Fish Rubbing Against Objects

[Hulka9]

I noticed my young black ghost knife flicking against objects tonight. Theres no signs of ich or any external abnormalities on him or any of my other fish. Ive seen my GBR rub against things as well. Ammonia and nitrite are all 0. Nitrate in the 20-30 range. PH around 7.5 to 7.0 when my co2 is on. Water quality isnt an issue. Its a 29G and I do weekly 50% water changes and currently have 3 filters running on the tank eheim 2213, 2215, and a whisper 30G filter (getting them cycled for my larger tank for the BGK) and a 15W uv sterilizer as well. I have the 2215 flow turned down so i dont have a whirlpool in my tank ?

Also, the 2213 and whisper filters are completely cycled.

As for any additives, i do daily excel and 2x week flourish and iron. I also have pressurized co2.

I feed a mixed diet of nls ultra red pellets, cobalt flakes, various frozen foods, and live blackworms.

Any ideas? Im stumped.

 

[fishman888888]

Got the same issue...

Since i added co2 a week and a half ago my bosemanis (9/12 of them) flash...theyre the only type of fish that flash in the tank

No signs of illness, still eating like pigs...

0 deaths so far...

I wanna figure out whats going on before the stress gets to them.

They rub their upper back halves along plants...so i think we can rule out gill flukes

 

[BBradbury]

Your Fish

Hello Hulk...

If your fish is acting abnormally, it's likely water related. If you're not removing and replacing half the tank water weekly for a tank up to 30 gallons and every two for a larger tank, then you should consider doing it. Small water changes of less than half the tank's volume do little to maintain safe water conditions for your fish.

If you have livebearing fish in a species or community tank, you can add a bit of standard aquarium salt to the new, treated tap water. A teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half in every 5 gallons is sufficient. Do this until you notice the fish beginning to act more normally.

B

 

[Mattyfelts]

I have to disagree with the above, I don't believe a 50% has to happen on anything below 30 gallons, it all depends on your params. TBH, fish will flash for a tonne of reasons. One of these including ich and external parasites, however they could also just have something stuck in their gills, have an itch, etc. Look up tropical fish flashing and just skim through some articles. Goodluck!

 

[BBradbury]

Large, Frequent Water Changes

I have to disagree with the above, I don't believe a 50% has to happen on anything below 30 gallons, it all depends on your params. TBH, fish will flash for a tonne of reasons. One of these including ich and external parasites, however they could also just have something stuck in their gills, have an itch, etc. Look up tropical fish flashing and just skim through some articles. Goodluck!

Hello Matt...

Nothing else you do for your tank will guarantee pure water conditions more than large, frequent water changes. Larger, and more frequent would be better, but only 1 in 100,000 tank keepers would have the time to do them. Half the tank's volume removed every week in tanks up to 30 gallons and every two weeks for larger tanks will keep the tank inhabitants at their healthiest and can definitely be done. Very small tanks should have half the water changed a couple of times a week.

Most, if not all tank problems are water related. Keep the water pure and your fish and plants will be fine.

B

 

[treemanone2003]

Hello Matt...

Nothing else you do for your tank will guarantee pure water conditions more than large, frequent water changes. Larger, and more frequent would be better, but only 1 in 100,000 tank keepers would have the time to do them. Half the tank's volume removed every week in tanks up to 30 gallons and every two weeks for larger tanks will keep the tank inhabitants at their healthiest and can definitely be done. Very small tanks should have half the water changed a couple of times a week.

Most, if not all tank problems are water related. Keep the water pure and your fish and plants will be fine.

B

+ 1 for sure !!! I'm one of those 100,000 that change that volume of water that often. My 55g gets 3, 75% WC's weekly and 1, 100% (yes, fish laying on the bottom glass) weekly. But let me point out that I don't keep guppies and mollies and neons. I keep Discus and they require much better husbandry than your average fish. They also cost about $150 per fish. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[fishman888888]

I dont believe its an illness..... it has something to do with the amount of co2 in the water... if you dont have it set properly the ph will be affected...

I think thats why my bosemanis are flashing anyway,.. the ph dropped when i added co2...im still trying to get the timing right for light/co2

 

[Hulka9]

My CO2 shouldnt be the problem. I raised my KH with crushed coral so the PH doesnt fluctuate too much. Also, as i said in my original post, i do carry out 50% water changes weekly.

 

[fishman888888]

Can CO2 make fish flash [Archive] - Aquaria Central

 

[fishman888888]

I think you have to lower the co2

Im going to attempt it, ill let you know how it goes

 

[TomCarter13]

I think it may be irritation? When doing a water change, if the water hasn't been aged long enough once poured into tank small micro bubbles (the bubbles that stick to the glass of your tank) can stick to the fish's gills. This goes away after awhile but every time you do a wc it will come back making the fish irritated and making it scratch. If it scratches on rough edged objects it could result in damage. If this isn't the case, flashing still is a symptom for like what the others said above about external parasites, ich, sores, etc. is it scratching on just its gills or on anywhere else on the body?

Also what everyone is saying about doin wc more often really truly does help. Treemanone has told me so and already it has given benefits toward the look of my tank and the health of my fish! I'm slowly doing more and more from going from 50% and this week 75%!

Hope some of this helps?!
Also good luck!

Tom

 

[Hulka9]

Fishman, in the link you posted that guys ph was dropping rapidly. My Kh is high enough where co2 doesnt make it drop that much. As long as my fish arent gasping at the surface i dont think it would be co2, but let me know how it goes for you. I might try it.

The bGK was just randomly flashing through the eater in short bursts. He wasnt hitting an exact spot i dont think. If I had to say I would say its gills mostly.

 

[treemanone2003]

Op, what other fish do you currently have in the tank ? Were they all introduced together ? What's the most recent addition/s also ? What's the to ? With those additions, did you practice any QT along the way ?

As I've given some more thought to this you mentioned a ram doing the same thing. All fish can flash for various reasons so it's kind of hard to tell what may be going on as there are a few possibilities that you won't really "see" any abnormalities in them. For me, your nitrates seem to be a little high though.

It's good to hear you'll be moving the BGK to a larger tank and IMO, the sooner the better as it's not capable of thriving in such a tiny tank. What size will it be going into ?

 

[Hulka9]

He will be going into a 125G. Im setting it up next wednesday.

Im assuming he will eventually get too big for a 125 so I will bring him back if that happens.

I haven't added any new fish for over a month. The baby oscar (also going in the 125) was the last one.

1 Oscar (2in.)
1 BGK (4in.)
2 GBR
3 swordtail
5 peppered cory
1 dwarf blue gourami

I wasn't able to quarantine.