I have a few tiger barbs who have been flashing and scraping for a few weeks now. There are no signs of parasitic infection, no ich spots or velvet, no fast gill movements, they're eating just fine, water paramaters are perfect (ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 10ish). Just to be safe I started treating with Coppersafe last week, but there seems to be no improvement. What else could be causing this?
Flashing/Scraping that is not parasitic?
- Thread starter jrmjrm
- Start date
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dkpate
Aquarium Advice Addict
Some fish "mark" their territories. That might be whats going on, but I am no barb expert. 
i3k
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hmm, never had barbs flash just because. You might have ich but keeping it under control enough that there is no outbreak...which is why you might not be seeing any white dots on the fish. Ich can attack the gills directly and you would not see the dots on the fish unless there is a major outbreak.
What's the temperature in the tank?
What's the temperature in the tank?
The temp is 78f. I've been treating with Coppersafe for almost 2 weeks now, just to be on the safe side. They have slowed on the flashing and scraping, but it's still happening. I'm thinking it *may* be velvet. I've got one giant danio who is looking slightly dull on his back - the weird thing is that the danios are not flashing or scraping. I tried the flashlight thing to test for velvet, but to be honest I have no idea what I'm looking for and the fish are already naturally a brownish/orange color so I don't know how I could tell if they had an orange looking film on them anyway. The tiger barbs are nearly impossible to see a "film" on, they're albinos so they are definately already pale orange in color. Coppersafe should take care of the velvet or ick, so maybe it will clear up... At least I hope it does, because they're stressing me out!
dkpate
Aquarium Advice Addict
Velvet is more like a fuzz, not a film. It looks just like orange velvet LOL.
Hmm... Well, there is definately none of that on any of the fish. I think I'd notice orange velvet, lol. The scraping seems to have cut way down, I think I'll just treat with Coppersafe for another week or so. Hopefully if it is a mild case of ich or velvet that will take care of it. Thanks for the advise, everyone.
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