Occasional Flicking

[Plecc]

Hi,

A few of my fish are occasionally flicking themselves against objects in the tank!
What causes this?

I have Interpet No8 'Anti Fungus and Finrot' and No9 'Anti Internal Bacteria', can i use one of these to treat the problem?

Plecc.

 

[snowflake311]

Check your water first. Do a large water change and see how they act after the WC . Have you added any new fish? Sounds like the first stage of ich. That's how it starts they will flick every now and then. Flashing rubbing can be due to a few things.
1 Poor water
2 irritants in water . sometimes if you do not add enough water treatment after a WC they will flash.
3 Ph change
4 parasites

thoes are the main reasons for flicking / flashing. Figure out what it is and try and fix it.

 

[Plecc]

Hi,

Just did a water test -

Ammonia - 0 mg/L
Ph - 7/7.5
Nitrite - 0.1 mg/L
Nitrate - 5 mg/L (just over probably more like 6/7 mg/L)

Plecc.

 

[snowflake311]

Nitrites should be 0 I would do a large water change clean gravel do a 50%. Wc see how the fish like it.

 

[indigoj]

As stated, chances are it's the water quality and this is always the first thing to check if you have a problem. Do keep an eye out though for other signs of illness as poor water makes fish more likely to get sick.

I know your NitrIte is not very high but any trace is too high and with NitrIte present it is possible there has been ammonia present too. How long has the tank been set up, how big is it and what fish do you have?

 

[WILDER]

How long has the tank been set up?
What test kit are you using?
How many fish and which type?
How many gallons is the tank?

Flicking can be a number of things.
Bad water quality, irratation, parasites, bacterial, internal parasites.

 

[Plecc]

Thanks for the feedback,

About 3 weeks ago i swapped my substrate from pea gravel to sand, which no doubt effected the nitrogen cycle within my tank.
Since the substrate swap i have been getting trace reeding's of Nitrite which have been slowly dropping.

The tank has been up and running for just under 6 months now.

I'm using a Nutrafin Liquid Mini Master Test Kit.

130L - 35 Gallon (US) tank.

Fish =
2x Bristlenose Plecos (1 male, 1 female)
(+ 50/60 BN Pleco babies)
1x Corydoras (Julli)
4x Platies (2 Sunset, 2 Mickey mouse)
(+ some semi-mature platy fry)
6x Neon Tetra
2x Gourami (1 Gold, 1 Blue)
1x Zebra Loach

(I think the Pleco babies have made my tank overstocked)

I have a Fluval 305 on the way to improve water quality and turnover.

Substrate = Play sand
Ornaments = large smooth rocks and pebbles, shell's and bogwood
Plants = Straight Vallis, Anacharis

Since my last post one of my mature platies has started to develop a recessed stomach and is spending allot of time on the bottom of the tank, during feeding time she will become active and come up to the surface to feed, but just sucks food in and spits it straight back out again.
The only food she will take is freeze dried blood worms, which is no good as too much seems to make them constipated.

Any ideas?

Plecc.

P.S - I mentioned the problem to my LFS, the guy i spoke to instantly said white spot!
Can your fish be infected with white spot without actually showing white spots?

Should i do a full treatment for white spot or could it be something else?

 

[WILDER]

Your tanks severely overstocked with the baby plecs.
Will the lfs take them.

Fish can flick and rub in bad water quality.

Water change, gravel vac, and increase aeration.
Plecs are massive waste producers.

Does the platy have a sunken in belly. Also spitting food out with a sunken in belly can be internal parasites.

Signs of internal parasites are.
Long stringy white poo, clear mucas poo, red poo.
Worms prutruding from the anus.
Fish will look skinny or bloated.
Sunken in belly.
Bent spine.
Fish will sometimes swim on it's side.
Enlarged anus, or red inflamed anus.

If there no white spots on the fish it dosn't sound like whitespot yet.
Sometimes you can see tiny bubbles on the fish before whitespot breaks out.

Fish can flick and rub in bad water quality.