Fish "glancing"? What to do?

Oreo

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 7, 2008
223
1
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Baltimore
Hi folks,
My fish are "glancing". You know, sorta rubbing themselves on the rocks and the sand. I just looked this up and found that it's a preliminary sign of disease to come. So I gotta treat the fish.

First question: What's the best treatment for this?

Second question: Since most of the fish seem to be exhibiting this behavior, can I treat the whole main aquarium without killing my plants?

Any suggestions are appreicated. Thanks.
 

bigspizz

Polypterus
MFK Member
Apr 20, 2007
8,114
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92
.
Post some pictures of the fish. Tell us about them at least. What temp do you run? WC schedule? Perams? Total stock? How long have you had them? How old is the tank? What do you feed? How often? And feel free to throw in anything else.
 

swede

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 26, 2009
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ןɟ 'opuɐןɹo ɹɐǝu
this is also known as "flashing" and is a behavior that african cichlids exhibit. if the frequency is high, and the fish are all doing this about the same time, then yes that can point to disease. but like said, we don't know anything about your fish or tank details http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=244023
 

Oreo

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 7, 2008
223
1
0
Baltimore
This is an old pic. The stock list has changed a lot since then.




My tank is a 110gal. The filtration system is the entire works- 600gph pump, more media then you can shake a stick at, heater, UV lamp, and continuous carbon-filtered tap water drip (20gal/day.) I've been having mild success growing plants in my aquarium and check my water parameters daily with a photspectometer. Ammonia - 0, Nitrates 7ppm, Phosphates .4ppm, Iron (trace mix) .4ppm. In short, water parameters are near perfect. I do not use any salt in my water because of the plants. I do dose Seachem Excel and Florin Axis daily as a carbon supplement, and CSM+B (trace mix) about every other day. Water temp is kept between 78 - 80 degrees F. This tank is about 7 months old, but the entire filtration system and about half the fish stock were transfered from an older smaller aquarium that was several years old.

Stock list:
1 Blue regal cichlid
5 tiger barbs
1 black ghost knife
1 coriadora
1 silver dollar
3 red mollys
3 black mollys
2 sailfin mollys
2 guppys
1 some kinda silver looking catfish. It's small. (not a columbian)
1 small striped thing that looks like a minnow
1 patriot crab.
** 1 large goldfish ** See note at bottom.

I think that's everyone. Hmmm....

My UV bulb burnt out a few weeks ago & I've been lazy about getting it replaced. I plan to do that today though.

I haven't seen all the fish "flashing" yet, but enough to be concerned. I've seen the cichlid do it as well as the striped minnow, and I think the Tiger Barbs, but it might have been a couple of the molly's- I can't remember. So far there are no lesions or any other visible physical signs of illness in the fish.

I however, have been getting a rash on my fingers every time I clean the filter. Wearing rubber gloves seems to help avoid the rash. When I researched the rash I found a form of fish TB bacteria called Mycobacterium marinum seems to fit the description of the rash I've been getting. It's supposed to be very common & can be treated with antibiotics. Not sure what the bacteria do to the fish. Anyone know? Maybe it's the primary suspect.

** About the goldfish... He's been acting very strange lately. He would get spooked at any sudden movements near the tank and would go ram into the side of the tank, sometimes knocking himself unconscious for a few seconds. It was damaging his nose, and he started seeming disoriented & unbalanced. Last night I pulled him from the tank & put him in his own hospital tank with some aquarium salt and Rid-Ich meds. It was subtle but I thought he might have been displaying a little pop-eye but it was hard to tell. The goldfish has not exhibited any signs of "flashing". He's about 3 years old or so.
 

Dominator

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Nov 25, 2008
1,052
1
36
Queens, New York
my fishes do that everyday, scrubbing their body against the substrate, that is sign of disease? what kinda disease?
i thought its a sign of water change.
 

TwistedPenguin

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jan 21, 2008
2,551
3
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Oklahoma
It's typically the 1st sign of ich or gill flukes. However......if you've had those same fish in that same tank for months and haven't added any new fish or any new plants from a fish shop then I can't imagine it's ich. Contrary to what people claim, ich isn't just sitting in the water waiting to strike for years. It has to 'come' from somewhere, same as gill flukes.
Some of my fish will do that after a large water change. Some people say their fish do it all the time, I'd be concerned if mine did it all the time every day.
 

TwistedPenguin

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jan 21, 2008
2,551
3
68
Oklahoma
Well...then it could quite possibly be ich starting. Do you see any white dots on them that look like grains of salt? Don't treat for anything until you know what they've got.
 

LisaH

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 7, 2007
123
0
0
Las Vegas
If I were you...I would try a polishing pad in your filter before medicating the tank.

I have a planted tank and the polishing pad worked for me. I never see my fish flashing anymore.
 

Oreo

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 7, 2008
223
1
0
Baltimore
A polishing pad? What will that do? I use a sort of sponge filter of my own design that does a great job filtering out micron level particulate. While I could use a polishing pad in my filter setup, I can't imagine it doing anything the current filter isn't doing already.
 
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