Flashing

[dazbud]

My 100L has been up and running for 5 months. Since cycling was completed a few months back, my fish have been healthy and happy. However 3 days ago I noticed quite of few of them flashing. I checked the water and the ammonia was a little higher than usual, about 0.25ppm. For the last three days I've done a 25% water change and gravel vacuumed, I've also missed feeding for 2 days. The new water was dechlorinated with Seachem Prime and I've also dosed the whole tank to temporarily lock any ammonia.

Water stats are now

temp: 25.5%
PH: between 6.8 and 7 (this usual for my tank)
Ammonia: trace (not 0 but less than 0.25ppm, this is about where its been for the last few months before the flashing started)
Nitrite : 0 (always 0)
Nitrate : 5ppm (rises to about 20ppm between weekly water changes)

assorted small fish, dwarf gourami, barbs, platys, baloon mollys

I've noticed the the fish are still flashing, although not as frequently. I'm a bit stuck as to whats still causing this and whether I should treat for Ick or just wait a while longer? There are no visible signs of fin dmage, rots, moulds or infections. Any suggestions

Other recent events that may have affected the environment are :

I added a German Blue Ram a week ago, I was concerned about his eating, so maybe fed a bit more in the last 7 days than usual
One of my delicate plants had been too close to the filter and all the bottom fronds got sucked in and slowed the flow for a day
I added some Melafix for 3 days about 10 days ago as I was a bit paranoid that one of the Gouramis had lost a scale.
I'd tied a few stems of floating plant together with a twisty tie and then got worried that the tie might have contained metal so took it out after 2 weeks
I tied them up with a piece of natural brown tring, however the fish unpicked it and there were some drifting fibres until I netted them

 

[OldMan47]

If you have removed the loose plant matter that was not prospering and have no other noticeable problems, my best guess is that you had a low level chemical excursion that is now under control. If there are no spots, do not treat for ich. Ich is a parasite that cannot exist independent of any symptoms.

 

[dazbud]

If you have removed the loose plant matter that was not prospering and have no other noticeable problems, my best guess is that you had a low level chemical excursion that is now under control. If there are no spots, do not treat for ich. Ich is a parasite that cannot exist independent of any symptoms.

I've read that flashing can start before teh white spots appear if the fish are infected. is this true ?

This morning, I've noticed that a platy has a white blemish on its side. Not grainy like white spot. Not sure if this is the start of the visible infection or whether this is the result of excessive glancing.
Have test the water again this morning and the ammonia apears to be zero, although fish still flashing

 

[Akasha72]

recently had the same problem - even the cories were flashing. I then noticed my male guppy with a few white spots on his fins. All the other fish just seemed lethargic and I had a platy with some scales missing.

I didn't want to risk things getting out of control - it was obvious something was wrong. I turned my heater up to 28 and started adding some protozin. The final dose goes in tomorrow.

All the fish seem a lot more active this morning. A lot less lethargic than they were. I'm going to do a gravel vac today (one of those things that vacs the gravel without removing water) just to tidy things up a bit and get the final dose of protozin in tomorrow - I'll see how things go from there and do a large water change later in the week.

I won't add meds for no reason but if it's obvious something is up (it was in my case) then leaving it too long puts the whole tank at risk.

Hope you find out what is wrong with your fish

 

[dazbud]

thanks. It was uncomfortable to watch all the scratching and I was worried they would rub their scales off and cause further damage, so bought some Interpet White Spot treatment this morning and just done the first dose. Not keen on the blue water mind.

 

[OldMan47]

The blue water is no problem. Have you noticed the nice blue silicone sealant at the joints yet? That will still be there a long time into the future. In the meanwhile, do you have any pictures of your ailing fish? Ich never shows up as a nondescript whitish patch. It can happen in the gills where it is not visible, but seldom leaves all of the fish with no visible "grains of salt" spots, even in the beginning of an infestation. If you can get a decent picture and post it in the tropical emergencies section, someone there may be able to help you.

 

[dazbud]

The blue water is no problem. Have you noticed the nice blue silicone sealant at the joints yet? That will still be there a long time into the future. In the meanwhile, do you have any pictures of your ailing fish? Ich never shows up as a nondescript whitish patch. It can happen in the gills where it is not visible, but seldom leaves all of the fish with no visible "grains of salt" spots, even in the beginning of an infestation. If you can get a decent picture and post it in the tropical emergencies section, someone there may be able to help you.

There are no visible signs of any ailment. They have had their second dose of the white spot treatment and are still flashing. I'm doing partial water change tomorrow and doing a 3 day course of Esha 2000 for fin rot, bacteria and fungus, see if that helps

 

[LongS]

A couple years back i had a zebra loach that constantly flashed off rocks and gravel. It wasn't white spot but like your fish it looked like a white patch due to excessive flashing.

Unfortunately i lost the fish but i think it may have been gill flukes.

Have you heard of Kusuri wormer plus? If you put a search into ebay it will come up and its pretty cheap.

 

[dazbud]

Hi thanks for the advice.

Between the white spot treatment and the Esha 2000 treatment, the flashing has ceased. Still not sure what the actual cause was, but seems to have passed now