Worried About Bgkf

[daredevil138]

hey pple,
im a begginer got about a dozen of fishes just brought a dalmation molly(pair) . they suddenly died after dat i changed d water dechlorinated it now d BGKF are behaving weired they r lying flat on the bottom of d tank pls help i askd d pet store he told me d fish r sick n askd me 2 purchase capsules and open d powder n empty it in the water...................i did it now pls advice me wht 2 do urgent

 

[nmonks]

Oh, for the love of God, please use proper English! Difficult to extract any sense from that gobbledegook! If you want help "urgently" then at least make it easy for people to understand what you're asking for.

Anyway, to answer this we need more information. How big is the aquarium? How long has it been running? What's the water chemistry? The temperature? The water quality?

Mollies for example need hard, basic water. Black ghost knifefish prefer soft and acidic water, so anything that suits one will stress the other. Most molly deaths are not inexplicable but because people keep them badly. They are super-sensitive to poor water quality, including nitrate, and react badly to being kept in water that isn't hard and basic. Many would argue (including me) that they are infinitely better fish kept in a brackish water aquarium, or at least among salt-tolerant freshwater fish such as guppies and rainbowfish, so you're free to add a little marine salt mix.

By contrast, Apteronotus albifrons is a fish that lives in freshwater streams, and in particular, places with ample water current and lots of oxygen. Imagine a pool of water by some rapids or a waterfall, and you'll have some idea of their habitat. They are acutely sensitive to poor water quality, and should not be kept in aquaria less than 3-4 months in age. Only when the aquarium is cycled and stable should you consider keeping these fish.

Almost all sick fish are sick because of their environment. Adding "capsules" is all very well, but unless you know what the problem is that causes their sickness, it's pointless medicating. At a guess, I'd assume you have high levels of ammonia and nitrite because your aquarium is immature, and this is why the mollies died and the Apteronotus is going loopy.

Cheers, Neale

hey pple,
im a begginer got about a dozen of fishes just brought a dalmation molly(pair) . they suddenly died after dat i changed d water dechlorinated it now d BGKF are behaving weired they r lying flat on the bottom of d tank pls help i askd d pet store he told me d fish r sick n askd me 2 purchase capsules and open d powder n empty it in the water...................i did it now pls advice me wht 2 do urgent

 

[daredevil138]

hey thanks for replying appreciated. Sorry about the inconvience. My tank has a capacity of 4gallons.As I mentioned earlier I am a beginner, I had no knowledge about the water chemistry and so on . I will get a test kit as soon as posible and inform you about the remaing details you asked for.My aquarium has been running for 2-3 weeks now

 

[CKutz]

you should probably find a new lfs if they sold you those fish for a 4 gallon tank.

go to the species index of this website and look up mollys in the livebearer section, and bgkf in the oddballs probably..or just google them and read the profile pages.

There is no way your fish will survive in a tank of 4 gallons, that's what i'm getting at.
Also you'll probably need to learn about fishless cycling. you can google search that or you can go to the new to the hobby section, and the beginners resources post.

you should probably take the fish back as soon as possible..they are probably going to die anyways. if you want to try and keep them you would have to immediately buy a big tank..but it won't be cycled anyways..so they would probably die, they need pretty good quality water parameters.
best bet is to take back the fish if you can read about cycling, and then start all over once you have done a fishless cycle, and found some fish you can keep in that tank, or you buy a much bigger tank, because there's only a few fish you can have a tank that small.

we know your new, and didn't know any better, so don't worry everyone is granted one mistake
just try and take those fish back and do some research about fish next time before you get them...once you do this you and make it through a fishless cycle, you will be rewarded with beautiful healthy fish. it's well worth the month or so that you have to wait.

 

[TheBigEasy]

wow, i would def find a new lfs, look for smaller shops. 4 gallons is too small for almost anything let alone a BGK. And you should only have 1 BGK per tank. They will more than likely fight til one dies. Either take the fish back, or get yourself a bigger tank set up.

 

[alexfish]

wow, i would def find a new lfs, look for smaller shops. 4 gallons is too small for almost anything let alone a BGK. And you should only have 1 BGK per tank. They will more than likely fight til one dies. Either take the fish back, or get yourself a bigger tank set up.

Ehh.