African cichlids flashing with no sign of ick

R

robfreitas345

Members
I have a mixed 75 gallon fish tank and i see no sign of ick but they flash quite often and some of them have brown ish soot looking stuff on them..does any one know what this could be....my tank have been set up for over a month the water is nice and clear, im running 2 whisper 60 filters on it and i do 25% water changes every week

Sent from my DROID RAZR using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

uploadfromtaptalk1361850801485.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1361850822138.jpg
 
Avatar

Avatar

Plenipotentiary-at-large
Quey

What exactly is meant by "flashing"? A quick movement as if the fish is trying to escape its own skin?
 
chriscoli

chriscoli

Administrator
A number of things can make them flash....pretty much anything that irritates their gills. Ick, gill flukes, a bit of stuck sand, sudden water chemistry changes, ammonia....
 
chriscoli

chriscoli

Administrator
Sam, it's when they seem to do a quick, darting, twisting motion that allows them to rub their gill area on something....often a rock, or piece of wood, but I've seen them do this on the tank bottom or on plants, too.

Often the first sign of ick, but can also be from other things, too.
 
W

WendyFish

Members
I'm gonna be an outlier here...

I know for sure that my mbuna are fine and healthy and some of them flash as much in any water conditions.

They flash to show off.

Is it your biggest baddest fish doing it? If that is, as it looks like it could be, a male red zebra, then it does not surprise me.

My couple of male metriaclima can be seen doing this in the presence of the next-best fish to them in the hierarchy.

When I see it, I always tell them, "go'on, brush yo shoulders off." And then I have Jay-Z stuck in my head for awhile.

If you're confident in your water and they eat... figure it's dominance.
 
W

WendyFish

Members
Also, if it is a red zebra... they get the brown spot spirulina/whatever thing so that may be separate. It's benign.
 
R

robfreitas345

Members
Its is all of my fish flashing and itching on rocks...not all the time but they all take turns doing it..other then that they are all eating and acting fine

Sent from my DROID RAZR using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
daninmd

daninmd

Members
WendyFish said:
I'm gonna be an outlier here...

I know for sure that my mbuna are fine and healthy and some of them flash as much in any water conditions.

They flash to show off.

Is it your biggest baddest fish doing it? If that is, as it looks like it could be, a male red zebra, then it does not surprise me.

My couple of male metriaclima can be seen doing this in the presence of the next-best fish to them in the hierarchy.

When I see it, I always tell them, "go'on, brush yo shoulders off." And then I have Jay-Z stuck in my head for awhile.

If you're confident in your water and they eat... figure it's dominance.
Click to expand...

completely agree, thats what i have observed with my fish. i have noticed them doing it before they spawn as well some times. Also, if i am in the same room as them for an extended period of time they keep begging for food at the top of tank, and after a while they start going to the bottom and flashing, pretty cool. i equate it to my dog when she really wants something, she stares for a while then starts to whine.

if not obvious health issues i wouldnt worry. maybe add a little salt to the water just to be safe.
 
KJacks

KJacks

Members
My fish do the same thing.. its a breeding thing a territorial thing a fish thing...lol i definately understand your concern though as i about flipped out when i saw the same brown on my afra nkhata bay then realized after research and asking friends it was only spirulina spots ..which made sense since i feed high spirulina foods .. ibthought itbwas ich so started looking so hard i was finding symptoms that wasnt even there...
 
V

vinman

Members
Spirulina spots,:lol: I never heard of such a thing and I used to feed my fish a 98% pure spirulina flake. I been keeping Malawi Cichlids for 33 years way before spirulina was ever used in fish food. I have gotten black spots from time to time on my fish. A lot of times it goes away all on it's own. Malawi Cichlids develop black spots for 2 reasons . One is a parasite the other is from stress.

Now that myth has been debunked do a 70 % water change. about 4 hours latter treat the tank with Clout wait 48 hours latter do a 50% water change and treat with clout again . 36 hours latter after the second treatment do another 50% water change. If it was the beginning of ich it is not totally eradicated. If symptoms persist check fish with all light off in the room and the tank Shine a flash light with a halogen bulb. don't use any other type of bulb. if you see a rust to whitish dusting on the fish that is called velvet you need to treat with copper safe form 10 to 14 days . In that time don't do any water changes and make sure your filter is not dirty feed only once or twice a day very lightly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top