Cichlid Flashing

I recently added five small cichlids to my 55 gal tank. Within a couple days about half of them start flashing. It is very constant they were flashing on the rocks and the substrate, then they all start swimming at the top like they're starving for oxygen. I lowered the water level i have a bubbler, I also have a wave maker. The wavemaker creates a lot of waves, the fish are right in front of it swimming against the tide i'm not sure exactly what that means. These are all small fish about 1 in so i don't think they're starving for oxygen but i'm not positive, it sure does appear that way but there's plenty of surface agitation. Since i had the flashing i started medication of API General Cure this morning. Any advice or experience would be most helpful

 

What are your parameters? Anything that could have contaminated the water like cleaning chemicals used nearby or something?

 

That sounds just like flukes. General cure may kill a couple but won't eradicate them. I would try something like prazi pro and if it doesn't get better go with something stronger.

 

We'll need more information. Did you cycle the tank before adding them, if so how? Can you test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate then list the results? A few photos of the fish in question would also help. Any other fish in the tank? If so, how are they acting?

The gasping at the surface sounds like ammonia problems to me, flashing could be any number of problems such as poor water quality, ich, or other skin infection.

 

The tank was already cycled I had 15 adult male Peaks all over 4 inch long in the tank. I removed them and added 5 small Peacocks then and about 10 more. About 10 of them came from Tamba Bay Cichlids and the other 5 were Peacocks that I raised that were about 5 months old.

The ammonia is low maybe 0.25ppm, Nitrite is zero and the Nitrate is somewhat high at 10 to 20 ppm but our water source is really hard water with Nitrate.

I have 7 tanks and been raising Cichlids for about a year and never seen this behavior on swimming upstream into the waver maker. Also never seen that much flashing. I have a feeling I might of got a something from my Tamba Bay Cichlid shipment. As I mentioned I added the API General Cure this morning and it does seem to be working for the flashing. The amount of flashing has reduced since yesterday. Regarding them swimming at the top, it does not seem normal. See the attached picture, they are seeming horizontal as normal but only a few inch from the waver maker. It looks like a salmon swimming upstream,.

Another way of describing it: It appears they are on a treadmill, they swimming but they are not moving. They are swimming the same speed as the waver maker in the opposite direction.

 

That sounds just like flukes. General cure may kill a couple but won't eradicate them. I would try something like prazi pro and if it doesn't get better go with something stronger.

Flukes is def a possibility. But without knowing tank parameters or seeing these fish, it could also be a number of other things.

OP, do you have any pics of the fish as well?

 

Flukes is def a possibility. But without knowing tank parameters or seeing these fish, it could also be a number of other things.

OP, do you have any pics of the fish as well?

That is true as well

 

Sometimes my Africans will hang by the filter out put when my dominant male is being a bully, so that may explain the behavior. Maybe see what happens when you turn off the lights and try feeding them. If they are interested in feeding then I wouldn't worry too much. Even if they don't eat give it a few days with the meds, if they still are acting off then you may want to try another med.

Hopefully whatever they have won't infect the other new fish. There's a chance that the ammonia in the shipping bags built up too much and caused some gill burns, which could explain the "starving for oxygen" behavior. Time will tell I suppose.

 

the ammonia is your culprit. The only acceptable level is 0. I'd start with water changes.

 

Here is a video.
https://sharing.oodrive.com/pfv2-sh...ixopMkPpWNpB46zv?action=view&locale=en#/files
It's a cycled tank, but all the fish are new, they were purchased online. It appears they are trying to flush something through their system.