Guppies and "flashing" behavior = velvet??

Hi, does anyone have any idea what would be causing my guppies to "flash" on the tank decor? I've been told it might be velvet but I don't see anything on their skin when I use a flashlight to check. Could it be the beginning of velvet?

Thanks

 

It could be. or it could be skin flukes. - check this page to see if you think it's skin flukes.

 

I have been noticing the exact same thing in my guppies too, they are also do this weird little "shimmy" every once in a while. they have been that way since I purchased them. I have been keeping a close eye on them every day since I got them (its been about a week and a half maybe two) and I don't see anything on them. I have no idea what's wrong so I can't treat them. i've been looking at pictures and reading the symptoms of velvet and other diseases but they don't seem to fit what I am seeing. there is nothing visible on my guppies and they are acting normal besides the occasional scratching on gravel and tank decor and and that "shimmy" what could this be?

 

How many guppies do you have? what size tank and what ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings do you have? what are you feeding them and have you noticed any white/clear poop?

 

How many guppies do you have? what size tank and what ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings do you have? what are you feeding them and have you noticed any white/clear poop?

I have 5 guppies, two I purchased from petco and the other three are from petsmart. the tank is 10 gallons, all readings are normal so far, i've been testing the water every other day since I got all my fish. for feeding time I alternate between tropical fish flakes and blood worms, sometimes I put in a little of both. only one of my guppies is pooping clear. what does clear poop mean?

 

it's often a sign of internal parasites - they could be your culprit.
might help.

 

that's a good start, I'll be heading to petsmart today to pick some up. today I noticed two of my guppies are actually clear poopers so i'm glad I have an idea of what to do now thanx very much

ok, so I got the food but the gups wouldn't really eat it. so I crushed some since the pellets are kinda big for them but that didn't work so well, and to top it off after putting the food in they all got super hyper and started scratching and shimming (sp) even more. then they started swimming in quick erratic bursts. its like they had the guppy version of catnip or something. ahhh!

 

ok, so I got the food but the gups wouldn't really eat it. so I crushed some since the pellets are kinda big for them but that didn't work so well, and to top it off after putting the food in they all got super hyper and started scratching and shimming (sp) even more. then they started swimming in quick erratic bursts. its like they had the guppy version of catnip or something. ahhh!

wow! that's an extremely unusual reaction to the food.. how long did they act like that? i'd really think they had skin parasites or Oodinium, except you don't see any dots or threads on them.

 

they acted that way for about 5 min. then they were back to normal. I gave them some more today to see what sort of a reaction I got and this time they didn't freak out on me. i'm assuming this is a good thing. I keep checking for any dots/threads but still nothing. I forgot to mention that one of them sometimes goes to the top and gulps air. I was assuming he had some gill damage, but he hasn't been doing it lately. confusing much? lol

 

Hmm.. maybe it was their systems reacting to the meds acting on the problem.. not sure on that one. it sounds good that it's not been repeated.

what is your current ammonia and nitrite levels? going up for air like that with guppies might indicate a problem with one of those levels.

 

the ammonia and nitrite levels are fine actually, I check them every other day. last I looked, which was yesterday, everything was still going smoothly. I thought it was ammonia at first two, so I am kinda stumped. ???

 

How old is the airstone the guppies have? does it seem to be working right (ie: lots of small bubbles)? if he's stopped doing it and it was just the one, it might just be one of those mystery things and nothing to be concerned about.

 

hmmm, I don't have an airstone. I didn't know I needed one. do you think that is the problem?

 

hmmm, I don't have an airstone. I didn't know I needed one. do you think that is the problem?

it could be a part of it, definitely. the air stones add oxygen to the water that the fish need. we even have bubble stones in the betta tanks even though they can go up for air, it's just good for the water I think and often something the fish find fun to play in.

 

yea I see what you mean, I just got a 2 gal tank today for my betta and it included and air stone and as soon as I put my betta in he was playing in it. I had no idea fish actually played . I will be getting one for my 10 gal asap.

