What is this on my Blackghost Knife Fish?

[shaziasadiqah]

I wouldn't worry too much. Just do daily water changes and gravel cleans for a week. The fish will be fine.

You could put a piece of pvc pipe in the tank for the fish to hide in. Use some sandpaper to smooth off the edges and silicon some gravel or driftwood to the outside of the pipe. Or just let algae grow on it.

You could try to hollow out the wood so it is bigger inside. I wouldn't bother blocking it off with anything.

Depending on what species of Synodontis are in the tank, they might be ok or might have problems. But your black ghost knife fish is big enough and healthy enough to deal with anything in the tank. Black ghost knife fish aren't as weak as people think. They are nocturnal predators that can hold their own against most fish.

thank you very much

i’ll do the daily water change and hope nothing will happen to the BGK.

the synodontis are 5 to 7cm each.

 

[Ichthys]

They are nocturnal predators that can hold their own against most fish.

No they can’t. They have powerful jaws but will only bite as a last resort. Their scales are tiny so are also very thin, which means they’re very easily scratched by anything with spines that wants to share their hiding place. Once they’re scratched they’re very susceptible to fungal and bacterial infections, and treating them with any medication is a risk. They respond very badly to most treatments.

Please don’t keep them with any cats or loaches, because they’ll vie for their hiding place, with spines out, and the BG will get scratched.

Theyre micro-predators. Their natural diet is insect larvae.

Edit.... Sorry, wrong person got credited with that quote. Not sure how it happened as I’m new to this forum.

 

[shaziasadiqah]

No they can’t. They have powerful jaws but will only bite as a last resort. Their scales are tiny so are also very thin, which means they’re very easily scratched by anything with spines that wants to share their hiding place. Once they’re scratched they’re very susceptible to fungal and bacterial infections, and treating them with any medication is a risk. They respond very badly to most treatments.

Please don’t keep them with any cats or loaches, because they’ll vie for their hiding place, with spines out, and the BG will get scratched.

Theyre micro-predators. Their natural diet is insect larvae.

Edit.... Sorry, wrong person got credited with that quote. Not sure how it happened as I’m new to this forum.

i really want to rehome the synodontis but the only person i know have big enough tank and will take care of them properly is my mom. The thing is she’s in the middle of moving to her new home now and i bet she haven’t got her tank cycled yet. So, it might take probably a month or two before i could rehome the synodontis.

in my house the biggest tank i have is the 95gal with the BGK. The other tanks i have are just 15, 25 and 33 gal.

i know that the BGK and the synodontis are kinda fighting like they are chasing around and stuff but nothing too serious so far until i saw that scratch.

i already do daily water change (50%) these last 3 days and as far i see the scratch is not as white as before it’s like fading away but i just notice that my BGK have smaller scratch on the other side of his body, too.

i’m so worry because the BGK is my first fish and i think i have special bond with this fish and last time he got fin rot i could help him healed properly but it took a while as i remember correctly. That was back then when i only have him as a pet and have 0 knowledge about this hobby let alone fish diseases. Now that i know a few more things i try to do the best possible thing i could to prevent my BGK from getting any infections.

fyi his fin rot back then really bad thay he lost his tail almost completely. That was one traumatizing experience for me for sure.

what should i do now? I’m really concern and confused.

 

[Ichthys]

Do they have multiple hiding places? If you can provide somewhere that the Syno would prefer, rather than the BGs hiding place, that might separate them. But most Synos are territorial of their feeding territory, so it could be spending all night chasing the BG round the tank, or at least being aggressive whenever they bump into each other.
I’ve had three BGs long term over the years (one at a time, each for about 10-12 years) and I’ve learned to never keep them with any other nocturnal fish, or any aggressive or territorial fish. If they’re in with only peaceful fish they’ll come out and about every time you feed them, day or night.

 

[shaziasadiqah]

I do have multiple hiding places. The thing is now my BG likes to hang out where the Synodontis hide and the BG would chase them around.

i’ll try to talk with my LFS tomorrow and see if he would take the Synodontis for a bit until my mom’s tank cycled.

i really never have any problems keeping my BG with his tank mates that are 4 Angels, 6 Platies and 1 Rabbit Snail. Only when the Synodontis join the tank he starts to be more active like chasing them around the tank no matter where the Synodontis hide the BG will be there too and annoy them away.

i have to rehome my other BG because the BG i have at the moment also bully the other BG.

Anyway, since you’ve been keeping BG for a long time, do you know how to know if the BG is female or male?

 

[Ichthys]

The sexual dimorphism is unusual. The female’s head is much bigger than the male’s. Yours is female.
Trying to keep more than one in a tank hardly ever works. They’re very much a solitary fish, and will fight if they can’t get away from each other. You’d need a huge tank to keep them together.

I apologise for not reading the whole thread. I was imagining a much bigger Syno (just one) and it being the aggressor. The ghost is trying to move them on, out of its feeding territory.

 

[shaziasadiqah]

The sexual dimorphism is unusual. The female’s head is much bigger than the male’s. Yours is female.
Trying to keep more than one in a tank hardly ever works. They’re very much a solitary fish, and will fight if they can’t get away from each other. You’d need a huge tank to keep them together.

I apologise for not reading the whole thread. I was imagining a much bigger Syno (just one) and it being the aggressor. The ghost is trying to move them on, out of its feeding territory.

thank you.
i always thought she's a he lol.

the scratch is healing and the Syno and the BG kinda settle down a bit i guess since i try to feed them in different spot.

I guess i'll wait for my mom's tank and hope for the best

 

[shaziasadiqah]

Hello @Colin_T

after doing daily 50% water change the scratch on my BGK is completely healed.

but i just watch the tank again and notice that her scales are very visible and a bit white-ish in my opinion. almost like when a snake is ready to shed.

i don’t know if i should be worry or not but i think it’s wiser to ask you about it.

my parameter is:
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
Ph 6.8
Gh 120

i hope you can help me. Thank you

i know the pictures are not the best but i’ll try to capture some more with better quality hopefully.

 

[Colin_T]

probably excess mucous caused by something in the water irritating the fish.

if you are adding chemicals, plant fertiliser or anything else, stop adding it for a bit and see if it improves.

make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

make sure you don't have anything (hand sanitiser, moisturiser, soap residue, oil, grease, perfume, etc) on your hands when you work in the tank or feed the fish.

make sure any containers you use for water changes and cleaning filters are for the fish tank only and not used by anyone for anything else.

 

[shaziasadiqah]

probably excess mucous caused by something in the water irritating the fish.

if you are adding chemicals, plant fertiliser or anything else, stop adding it for a bit and see if it improves.

make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

make sure you don't have anything (hand sanitiser, moisturiser, soap residue, oil, grease, perfume, etc) on your hands when you work in the tank or feed the fish.

make sure any containers you use for water changes and cleaning filters are for the fish tank only and not used by anyone for anything else.

Thank you

i don’t add anything new to the tank and i know all my fish equipments are only used for fish stuff.

i also always use Seachem Prime for any new water.

yesterday before going out i did work in that tank, although specifically i did not put lotions for my hands and arms anymore since i get into this hobby, i’m pretty sure some soap residue or something did get into the water that day.

i’ll do a water change and hope everything okay