Cichlid is flashing violently a lot- I need some diagnosis help please.

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Jack Dempsey
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Jun 26, 2010
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This has been going on for about a month and I don't see it getting better. I had high nitrates (40-60ppm) and finally got them down. I thought this was the reason for the flashing, but nitrates are now about 10ppm and he is doing it more often. Ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and he eats and acts normal with the exception of flashing around for 5-15 seconds multiple times a day and night. I just for the first time seen him starting to list on his side slightly. The Botia Striata loach in his tank has been fine as well as a L91 pleco. Every once in a while the cichlid cuts himself on a rock while flashing too, but he heals relatively quickly. No signs of anything on his body either, he looks great and acts normal with the exception of the flashing and now just listing onto his side for the first (which could have been him just acting weird/curious about something, although he showed his stress colors and was on the bottom substrate). He is in a 55 gallon and about to go into a 90 gallon this weekend which just got cycled for him. I may be better treating him in the 55 gallon tho as most of my filtration is still setup on that tank. Any clue what could be causing this and what I should do? He is my most favorite fish ever by far and would hate to lose him. I never mentioned that he is a Chocolate cichlid, not that that matters.
 
Do you mean by flashing he is rubbing himself against surfaces in your aquarium? If so then I am having the same exact problem as you.
 
He does on occasion rub himself on stuff, but that I consider somewhat normal for a cichlid as long as the fish is not doing it too often. My fish most often flashes in open water not rubbing himself against anything, just quick bursts of flashing and then stops. He usually twitches a little bit before flashing too, and sometimes just twitches without it leading into flashing. I have been trying to capture it on video as he does it often, but every time I have the camera ready to go nothing happens or I just miss it.

Also, my fish hasn't turned on his side again. I think I was freaking out about that thinking the worst. He must have just been checking something out closely on the bottom while on his side.
 
SOMETHING is bothering him... since you can't see any other signs and can't pinpoint it, I would try some salt baths for him daily for a few days. You can search to find out how to do a salt bath, but basically you remove the fish and put him in a saline solution of up to 3% until he begins to "turn" on his side (looks bad, but it's how you do it). See if that helps and report back.

By the way, there are NO other signs of external parasites or infections? White spots, sandy looking coating, goldish flakes, whitish film, anything at all?
 
There is on occasion a whitey film which comes off of him. I figured it was something with his slime coat. That had been a lot worse in the past, and he had bubbles sticking all over him. I took someone's suggestion of removing my air pump/stone so there was less O2 bubbles in the water and that cut the bubbles back sticking to him. He on occasion still gets some bubbles on him when he gets under the filter current, and then he just wiggles them off. But there is still a definite film that comes off him from time to time.
 
Although I was told by a reputable person in the business that the softness of the water shouldn't be effecting him like this, I should mention he is in hard water. This cichlid prefers soft water and I forgot what my water measured at the LFS for hardness, but it was at the top of what I read the fish should be in...if that matters. In his new 90 gallon tank I have loads of oak driftwood set up in there for tannins and also a bag full of oak leaves to switch out every few weeks, hoping to create a somewhat blackwater condition for him.
 
That was my first thought GreenTerra, and why I was setting up the 90 gallon for him in that manner. But as far as " bleeding sores, thick cloudy coatings on the eyes, brownish coating on the gills", there is nothing like that on him or has there been. The fish has been in my bedroom and I watch him daily up close. Even the bubbles at first thought I thought may be gas, but they never originated from his belly and they only occurred when he went thru current or air bubbles. Just weird, the fish has had problem after problem, but I think it all stems from one thing, but what?

I should have the 90g ready by Monday for him, do I bother? Or should I try a saline treatment as Clockwork suggested? Not that getting a video of him thrashing will show anything other than him thrashing, but I will try and get some good video of him today. I have caught the white filmy stuff on video before.
 
Don't assume that all problems will show in the exact same way as described in a general illness profile. It is only a general guide. A milky slime coat is usually the first and often the only symptom of milder Acidosis/Alkalosis. Ammonia can produce the same effect. Another is chlorine/chlorimine in tap water. What are you using for chlorine treatment when doing water changes?
 
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