Caper Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 This is the tank that has the barbs and red eyes in it. I haven't noticed the red eyes flashing, not to say they are not, just saying haven't seen them. But the barbs are flashing, but there's nothing on them, that is visible to the naked eye that is. Any suggestons on what could be happening, or what I should do? I will test the water today and post later, but I have been doing weekly water changes. Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted January 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 Anybody? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kd123 Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Can you explain what you mean by 'flashing'? Do you mean the flashing or raising of their fins? Or do you mean flinging themselves against the plants and rocks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danilada Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 But the barbs are flashing, but there's nothing on them, that is visible to the naked eye that is. I guess what they are flashing the naked eye cant see, maybe the corys can :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Take a sample of the water so you can test it later, and do a large water change now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 hi caper by flashing do you mean they are rubbing up against rocks. Do they dive head first down at the substrate and try and scratch their head area? Are there any white spots visible at all? Has their been any other signs, ie going off food, fish separating from the rest of the school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted January 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Thanks for the replies folks kd123 wrote: Can you explain what you mean by 'flashing'? Flashing (a.k.a. scratching) against the gravel, ornaments, rocks, whatever. So yes jolliolli, that is what they are doing and some of above. I did just what you said Conch tested the water. Didn't get to check it the last 2 days because it was dark & I find it easier to see the test results in daylight. Anyway, pH between 7.4 & 7.6, nitrate b/w 10 & 20, AMMONIA - b/w .25 & .5 (I find it difficult to tell unless they are dead on so that's why I say between :oops: ). So needless to say I did what you said a big water change. So, I'm thinking I'm overfeeding because I have been doing weekly water (on rare occasion may go to 2 weeks, but that is rare) changes. I've always fed my fishies twice a day with the exception of Sunday they don't get fed. But I'm also wondering, I always used to take out 3 buckets of water unless for some reason a larger change was needed. I have 2 tanks 29 gallons, 1 tank 10 gallon (only one bucket/change). Anway, never paid attention just how low the water became in the tanks. But now, I'm using the vac that connects to the faucet for the 29 gallons. So what do you recommend how I measure what I'm taking out, just an estimate? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 How many litres/gallons in a bucket? if its just a normal 10L/2-3G one then times it by three buckets, thats 30L/7G or so, 29G total water volume is 120 ish litres, 30L out of 120L is about 25%, so drop the water level about 1/4 of the way down in the big tanks. Made sense to me anyway EDIT: by the way, it doesnt have to be any perfect amount, just drop the water level a third or so of the way down and you will be sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kd123 Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Thanks caper I would normally associate 'flashing' as when fish raise their fins when they meet or confront other fish ie fighters and ciclhids. ....thats my understanding of the term. What you are describing seems to be a symptom of many things if other threads on this forum indicate anything. Good luck trying to work out what is happening....this has been a common symptom in my tanks as well. Once you have worked it out then even more luck to you in working out how to treat it, with what and where to get it from!!! I wish you more success with this than i have had. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted January 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 kd123, I believe what you mean in terms of what betta's do (I guess other types too :-? P) that is called flaring, don't know if I spelled it right though :oops: where as flashing is "scratching" their bodies against something. Well, I did the big water change so I'm hoping it was the ammonia being up a bit that was causing the problem then I can fix it with water changes. I'll keep testing for a few days and more water changes if needed. Are you experiencing your fish flashing now? What kind? Anything visible on them such as white spots? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 hi caper, are the gills red and are they hanging out near the surface? Could be that the ammonia buildup has given them a gill burn/irritation and they may be having trouble taking up oxygen. If its the case the water change should help, keep us posted as to whether that helps or if the problem continues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kd123 Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 kd123, I believe what you mean in terms of what betta's do (I guess other types too :-? P) that is called flaring, don't know if I spelled it right though :oops: where as flashing is "scratching" their bodies against something. Caper Whoops Whoops :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted January 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 jolliolli, their gills don't appear to be red that I can see and they are not hanging out near the top of tank. Checked yesterday and today the ammonia is back to 0. Still notice some flashing last night but not as much. So I'll keep an eye on them to see if it stops, well most of it anyway as I understand some flashing is normal however what they were doing was not! What I think is strange is that I haven't seen the red eye tetras flashing! I'd say the increase in the ammonia was due to overfeeding. I usually feed twice a day and try to time it to roughly what they'll eat in 2 minutes. But obviously still too much. So I'm going to try just feeding them once a day for awhile to see what happens. Besides when I feed them in the evening they don't see to be as interested. Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted January 26, 2008 Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 hmm keep an eye on them, i had a similar problem in my community tank with my ruby barbs flashing, and scratching eventually it spread to my rams and i eventually diagnosed the problem as gill flukes. The barbs never died, but i did lose my blue rams, golden rams and a couple of neons before the problem was sorted. What i noticed was flashing against rocks in the barbs, the rams stopped eating and developed sunken bellys and a loss of control. I treated the entire tank with prazi over the course of a couple of weeks and eventually got on top of the problem but it took several weeks to come right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted January 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 i eventually diagnosed the problem as gill flukes How did you know it was gill flukes? That's what I'm always scared because from what I understand you can't see them. Other than the flashing, no other noticable symptoms. Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 really just from the symptoms, water quality was good so i knew that wasn't the issue, no evidence of white spots so that ruled out ich. That pretty much left gill flukes, i treated them for a couple of weeks with the prazi and large water changes and after that the flashing stopped. however during that time i lost the rams, the ruby barbs were the first fish to show signs, and some of the other fish never showed any symptoms. I think ruby barbs/tiger barbs are pretty hardy, i had a pair with 4 1 month old fry and all exhibited symptoms but i didn't lose any of them. The other symptoms i noticed in the rams was refusal of food, hanging out at the bank of the tank and flashing against the rocks and gravel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted January 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 By the way, thanks evil on the suggestion re: how much water to remove Still some flashing going on, not as much. Still no other "visible" symptoms. However, I was wondering if it was the increase in the ammonia that was the cause (which is back to 0) is it possible that IF that is what was causing the irritation that it make take a couple of days for the flashing to stop? If you know what I mean, ammonia caused irritation, ammonia back to 0...but could take a couple of days for whatever nasties is did to the fish to "heal" so to speak?? Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 definitely. I would wait several days, the irritation from the ammonia may take several days to go away. If the flashing is lessening instead of increasing then it does sound like it was the ammonia rather than a disease. i would wait a few more days and see how they are going then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 I agree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted January 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Thanks jolliolli and Caryl Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2008 This is weird. Still some flashing going on. However, noticed yesterday and today it only seems to happen when the light is on :-? They seem to stay at the bottom more when the light is on too. But do go up and down so to speak. These are the fish that used to be upstairs in my apartment and I didn't turn the light on as often then as I do now, would that possibly make a difference? Opions please Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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