Just when I started to think that things had calmed down in my aquarium.... My fish have been flashing. My 3 clown loaches, which I've had for about 6 months, have always flashed rarely, like once every 2 weeks or so. But for the past week, 3 of my rosy barbs have flashed at least 2 or 3 times a day. But until today everyone has seemed healthy and active, except for the occasional flashing. Then today, one of my clown loaches, usually the most active one, has been hanging out under a rock all morning, and when he finally came out for a bit, what did he do? Flash and scratch himself on the substrate. Now, granted, his belly is also stuffed from his breakfast, so maybe he's just been under the rock napping and digesting his food. That wouldn't be totally unusual for any of my loaches. In other words, there are no sure, unambiguous signs of disease. I've heard that some flashing is normal, and my loach may just be having a lazy morning. The only possible culprits for causing an illness would be a new clown loach who I put in last week, but who had been healthy in qt for 3 weeks before that (though with no proactive medicating). I also added some new plants about a week ago, but I kept them in qt for 3 days, and scrubbed them really well (I assumed that if a gravel vacuum can suck ich cysts out of the gravel then a good scrubbing should dislodge them from plants.) Plus the plants came from a plant-only tank at the lfs, which reduces the odds that they were carrying ich in the first place. I also switched from Stress Coat to AquaSafe water conditioner last week. Maybe the AquaSafe is somehow irritating them? With no outward signs of disease besides flashing and today's lazy loach, I really hesitate to dump meds in the tank. But I don't want to hold off treatment until some disease gets out of hand. My first suspect is ich, I guess, though there are no white spots. I am most worried about proactively using ich meds, because I have _never_ treated with ich meds that did not ruin my biological filter. The first time was last fall, when I bought the 3 clown loaches and did not qt them. They had ich, and I treated with Rid-Ich+ and went through a horrible ammonia cycle. The second time was when I bought my rosy barbs and I treated their qt-tank with Coppersafe as a preventative measure, and within 10 days the good bacteria were apparently wiped out, judging by the ammonia spikes. I'm sorry this post is so long (all my posts are way too wordy--it's a bad habit when I'm stressed!). But does anyone suggest medicating my tank, and with what? I was considering the new Maracide, but I'm not sure it's safe for loaches
Help! Trouble in paradise? (fish flashing)
- Thread starter LeahK
- Start date
how about velvet?
Here is a good site to tell you what your fish may have.... http://madhunag.tripod.com/diseases.html this site helped me a lot.
Here is a good site to tell you what your fish may have.... http://madhunag.tripod.com/diseases.html this site helped me a lot.
I wouldn't be adding meds
flashing 2 or 3 times a day is nothing to worry about without other symptoms. in general you would be worried here about some externl parasite or fungal infestation, or a bacterial infection, i.e. 'primary' flashing; if you can't see anything on the fish, and they are all healthy and eating, and the flashing is no more than what you describe, there is likely nothing to worry about and it would certainly be premature to med.
'Secondary' flashing (that's how I describe anyway) is environmental - the water is an irritant. So test your water paramaters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and Ph. Perhaps the change in water conditioner is indeed causing it.
Seachem Prime by the way does a lot further than the aquacler and is, generally, a great product.
I guess I should also have enquired as to what size tank we are discussing, and its inhabitants.
p.s. would you perhaps consider using paragraphs - that's a very dense block of text to plough through.
flashing 2 or 3 times a day is nothing to worry about without other symptoms. in general you would be worried here about some externl parasite or fungal infestation, or a bacterial infection, i.e. 'primary' flashing; if you can't see anything on the fish, and they are all healthy and eating, and the flashing is no more than what you describe, there is likely nothing to worry about and it would certainly be premature to med.
'Secondary' flashing (that's how I describe anyway) is environmental - the water is an irritant. So test your water paramaters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and Ph. Perhaps the change in water conditioner is indeed causing it.
Seachem Prime by the way does a lot further than the aquacler and is, generally, a great product.
