Is it normal for tiger barbs to flash sometimes?

I have a tank that’s been fully cycled for 3 months and today I spontaneously purchased some tiger barbs. I put them in my tank along with my other fish and I watched them for a good amount of time and noticed that one of them flashed one of my fake plants and then a few others did right after. Now I’m so concerned that I just introduced ich to my tank. I know I’m dumb for not quarantining them is it normal for tiger barbs to have this behavior sometimes? Please help.

 

I would watch them. Mine do it a lot when stressed, but they always calm down afterwards. That could be an explanation. They could also be sick, so just monitor them to make sure they’re ok.

 

Keep an eye on them and don't treat your tank unless you're sure something is wrong. Healthy fish in good clean water won't be as susceptible to disease. I have had gill flukes and other such irritants appear in my tanks only for my Rasboras to fight them off without any problems. Do keep medicine on hand just in case though. Any product containing malachite green is an easy way to eradicate ich but the flashing could be from anything, stress as mentioned above or flukes or maybe it'll just stop and you'll never know the reason

 

I saw a few of mine doing it so I treated the tank with Prazipro. Didn’t see any flashing for a few weeks so I thought “great, problem solved”.
But then a couple months later, I started seeing it again. And as you mentioned, it’s usually 2 or 3 of them doing it in secession on the same plant leaf. So I’m wondering if it is some sort of dominance exhibit?
Anyway, I only see this maybe once a month. So I'm not going to treat for anything unless I see other symptoms.

 

I saw a few of mine doing it so I treated the tank with Prazipro. Didn’t see any flashing for a few weeks so I thought “great, problem solved”.
But then a couple months later, I started seeing it again. And as you mentioned, it’s usually 2 or 3 of them doing it in secession on the same plant leaf. So I’m wondering if it is some sort of dominance exhibit?
Anyway, I only see this maybe once a month. So I'm not going to treat for anything unless I see other symptoms.

I think it might be a dominance thing. My biggest, fattest ones tend to be the ones who do it the most.

 

I would be more concerned for the other fish in the tank. Barbs are known to nip. And nip until they kill.

 

I recently added a large piece of wood to my barb tank, they took turns flashing it repeatedly and after a few minutes it was defeated. They now leave it alone. Tiger Barbs are funny critters. Hope this helps.

 

What does "flashing" mean. Thanks

 

What does "flashing" mean. Thanks

Flashing is the term used to describe a fish quickly "flicking" their bodies against anything in the tank. It's called flashing because the fish's scales tend to flash in the light when they do this. It's often seen as an early symptom to ich, velvet, flukes, and other external issues.

 

I've seen my SAE do this on occasion for years now. I just assume it does this from a minor irritant.