Hey everyone, been slightly concerned about some fish and after debating with my wife for a while, decided to turn to the helpful ladies and gents for a decision.
In my 30g tank, which has an aqua-tech 60g filter and pair of airstones, I have a community of livebearers. A platy and molly have been acting funky, and from what I've researched, it appears to be flashing. They will swim around causally, then approach a leaf, and swim very rapidly, rubbing their side against the leaf.
The platy and molly both recently had an issue with some scales appearing distended slightly, which had since then healed with salt baths (blamed a CAE I had a few days ago,) which happens to be the side they scratch. I also have a guppy that is sort of scratching as well.
I can see no external parasites, signs of fungus or ich, and the flashing seems random and infrequent. My wife argues they are having fun, as while they do scratch/flash several times a day, its not constant.
Parameters are in check, ph 8.4, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10.
Also, I recently added some ivy to the tank, snipped part of it and used for decoration. The ivy is growing well, and the fish like nibbling on it every now and then. Could the ivy be causing the behavior, as the fish only flash against it, not rocks, gravel or anything?
In my 30g tank, which has an aqua-tech 60g filter and pair of airstones, I have a community of livebearers. A platy and molly have been acting funky, and from what I've researched, it appears to be flashing. They will swim around causally, then approach a leaf, and swim very rapidly, rubbing their side against the leaf.
The platy and molly both recently had an issue with some scales appearing distended slightly, which had since then healed with salt baths (blamed a CAE I had a few days ago,) which happens to be the side they scratch. I also have a guppy that is sort of scratching as well.
I can see no external parasites, signs of fungus or ich, and the flashing seems random and infrequent. My wife argues they are having fun, as while they do scratch/flash several times a day, its not constant.
Parameters are in check, ph 8.4, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10.
Also, I recently added some ivy to the tank, snipped part of it and used for decoration. The ivy is growing well, and the fish like nibbling on it every now and then. Could the ivy be causing the behavior, as the fish only flash against it, not rocks, gravel or anything?