Fish Flashing

[scalesojustice]

i noticed my two blood parrots flashing the past couple of days. the water parameters check out 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, less than 10 ppm nitrate. they are acting normal and appear happy.

but i've noticed that they only flash around feeding time. i usually feed them around 8 p.m., but i have been late the past couple of days and monday i was fasting them. i find that after i feed them they don't flash.

so, is flashing purely a sign of disease? or are my fish throwing a temper-tantrum because they want food? will they do this? they are goofy little mutants.

 

[joannde]

I used to think that every flash was potential ich - not so. Sometimes its just an irritant and not a cause for concern. I do have to wonder if yours are trully throwing tantrums to get attention (ie: fed) - that would be pretty ingenious on their part !

 

[scalesojustice]

i've been on time with the feedings the past two days and no flashing what so ever. and they are healthy and happy.

maybe this weekend, when i have more time, i will delay their feeding to see if they start flashing again.

 

[joannde]

smart fish ! LOL I hope they don't start a "flashing for attention" trend amoung all fish - all their keepers would be driving themselves nuts !

 

[bigmac1878]

i'm going to ask a daft question now:
what exactly is 'flashing'? it's a term i seen used a fair bit on these forums, but i just don't know.
thanks

 

[joannde]

Flashing is when fish rub themselves against rocks, plants or ornaments - it looks like they are trying to scratch an itch. Often when they do this you can see their bellies a bit, which are whiter than their upper scales, hence the term "flashing"

 

[scalesojustice]

unfortnuately, the flashing has increased and small patches of light discoloration on the fish bodies are appearing. i've started increasing the temp. the patches don't look like ich, but just a discoloration - white-ish. any ideas?

 

[scalesojustice]

so i screwed up big time.

i had some aquarium salt for treating another tank a while back. my two parrots were still flashing occassinally, so i decided to treat the tank. big mistake. i failed to acclimate them properly. i also had been subtly increasing the temp incase of ich and it was way too high.

i did this tuesday after a water change. wednesday night they were both laying on the substrate (oddly enough, the eel is fine, despite getting himself stuck head first in between two rocks for lord knows how long tuesday night). i did a water change right away and lowered the temp slowly to the normal 79. they seemed to perk up a bit, their stress stripes had faded.

last night, i was pretty busy so i didn't get a good look at them but i did another 80 percent water change. this morning they are still hiding and skiddish. if i approach the tank, they go nuts and hide.

this is my first time with blood parrots, so i'm not sure if this is normal behavior and they will re-adjust. i'm sure it was a big shock to their systems and that they are terrified, but i can't tell if my water changes are helping.

any other suggestions. i've tested my parameters and they check out ammonia - 0, nitrite - 0, nitrate less than 10. those haven't changed at all.

i feel so bad, i shouldn't have messed with the tank. now they hate me.

 

[joannde]

perhaps its a bacterial infection ? can you find some medicated food for them ?
I hope they soon realize that you were only trying to help them and that they fully recover, physically and emotionally