I guess I should also have enquired as to what size tank we are discussing, and its inhabitants.
p.s. would you perhaps consider using paragraphs - that's a very dense block of text to plough through.
I'm sorry about the big paragraph-less block of text! Thanks for wading through it nonetheless.:bowing:As asked, the tank is a 55 gallon. I do know my loaches will outgrow it eventually, but I believe it'll be ok for at least another year. It contains 3 clown loaches about 1.5 inches each, one 4 inch clown loach, 9 rosy barbs about 1 inch each, 2 dwarf red honey gourami about 1 inch each, and 6 tiny celestial pearl danios who won't get bigger than 3/4 inch.
The ammonia and nitrites are 0, nitrates about 20, and ph between 7.5 and 8. These stats are stable. I change 2 gallons of water every day on weekdays, and then I change 8 gallons each day of the weekend. The water seems to stay pretty clean on this schedule, and I avoid changing lots of water at once.
The 55 tank has been running for a little over 3 months. I upgraded from a 20 gallon. The ich episode and bacteria re-cycling problems I mentioned in the first post happened in the old 20 gallon. Thanks again for the responses. I guess I'll just keep waiting and observing the fish, and not medicate unless there is a clear need for it.
The ammonia and nitrites are 0, nitrates about 20, and ph between 7.5 and 8. These stats are stable. I change 2 gallons of water every day on weekdays, and then I change 8 gallons each day of the weekend. The water seems to stay pretty clean on this schedule, and I avoid changing lots of water at once.
The 55 tank has been running for a little over 3 months. I upgraded from a 20 gallon. The ich episode and bacteria re-cycling problems I mentioned in the first post happened in the old 20 gallon. Thanks again for the responses. I guess I'll just keep waiting and observing the fish, and not medicate unless there is a clear need for it.
I do know fish will flash if your water is bad but this doesnt seem to be the case, unless since barbs and loaches perfer softer water they may dislike your ph being around 8
No prob 
Can't see that you have a problems in the environment, except as noted that your Ph could be considered high for loaches & other soft water fish. I don't keep 'em myself; I presume they would adjust and this would be no difficulty except as regards breeding (and i do know that clowns have not been captively bred).
Seems to me you likely do not need to worry - p.s. arn't clowns kind of characters known for their odd & amusing swimmingh abits ?
Can't see that you have a problems in the environment, except as noted that your Ph could be considered high for loaches & other soft water fish. I don't keep 'em myself; I presume they would adjust and this would be no difficulty except as regards breeding (and i do know that clowns have not been captively bred).
Seems to me you likely do not need to worry - p.s. arn't clowns kind of characters known for their odd & amusing swimmingh abits ?
Ah, water hardness. That would be the two vials of reagents in my master test kit that I've never opened. Well, I just tried them out, and my GH is 8 degrees, or about 140 ppm, or "medium hard." My KH is between 4 and 5 degrees, which I believe may be a little low, according to what I've just been reading online--but the issue was that low KH could lead to PH fluctuations, but my PH is stable. To be honest, the GH/KH/PH relationship is the part of water testing that's still a mystery to me, but those are my stats. Thanks again.
. Well, I just tried them out, and my GH is 8 degrees, or about 140 ppm, or "medium hard." My KH is between 4 and 5 degrees, which I believe may be a little low, according to what I've just been reading online--but the issue was that low KH could lead to PH fluctuations, but my PH is stable. To be honest, the GH/KH/PH relationship is the part of water testing that's still a mystery to me, but those are my stats. Thanks again.
The Gh/Kh is an useful as an indication of the buffering capactiy of your water; i.e. whether your Ph is stable or vulnerable to swings. Yours are well within bounds.
As said already, your fish are pretty much acclimated to their present set-up including water so I don't think this is your issue; in fact I don't think you have one, and I certainly woudn't medicate based on what youdescribe.
no prob
As said already, your fish are pretty much acclimated to their present set-up including water so I don't think this is your issue; in fact I don't think you have one, and I certainly woudn't medicate based on what youdescribe.
no prob