Is This Normal?

[sputnick]

i have 6 cichlids, and they keep turning sideways and rubbing their sides against the tank decorations. is this normal? or a sign of a disease? im a little worried.. but hopefully you guys can help?

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

Yes it generally is look for tiny white spots on their body

 

[MBOU]

It could be a few things, but generally its not a good sign.

Most importantly... test your water (or get a shop to do it and write down the results)...

You need to know:

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
pH

Poor water quality could come about in any number of ways and not be visable to the human eye but would cause 'burning' and discomfort to the fish and cause them to 'flick'.

Also, and just as commonly, it can be a sign of external parasites making the fish really itchy and sore.

Obviously, adding a treatment for water quality wont help if its parasites and adding a parasite treatment can make situation worse it its water quality problem...

So very important to test that water asap!

 

[Mikey1]

i have 6 cichlids, and they keep turning sideways and rubbing their sides against the tank decorations. is this normal? or a sign of a disease? im a little worried.. but hopefully you guys can help?

this is not normal and never a good sign, disease and/or infection is present or on its way

 

[sputnick]

well not all of my fish are doing it so does this mean that it would be a disease or parasite and not water conditions? It just seems from watching them that its not water quality.. But im not sure. It started out with one of my fish and moved onto more fish. But it has (as far as i know) not affected a few of my fish. So what do i look for and what could the possiblilities be? along with proper treatment. Thanks for your help!

 

[fluttermoth]

Some fish will be more sensitive than others to poor water quality, even among fish of the same species.

You really do need to post some test results, especially if the fish aren't showing any other symptoms, like white spots.

 

[sputnick]

well im not currently at home and i wont be till tonight. I can test PH and Ammonia but Nitrates and Nitrites im not able to test. Ill also look for white spots.

I shouldn't say im not able to test Nitrates and Nitrites, i think i still have a few 5 in-one test strips but so many people say not to use them..

 

[sputnick]

So far from what i have researched, IF it indeed is a disease it would either be White Ich, Velvet, or Oodinium. Can anyone else confirm this or tell me if there are more Diseases i should look for?

 

[sputnick]

ok well i have diagnosed it as velvet. i spotted yellow spots tht shouldnt be there on a few of my fish. i ran to the store and picked up some Mardel coppersafe. ive read that some people have had goodluck with copper based medicine. i did a 70% water change turned up my heater a few degrees and added the proper dosage of coppersafe taking into account the water displacement of my decor and substrate. all seems well as of right now. is there anything else i should do?