Flashing Fish

MoneyMitch

so pretty much all of my fish will brush up against the sane rocks or plants that i have. none of them have any ick or anything on their bodies. no fungus or wounds or anything. why are they doing this? i mean its not a constant thing but more of like a random type of thing.

Byron

Fish will "flash" for a few reasons. Parasites is one obvious one, ich and there are many others. Someone wrote on here that ich first attacks the gills so it is not seen; if conditions are stable and the fish healthy, they will fight it off. I have this in my aquaria periodically, sometimes even to the stage of seeing one or two spots on a fish. I monitor it but otherwise ignore it, and full-blown ich never develops and it goes away, fought off by the fish's immune system. But the water conditions can negatively affect the fish's abilities in this, so they have to be checked.

Which brings me to water, flashing also occurs due to toxins like ammonia and nitrite, etc. Also bacteria and protozoan infections. And I have known food to get stuck in the gills, especially on corydoras feeding on worms and such.

Unless you are aware of something that might be connected, in which case taking appropriate action to remedy it, I would suggest monitoring the fish carefully, looking out for spots, blemishes, patches, etc., and noting the increase or decrease of the flashing.

B.

Fishin Pole

Mitch, has this been going on for awhile it did it just start recently?............i suspect, maybe a "new" fish might have brought something in with them and your "old" fish (ones already in your tank) are just dealing with a slight parasite infestation.....As Byron stated, most fish in good healthy water can deal with it, without our interaction or meds..........also as Byron pointed out, keep a close eye for any new or strange occuring in the tank.......

MoneyMitch

well they have been doing it since ive had them even the first four fish i bought about two months ago flash. its pretty common to look in the tank and about five miniutes later someone will rub against something. there arent any blemishes or spots or little bubbles on the fish so idk. params are all fine 0 nitrites 0 ammonia and around 15 nitrate with weekjly 25-30% w/c. and a feed of twice a day of two diffrent types of flakes. one is a spirilina and the other is just a broadly used cichlid flake.

Byron

If this only started recently after any new fish, it is likely parasites, and hopefully they'll fight them off. I'd just keep vigilant. B.

MoneyMitch

it started since day one of the tank, i havent lost one fish or had one illness other than a geneticaly defected baby pleco. it may just be a case of food in the gills not sure but ill keep a eye after i feed to see what happens.

MoneyMitch

ok so have a update here for everyone, i have started to medicate my tank and have placed the pleco and catfish in a half dose tank. i am using metro ms AKA (metronidazole) and nox ich to get rid of any bac infections aswell as any ich infections. as soon as i does the big tank with the nox ich all of the fish began to flash like crazy about 5 mins after i put it in, does this mean anything? havent put any of the metro in the big tank yet just going to treat the fish i belive to have the bac infection. any imput on whats going on is appriciated.

BTW i cut the carbon out of my filter cartridge since i use biowheel filters and have raised the temp to about 81. all water params are normal.