I got my black ghost yesterday. In his tank, there are several pieces of fake drift wood. These are hollow and have holes in them so they can sink to the bottom. His first mission upon entering the tank was to go to each of the different pieces of drift wood, and try them out as a hiding spot.
He probably will change locations once in a while. As long as you give him some secure hiding places you don't need the pipe. But make sure he can fit in them when he's bigger, this fish can top 20 easily. The fish is extremely shy though, you might want to add in some plants and such to help him overcome his shyness.
He should really have a tube he can enter and be covered more. The tube can be clear, and he wont notice, but he could end up being stressed if he doesnt have a place were he can be mostly covered in an actual cave. especially if you add more fish, but even when he feels vibration from your footsteps. That driftwood looks dangerous too me. they have delicate skin and could easily be scratched. I would add a knife fish tube or pvc pipe or somthing with more cover so he can have that option. Mine would switch places every now and then. and prefered the more open natural looking cave to the pipe. Hope you plan to upgrade, knife fish are mostly blind, and a full grown one, even a half grown one, will have extreme difficulty swimming in a 55. He will need a longer tank with dimensions closer to this 180 gallon = 72 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 25 5/8, or he may not even be able to turn around.
Animal control won't do you any good. They are concerned with strays and unlicensed dogs. You should call the shelter they are apt to go to and tell them the situation. They will at least know what questions to ask and when they don't get satisfactory answers, will probably reject them. What is their house like?? If the dogs and cats have fleas you can be sure they are in the house also. The best thing you could do is get some Comfortis and slip it to them in their food. It will start killing within 30 minutes and continue for a month. It is a new flea product that is available through vets. You have to know the weight of the animals. You might also find an article about flea induced anemia. You're right, the old dog may have died from the flea infestation. Rescue groups do vet checks and home visits before adopting out a dog, they do black-list people, and they send out a Do Not Adopt e-mail to other rescue groups. I don't know if they also send DNAs to shelters but it sure would be a good idea.
They need a hiding spot to be comfortable. If can be a cave of rocks, a chunk of driftwood, a dense clump of plants, or even a plastic pipe. But it doesn't have to be a plastic tube, they are quite rare in the wild, so generally they make do with a piece of driftwood. Ian
