Fish Keep Flicking And I Can't Find Out Why

[alihar]

I've never had the bottle to use Pottasium permanganate in the aquarium but I do rinse new plants with it!
Monitor your ph over the next few weeks for any obvious swings.
It is also a good idea to test for ammonia an hour after feeding as sometimes you can get a little spike at this time.
Just really try to rule out envioromental issues before reaching for treatments.
The worst mistake I made was medicating blindly and adding to the problem.

 

[onidrase]

I've never had the bottle to use Pottasium permanganate in the aquarium but I do rinse new plants with it!
Monitor your ph over the next few weeks for any obvious swings.
It is also a good idea to test for ammonia an hour after feeding as sometimes you can get a little spike at this time.
Just really try to rule out envioromental issues before reaching for treatments.
The worst mistake I made was medicating blindly and adding to the problem.

I'll keep that in mind, thanks. haven't tried testing an hour after feeding, but that sounds plausible.

 

[Akasha72]

Still reading this with interest. I did a 20% w/c this afternoon after I bought some stresscoat+ (I was using an interpet de-chlorinator before). I dosed well with the stresscoat and I've not seen one fish flick themselves since. Very strange. If it disappears I'll carry on buying stresscoat+ instead of any other brand

 

[onidrase]

Still reading this with interest. I did a 20% w/c this afternoon after I bought some stresscoat+ (I was using an interpet de-chlorinator before). I dosed well with the stresscoat and I've not seen one fish flick themselves since. Very strange. If it disappears I'll carry on buying stresscoat+ instead of any other brand

I've heard stresscoat+ is just generally better, since it also helps the fishes' slime coat and removes more chemicals and metals in the water than other dechlorinators. I was wanting to switch to it for a while, but never really felt much opportunity till recently. Even if it doesn't permanently eliminate the issue, I'll still be using it.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Stress Coat is my number two dechlorinator. Prime is my primary dechlorinator, as it is far more concentrated and goes a long way for the money. But in lieu of that, Stress Coat+ is my fall back. I actually have both in my fish tank cabinet right now.

 

[Akasha72]

I'm sticking with the Stresscoat now. I did catch one of the female guppies flicking on the gravel late last night but I'm beginning to think it's just a general behaviour and there is nothing actually wrong. They're eating and swimming round normally, active enough etc

I'm going to stop worrying about it if I'm honest

 

[onidrase]

They're still flicking now and then, it's getting a little worrying. The flukes thing doesn't sound like any fun. Is there anything else I can do aside from the water changes? Will keeping the water in top shape help get rid of it if it is flukes?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Have you tried doing several 10-15% water changes per week, rather than one or two larger ones, or refilling the tank gradually over a few hours? Wondering if the fresh water tap chemistry is different to that of the matured tank water, which could cause the fish to fish as a stress response to the change in water conditions. The water in my 48x12x15 is heavily tannin stained and ~pH 7.8, whereas fresh water is ~8.2, so I add two buckets of fresh water every hour or so to change the tank pH less dramatically.

 

[onidrase]

Have you tried doing several 10-15% water changes per week, rather than one or two larger ones, or refilling the tank gradually over a few hours? Wondering if the fresh water tap chemistry is different to that of the matured tank water, which could cause the fish to fish as a stress response to the change in water conditions. The water in my 48x12x15 is heavily tannin stained and ~pH 7.8, whereas fresh water is ~8.2, so I add two buckets of fresh water every hour or so to change the tank pH less dramatically.

I'll give it a shot. I just recently added real driftwood, though.

 

[onidrase]

It's starting to look like the tiger barbs are the only ones doing it. Granted, they're the only ones besides my firemouth that are out and about during the day. And he just digs all the time.

Ugh, this is so frustrating, sometimes I just wanna take all my fish back to the store and start over again

 

[onidrase]

I hate to do this, but I'm gonna throw the tiger barbs in my hex and TEMPORARILY move glory (psychotic convict cichlid) into my 37, since it seems the tigers are flashing the most. Glory isn't flashing, and from what I see, my firemouth isn't flashing, and if these guys have a bug, I don't want it to spread to my cichlids or catfish.

Let's just hope glory doesn't kill anything.