Hello my Cichlids appear to have problems. I have 3 bumblebees, 2 Electric Yellows, and 2 Peacocks. Yesterday I noticed that the bumblebees and yellows have started flashing but I dont see any white or black spots. Otherwise they fish are behaving and eating properly. I did notice that one of the bumblebees has a metalic silver on its gills. I cant remember if it was there a few days ago but cant find any info on it. Any ideas as to what this could be?
Can you post pictures? What are your current water parameters? When was your last water change? Sorry for all the questions, but it is impossible to diagnose a problem with so little info.
Sorry for not providing more info. My tank has been up for 2 weeks. I added TSS 1 weeks ago before putting the fish in and have yet to do a water change (heard to wait 2 weeks to change after adding TSS). My water tests at: GH 180 KH 180 PH 7.5 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 20 Ammonia less than .02 ppm 79-80 degrees Im planing on doing a bigish (50%) water change and gravel vacuum today and adding another bottle of TSS just to be safe. I dont have a good camera so pictures will be fairly blurry. Thank you
Definitely continue to monitor. It appears that your tank is on the verge of being cycled already. Your parameters look good. As for the flashing, a couple of thoughts come to mind.... Flashing is due to being in an uncycled tank. Gills can be affected by ammonia or nitrite buildup; or to pH fluctuations that go hand in hand with cycling. If this is the cause your fish should quickly recover. Or, flashing is due to gill flukes or other parasite. In which case you would treat with an anti-parasite med. QuickCure may be a good option as it does not affect the tank cycle. Not sure which direction to take. It's tough as you want to give the TSS time to finish. As you are planning another dose of TSS maybe you should dose QuickCure? It is a 3 day treatment.
I would give the TSS time to finish. If the flashing is just due to being in an uncycled tank it should go away as catsma said. If the TSS has done its job, the tank is cycled and the flashing continues I would assume it is a parasite and then you'll have to figure out the best course of treatment. But again, let the TSS finish. This will diagnose the flashing by whether it clears up or continues.
ok so you both sugest to leave the water alone for another week? As in dont change it today? I just ask because a fair bit of poop, ect. has collected at the bottom. Thank you both for your help
Flashing: Describes a fish that turns on its side and makes a rapid semicircular swimming motion. These fish will frequently rub on objects in the aquarium as well. Flashing is considered to be a sign of an "itchy" fish. Ectoparasite infestation is the most common cause of this behavior. That is the medical definition of flashing if that helps any. My fish rub against the bottom periodically and display "itchy" behavior and I personally think they have an itch. They have never shown any signs of Ectoparasite Infestation.
As my fish are otherwise behaving and eating normally I dont think they have a parasite infestation. They also are not turning on their sides or swimming in circles. They just rub themselves on the rocks and then continue swimming normally. Think I'm just going to wait it out for a few more days and see if anything pops up. Just wondering if I should do a water change today or wait another week for the TSS do do its thing.
I would do a water change if your fish are stressing that badly. But wait for someone else to chime in, I don't want to have you do something that isn't appropriate without a second opinion from someone more experienced than myself.
As there is only a couple more days left with this TSS dose, I'd go ahead and wait, unless this behavior worsens. Do the gills still look a healthy pink/red? Or, are they a dark purple red? Dark gills with sluggish behavior, hanging at the surface gulping down air, clamped fins are signs of fish stress that would indicate starting your water changes. Hope this helps.
The gills dont look out of the ordanary and they are all in the middle or near the bottom of the tank. I will wait a few more days for a water change unless they get worse. Thank you everyone for the help. I love this forum.
