Flicking But No White Spots

[greatfish123]

Hi Guys,

Recently some of my fishes have started flicking against rocks and plants occasionally. So i inspected them for any white spots and have been unable to find any. There is a little bit of ammonia in the tank due to the addition of some new fishes (~.25ppm). the pH is 8 and all the other water parameters are normal. What is the problem and what can i do to fix it. Thanks


BTW, the tank is a 46gallons livebearers tank with a salt concentration of about 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons . The temp is abt 78-79 F.

Thanks,
Greatfish

 

[geo7x]

well the ammonia is your answer, thats why they are flicking. Just do water regular water changes every day or every couple of days until it sorts itself out.

How long has the tank been running? if its mature then the addition of an acceptable amount of fish shouldn't cause an ammonia spike.

 

[greatfish123]

thanks for your quick reply, I increased the tank's bio load by about 25%. (i guess that's a little high).. but the tank is fully cycled and it should just take a matter of days before it crashes to 0. my tap water contains tons of chloramines and when broken down its ammonia reading is about .75ppm. So would i be better off leaving it as it (.25ppm) or adding new tap water. Thanks!!

 

[geo7x]

you should be using a dechlorinator product to take chlorines and chloramines out of tap water. do you have any dechlorintor?

 

[greatfish123]

yes i do and use it(i'm using Prime) but the ammonia still reads .75ppm after treating it with it

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Prime helps detoxify the Ammonia for a while, but in hard water I'm not sure how long it stays detoxified. Flicking is a sign of skin irritation (hence why it's a symptom of parasites). If it goes above .25 ppm I would do a water change, but considering the amount of ammonia that would come from the tap I wouldn't do so before it got over .25.

 

[greatfish123]

ok thanks. i've noticed that almost all of the fishes in the tank seem to do this on occasion. and also they seem to flick themselves near their gill area. But i still dont see any white spots. i even checked them against bright light.

 

[greatfish123]

also can someone please tell me if i should treat the tank with pimafix just in case.

 

[NutMutt]

We get something similar with one of our pair of Kribs. The male seems to breath heavier every three weeks. Almost like he trying to scratch or clear his throat/gills.

t stops after a day, then he resumes like 3 weeks afterward for another day.

 

[poopsydrew]

also can someone please tell me if i should treat the tank with pimafix just in case.

If it's ICH then pimafix wont do anything. IF ich does show up you need to treat with an ich medication and make sure you are careful if you have any sensitive species/plants/invertabraes.

Drew

 

[greatfish123]

thanks for your replies guys.. but its odd as i dont see any white spots at all on any of my fishes yet they seem to flick themselves on their own. Sometimes if one of the fishes does that, another will soon follow suit and try to imitate the former.

 

[poopsydrew]

thanks for your replies guys.. but its odd as i dont see any white spots at all on any of my fishes yet they seem to flick themselves on their own. Sometimes if one of the fishes does that, another will soon follow suit and try to imitate the former.

Keep a close eye on your parameters and the fish, it can take awhile for ich to move and puncture through skin. In my experience, when they start flicking like that, ich will be visible soon. Good luck

Drew

 

[greatfish123]

thanks for your replies guys.. but its odd as i dont see any white spots at all on any of my fishes yet they seem to flick themselves on their own. Sometimes if one of the fishes does that, another will soon follow suit and try to imitate the former.

Keep a close eye on your parameters and the fish, it can take awhile for ich to move and puncture through skin. In my experience, when they start flicking like that, ich will be visible soon. Good luck

Drew

so would it be advisable for me to go ahead and start treating for itch right away? and what are some good medications for treating itch effectively. Thanks

 

[chibi]

Sometimes you can't see ich. It's best to treat them for it, even if you don't see the white spots, but they're still infected.

 

[poopsydrew]

Well...If my fish start flicking and the water parameters are ok I will usually treat for ICH immediatley because 9 times out of 10 it is. Problem is if its not ich then you dont want to be throwing a bunch of ich medications in there which will stress them more and make whatever they have worse. Its a judgment call...good luck.

Drew