glancing/flashing

[76brian]

Maybe not 911 but I have a feeling it could turn into it soon.

I have a few neons I picked up last week that are occasionally glancing off the substrate/wood/rocks etc... a few glances for a couple of seconds, then they go right back to normal. It's infrequent but I've seen it happen at least twice now. No other signs of stress, they're still quite colorful and swimming normally, no visible abnormalities at all. One of my SAE's are doing it too. Not sure who started it though.

The only thing I changed recently is on Monday I did a 10% water change, and cleaned the filter (rinsed/squeezed pre-filter sponges in tank water, and replaced half of the old floss with fresh stuff). Water params are fine, 10ppm nitrate, 0 nitrite, 0 ammonia.

It's a fairly new tank (40gal), so still lightly stocked... :
2 SAE's
10 glowlight tetras
10 neon tetras

I raised the temp to 80 last night, and added a tiny bit of sea salt... but I don't know what I'm treating for, so I don't know how to proceed. Is there a product I should get now that will treat all the common ailments or do I wait longer and look for visible symptoms?

[exv152]

Fish rubbing on objects can sometimes be a sign of parasites. If it's a matter of ich the increased temperature may erradicate it. You can also raise the temp even higher to like 86ºF, and aerate the water.

[Stussi613]

It might be ich.  When I first got my cardinals and Rummynose they were doing the same thing. Treated the tank with some ich medicine and raised the temp as per directions and it cleared up pretty fast.  Just be careful as some fish and most inverts don't do well with medicine for ich.

[76brian]

Would it hurt to treat with salt and methylene blue and hope to catch it before it develops visible symptoms, or is it best to wait for visible symptoms and treat with something specific?

My problem is after this week I will be without wheels for a month, so making a trip to the fish store for medicine will be out of the question until mid December. There's nothing "special" in the tank really, but I'd rather not kill $50 worth of fish 

It's kind of annoying I have sick fish already... Now the store that sold me sick fish is going to sell me something to make them not sick... what a great racket! I'm in the wrong business

[exv152]

The best cure for ich is increasing the temperature. I wouldn't do anything more than that to begin with.

[robt18]

The fish probably weren't sick when you bought them, ich only shows up when fish are stressed or under bad conditions. Often they'll show symptoms when they're moved.

I've found large water changes are a great preventative. If you notice flashing, do a 40-50% water change (if your system can handle it) and turn up the temperature slowly.

[76brian]

So the flashing is always Ich? I thought it could be gill flukes, velvet, any other parasite as well...

[Fishnut]

No, the flashing is not always ich. As you said, it could be many other parasitic diseases.

When I get new fish, I always do the following:

Treat with salt (if the fish can tolerate it.  Corydoras, for example, can't).  If you see more signs of ich, yes, increase the temperature and treat with ich meds.

Treat with Prazi if the fish are still flashing

[exv152]

So the flashing is always Ich? I thought it could be gill flukes, velvet, any other parasite as well...

Like I said earlier, flashing can sometimes be a sign of ich. It's hard to tell, but the best method for treatment is increased temperature which the parasites can't tolerate.

[76brian]

Thanks folks, will try the temperature increase for a few days. Will do a big water change tonight also. If the activity continues after that I'll try salt.

If none of that works, hopefully they'll last 'till I get wheels again.

Upon further observation tonight, it's mostly my one SAE doing it, and it's much more frequent tonight. The other one isn't doing it at all. I haven't seen the tetras doing it today either.

[dbl_dbl]

No, the flashing is not always ich. As you said, it could be many other parasitic diseases.

When I get new fish, I always do the following:

Treat with salt (if the fish can tolerate it.  Corydoras, for example, can't).  If you see more signs of ich, yes, increase the temperature and treat with ich meds.

Treat with Prazi if the fish are still flashing

I can honestly say 100% of the times I've seen flashing or scratching it's been Ich, but I'm no vet.

Also, I've never heard Prazi works well for Ich? However, I have used it when I had a Discus with what I thought was an internal parasite and it certainly seemed to do a lot of good.


As for the OP, hey, I could have let you buy that Methylene Blue...then I could have sold you some plants too once yours turned to jelly!

[76brian]

I could have sold you some plants too once yours turned to jelly!

lol, there's money to be made off stupid people like me who forget to read labels

[76brian]

I raised the temp to 82 yesterday evening, and after doing a 50% water change, added a bit of aquarium salt. The box said 1 tbsp per 5 gallons in order to maintain "general health" (8 tbsp for my 40g tank). I dissolved 4 tbsp in about 2-3 cups of tank water and added about 3/4 cup of that water to the tank. I figured I would slowly add the rest of it over the next couple days to put me at half the suggested level. I don't know how sensitive my plants are to salt so I don't want to go all the way.

While I was doing all that, I did notice a white speck on a couple of the tetras, right near the dorsal fins. Upon returning home from work today there appear to be no more spots, or they're at least reduced in size to the point where they aren't as easy to... spot. I also haven't seen any glancing tonight but will observe further. Didn't think I'd start seeing results that quickly but glad I am.