Sick bass or something else?

[Tpepe321]

I have 3 kelberi around 9" that have been acting off. They've been hanging at the top of the tank and doing a decent amount of flashing / rubbing against the sand substrate.
I checked and cleaned my fx6 and it wasn't that dirty, checked water parameters and everything is good ammonia and nitrites are 0ppm nitrates around 20ppm. weekly 50% water changes, plenty of additional waste syphoning between water changes. water is fine

The one thing I can think of is I added a wave maker. I have it near the surface for increased surface agitation / oxygenation. Could this be causing stress? I'm reading that they typically like slow moving water. Should I downsize the wave maker or cut it out completely, unrelated? What's the vote
I'm leaning towards this being the issue since it started within a few weeks of adding.

 

[danotaylor]

I don’t know the answer, but flashing & rubbing is an indication of something irritating them. I’d start by adding 1tbsp/5gal salt to stimulate slime coat regeneration.
Any chance of a contaminant getting into the tank? Aerosols, cleaners, scented fragrances?
In the case of invisible contaminants you could also add charcoal to the canister for a while, unless of course you need to medicate the tank

 

[Tpepe321]

I don’t know the answer, but flashing & rubbing is an indication of something irritating them. I’d start by adding 1tbsp/5gal salt to stimulate slime coat regeneration.
Any chance of a contaminant getting into the tank? Aerosols, cleaners, scented fragrances?
In the case of invisible contaminants you could also add charcoal to the canister for a while, unless of course you need to medicate the tank

No contaminants are getting into the tank
I will try salt.

 

[kno4te]

I’d remove the wavemaker temporarily. Don’t think it’s the wavemaker but see if things improve. See if better after addition of salt. This behavior happens after water changes?

 

[Tpepe321]

I’d remove the wavemaker temporarily. Don’t think it’s the wavemaker but see if things improve. See if better after addition of salt. This behavior happens after water changes?

They’ve been doing it regardless of water changes, no difference before or after

I’m going to add salt after tomorrow’s water change then leave the wave maker off for at least 5 days and just go back to a bubbler for oxygenation. It’s a decently strong wave maker. I’m thinking the increased water current is stressing them out. They’re still in the juvenile very skittish peacock bass phase in general so maybe this set them off.

There had also been some dominance hierarchy behavior a few weeks back but don’t think that’s it because all 3 are acting the same

Other possibility I’m thinking is gill flukes but no idea if this is it or not, just based on the flashing

 

[phreeflow]

Sometimes stray voltage can cause fish to act like that. Was it an older wave maker that’s been sitting around. Try removing it or test for voltage

 

[Tpepe321]

Sometimes stray voltage can cause fish to act like that. Was it an older wave maker that’s been sitting around. Try removing it or test for voltage

I did think about this but, everything in the tank is new and reliable brands. No electrical feeling when sticking in hand in the tank.
Any recommendation for a voltage tester for tanks?

 

[duanes]

Where these Cichla come from in nature, pH is around 7, water is relatvely soft, and nitrates are 10 ppm or less.
What is your pH, and your tap waters hardness?

If your pH is much higher than 7.5, and hardness is moderate or harder, it could be that the species of bacteria these Cichla have little imunity to in your water, are becoming problematic..
And especially with the 20ppm nitrates concentration, could be creating bacterial irritations. Bacteria love those elevated nitrate.

If it were me, I´d increase water changes enough to bring nitrate levels down to , or below 10ppm.