Flashing? Should I be worried?

[pedzola]

So when I watch my loaches I sometimes see one of the yoyos or my redtail shark "flashing." Once in a while I see a tiger barb do it.

What I mean is that they flick themselves against the gravel or decor in order to (I think) scratch themselves.

So... should I be worried? I know it's a sign of illness, but is it also just something fish do once in a while? Sometimes I see one fish do it rapidly in succession for a minute or so. Other times its just once and I don't see them do it again...

The fish all appear to be eating healthy, they all look normal. Today I noticed the smallest yoyo, which has slightly darker coloration than the other 2, has a little bit of a swollen belly - like he looks when he eats a lot. Except I didn't feed them this morning so to see him like that I was a lil surprised. This yoyo was flashing a lil bit today.


So......

Water params:

PH 6.6 - 6.8 (hard to read the color)
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5-10ppm
5 dGH
3 dKH

Should I be concerned? Haven't had any problems with any of the fish in the 4-5 months that I've had the tank set up.

[pedzola]

One thing that concerned me was that we've had a lot of rain here lately. Since I'm on well water, I thought it might mess up the water chemistry.

Unfortunately I hadn't tested the water in quite a while, so I dunno if the current params are what is usually is, or if its the effects of the newly rain-enhanced water.

???

Also haven't tested the tapwater... =X Maybe I should check that. *shrug*

[TammyLiz]

Water params sound fine. I don't know what it could be. Its not normal for them to flash, especially if they are doing it a lot. There must be something irritating them. My parents have well water and my mother was having some health problems so they paid (I think it was a little expensive) to have the water tested, and found they had fecal-type bacteria in their well water. They bleached and flushed the entire system, and it returned several months later. Somehow something was leaching into their well. They no longer drink the water, and use anti-microbial agents in their laundry. It makes me wonder how many of the issues I had while keeping fish there were stemming from this problem. The moral of the story is basically that you never know what is in your water. Ammonia, nitrate, etc, are not the only things that affect water quality. It is unfortunate you're having these problems. If you can spare the money it may be worth checking, especially if you also drink it. I have heard of pesticides leaching into ground water in areas where there is a lot of use, and there are surely a large number of other possibilities that I wouldn't even be able to guess on.

[pedzola]

That doesn't sound good!! =X

Is there any other testing I can do myself?

[TammyLiz]

If you do get it tested and there isn't a problem, you can just shrug whenever you see the loaches flashing and know you've done everything you could. If there is a problem, you can thank your loaches for letting you know.

We all run into toxins constantly but most of us are not observant enough, or are not exposed to high enough levels, to really notice the effects. Even your breakfast cereal probably has toxins in it, depending on your taste. The FDA doesn't really care as long as people aren't dying from it. Fish are probably more sensitive to water quality and show more obvious signs than we do simply because they actually live in the stuff, not only drink it, so my thought was that their flashing could be a sign of a problem. However, keep in mind I have no idea if there is a problem with your water at all! I was just speculating, so please don't blame me if I'm completely off. Make sure that whatever decide to do is your own choice and not mine.

Most tests for bacterial issues and/or toxins cannot be done by individuals because they require either equipment or cultures that you wouldn't have the means to do. If you are interested in finding out more, you may want to start with a call to your health department. I have found them to be helpful even in areas outside of their normal scope. They may be able to point you in the right direction with another phone number or something.

IMO, it is at least worth looking into, for everyone and not just fishkeepers, just in case. But thats just me.

[pedzola]

HMMMmmmmm o___O

Yah we'll see. I mean, they all seem to be fine. The yoyo's belly is gone so he musta just been fulla food when I saw him that one time.

So... pretty much I'll just wait a while til it dries up around here and see if the well water changes... and/or if that affects the fish at all... or whatever.


*shrug*

I'll give it another week before I start worryin too much.

[kimura]

i ve seen many of my loaches do this but looks more like a show of dominance. they try and create a sense of force near another fish to show how powerful they are.

[Dave_2133]

Falshing(Flicking) shows that your water is high in nitrates

[pedzola]

But my water is very low in nitrates.

The color in the test tube looked between 5 and 10ppm, and this is consistent with what I've had in the past in my tank.

In the past, my tap water has consistently tested at 0ppm. I do twice-weekly water changes of 15-20%.

[Mark in Vancouver]

Falshing(Flicking) shows that your water is high in nitrates

This is not necessarily true. Flashing serves the function of scratching the itch in the loach's slime coat. The irritation could be caused by lots of different factors, from nitrates to parasites.

Thing to do is figure out what it's not, step by step. It sounds like it's not nitrates, but you should be thorough with your tests - test for metals, gH, KH, pH - any kind of change. Some flashing is normal. Persistent flashing is a sign of distress.

I take it that there are no visible signs of irritation actually on the fish?

[NancyD]

You might want to try using a resin like Chemi-pure to help remove some of any contaminants in your water. At least until you can figure out what's irritating your fish. Of course you'd have to take it out if you medicate with anything.
Nancy

[pedzola]

I've decided to put a dose of prazipro in the tank.

On the bottle it says it's "extremely safe" and that it can be used at normal dosage as a preventative.

So since all the test check out fine, and since the water is clean and clear, and I see no visible signs of irritation besides the flashing and a slightly enlarged belly on 1 yoyo, I figure I would try this out....

I dunno. I'm not sure whats up. But the prazi seems safe (also says safe for bio filter) so... it's worth a shot. If I see no difference in 1 week I'll try somethin else. *shrug*

[pedzola]

PS - the reason I'm doing the prazi is because a lot of other sources online seem to indicate flashing as a sign of parasites... and certainly the slightly enlarged belly on this yoyo could be the same...

so..... *shrug* We'll see.

[pedzola]

OMG!

So I just did a 25% water change or so, took out my carbon, and added the prazi....

I came back to look and see how the fish were acting a couple minutes later (doin some cleanup) and I couldn't believe it!

The water looked cloudy, on closer inspection I see millions of (what looks like) tiny tiny tiny worms floating ALL OVER the tank!

UNBELIEVABLE.

Did the prazi just kill all these suckers and they detached from whatever they were hanging on to, floating into the water column?!?!? Or what?!??!

I wish I had a microscope so I could look at these things up close and see if they are really tiny worms or what!

[pedzola]

Whatever they are, a lot of them are definitely still alive!

They're wrigglin! If they were much smaller I probably wouldn't be able to tell, but looking at a couple of the bigger ones, they are definitely wriggling as they float around... not just normal locomotion from the water currents.

O_O_O_O_O CRAZY!!! Can't believe all these little critters livin in my tank! I HOPE THEY ALL DIE >:O

I'm gonna have to go nuts cleaning my tank out after the 7-day prazi period!!!!

Maybe I do a 2nd dose too, just to be sure I've got all these critters.