 

Ooooh, you're so lucky Maggie, you got a Betta. I would love one, but I need to wait until I've done my research a bit more. Right now, I want to fix my mollies up.

My mollies are having exactly the same problem: flashing. To start with, nothing on the skin. Now one has some white fluff. Looked it up from a link BettaCouple had given me at the time, and fluff means a secondary fungal infection to an initial problem. None the wiser as to what the original problem was, really. Now one of them has come up with really bad finrot, and two of them have swollen eyes.

My boyfriend has treated the water with broad range antibiotics. Have been away from home on business, so not even sure if they're doing OK. I got sick of worrying constantly so he's consciously not giving me updates anymore, to give me a rest. I'll see tomorrow when I get home. My problems were definitely brought about by overcrowding and the stress that comes with it. Am sure of it.

Adding an airstone did bring an improvement at the time.

 

yea I see what you mean, I just got a 2 gal tank today for my betta and it included and air stone and as soon as I put my betta in he was playing in it. I had no idea fish actually played . I will be getting one for my 10 gal asap.

Bettas are very curious and playful fish. The each have things they like to play with, from air bubbles to ping pong balls to caves and plants.

 

That's really cool (that they play). I really can't wait to enter the betta world.

 

warning: your first betta often infects you with something known as "the betta bug".

goldengill - how are your fish doing? haven't heard back from you on them. hope they're doing well now.

 

How's your fish, Goldengill? We seem to have completely taken over your thread, sorry.

My mollies's flashing seems to have stopped after a cure of eSHa 2000. It claims to be a 'broad spectrum medication' (doesn't even say what kind of medication, like antibiotics, etc.) and work against primary and secondary fungus infections, bacterial infections, wound healing, skin parasites, internal parasites, worms, and encourages slime coat production.

No idea if it's true, but all I can say is they are muuuch better. I reckon the fact that I did NOT do water changes in 6 days, and that I reduced the bioload in the tank (removed 3 plecos and 1 molly, bringing the total headcount of my 15G tank to 5 mollies) must have contributed a lot.

 

My 2 cents.... ;D

Guppies are crazy and do strange things... My guppies will roll around on the substrate when the play with each other... Other times they dart around so fast you'd swear they were on fire. Other times the rub against objects in the tank for no reason at all. I have also observed similar behavior with other "live bearing" fish I keep.

I have never seen the danios do any of these things except the rolling around on the substrate thing when they play. So to be honest guppies are crazy and do strange things. Personally I would observe then very closely for a period of time before thinking they are sick or infected. They may just be if they are new additions to your tank though!!

Anyway... I'm done.. ;D

 

So you think it could be... nothing? That would be fabulous. With mine, when they flash and scratch, it really feels wrong. Do yours survive quite long even after they have that behaviour?

 

I have 2 in a tank kept at my Moms that have done that since they were born. It's been about 18 months now and they are still doing the same things and alive and well...

Of course you still should observe them so you can see any signs of illness and what would be called "normal" for your fish. I have found that each fish is a bit different and each fish does different things that I have just learned to call normal behavior for that specific fish. ;D

 

Mmmmh, I see. Hope I haven't been worrying for nothing. It definitely feels wrong when mine do it. Can't really explain. Plus they were getting a host of secondary infections. Interesting, interesting.

 

hey again, I hate to pop this post up again but I thought i'd let everyone know that after using the jungle parasite clear tablets my guppies stopped that funky scratching and flashing behavior. wooo! lol.

 

hey again, I hate to pop this post up again but I thought i'd let everyone know that after using the jungle parasite clear tablets my guppies stopped that funky scratching and flashing behavior. wooo! lol.

congrats!

 

That's great, Maggie. You must be very relieved. So it was parasites, then. Good to know for next time, as it's happened to my fish too. Thanks for letting us know.

 

speaking of poop colors... I noticed this from my females during pernecy ...they ocaisionaly poop a creamy tan color ahh idk like when you see it you think they poop out one of ther organs its thick and that sort of a color ..not the normal brow color..does that mean anything its just from females when there preg not all the time just sometimes