many will do this. You want the GH, and make sure they give you both the number and the unit of measurement. There is more than one and we need to know which they use. And get a number, not some vague term like "soft" or "hard" or "moderate," each of which really means nothing without the number.

GH has nothing to do with acidity. The GH measures the dissolved hard minerals in the water, primarily calcium and magnesium. As I mentioned previously, this mineral does affect the fish, as each species has evolved to function in quite specific water. The GH does have some impact on the pH, but soft water (low mineral content) is not always acidic, so you must measure these parameters on their own.

As for the fish/tank size...something I learned many years ago: never acquire a fish if you do not today have the proper-sized and aquascaped tank suitable for that fish's mature size. You may think today that you will buy a 6-foot tank this year, but things may change and it may never happen--and the poor fish is the one who suffers. And, the book pages in the photos in your last post are not the Black Ghost Knifefish, the fish pictured is am Elephant Nose which is very different.

 

[Blackghostknifekid]

On testing your water, you can acquire a test for GH and KH. However, since you may only use it the once (to find out the source water parameters, which are unlikely to alter much on their own), uou could have it tested by a local fish store, many will do this. You want the GH, and make sure they give you both the number and the unit of measurement. There is more than one and we need to know which they use. And get a number, not some vague term like "soft" or "hard" or "moderate," each of which really means nothing without the number.

GH has nothing to do with acidity. The GH measures the dissolved hard minerals in the water, primarily calcium and magnesium. As I mentioned previously, this mineral does affect the fish, as each species has evolved to function in quite specific water. The GH does have some impact on the pH, but soft water (low mineral content) is not always acidic, so you must measure these parameters on their own.

As for the fish/tank size...something I learned many years ago: never acquire a fish if you do not today have the proper-sized and aquascaped tank suitable for that fish's mature size. You may think today that you will buy a 6-foot tank this year, but things may change and it may never happen--and the poor fish is the one who suffers. And, the book pages in the photos in your last post are not the Black Ghost Knifefish, the fish pictured is am Elephant Nose which is very different.

Yes that was a elephant nose but the page title was passive electogenic fish. Thanks for the help with GH and KH. I understand that they get to 10 in the first year. Which should be good in a fifty five

 

[SomethingsFishy24]

My BGKF is 18" at 3 yrs old(I have had 3 over 22 years, this one is the newest) They can be a sensitive fish, especially to any change in water quality or lackadaisical maintenance that leads to bad bacterial grow. 180+g is where you want to be at minimum for an adult. I would not keep a BGKF longer than 5 or 6 inches in a 55 for very long as larger bodies of water prove more stable and this fish will need lots of room to move freely however it wants. They are truly cool fish but they only ever thrive when you give them all the right conditions to do so. Lots of good advise and knowledge here, lots of people who can set you up for success.