- Have you tested your water?
- Yes
- If yes, what is your ammonia?
- 0
- If yes, what is your nitrite?
- 0
- If yes, what is your nitrate?
- 15ppm
- If I did not test my water...
- ...I recognize that I will likely be asked to do a test, and that water tests are critical for solving freshwater health problems.
- Do you do water changes?
- Yes
- What percentage of water do you change?
- 31-40%
- How frequently do you change your water?
- Every week
- If I do not change my water...
- ...I recognize that I will likely be recommended to do a water change, and water changes are critical for preventing future freshwater health problems.
285L tank
2 x 2217 eheim classics
eheim powerhead.
temp 78F
substrate is pool filter sand mixed with fine coral sand
tank decor basalt rocks only obtained from LFS
stock are all male Malawi with 8 fish all under 4 inches - no bullying seen amongst the group (fingers xd stays this way)
fed NLS and Dainichi twice daily
water change up to 40% weekly using safe.
Issue: tank has been up and running now going on 5 months. Fish are always flashing and scratching on substrate and happens constantly. Fish have never had any white spots show. Can’t see anything around gills either. Fish don’t appear stressed with all feeding and lots of mouthfuls of fry regularly. Fish are not gasping or lethargic anyway. It’s really frustrating.
Ive treated the tank for 2 weeks with white spot remedy by blue planet and recently treated the tank for 2 weeks with praziquantel in case of flukes but see no change.
Was in the past using seachem salts and buffers when prepping water for changes to maintain a steady higher ph of 8.0 and thought maybe the buffers were irritating the fish so slowly stopped adding the buffers but again no change to this behaviour.
current water specs are:
ph 7.2
Ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 15ppm
Kh 8dkh
Gh 9dgh
using a jbl master kit and have done a number of other tests like iron etc and nothing ill shown.
Ive done similar tests on my tap water prior to being treated with safe in large storage tubs but nothing that was to be concerned ( no ammonia or nitrates ).
Also tried taking out the powerhead and also swapping out the heater to eliminate some kind of electrical charge but zip.
Anyone able to offer any advice? These fish look absolutely happy and understand fish flash occasionally but this scratching is constant amongst All the fish.
Appreciate if One of you champions can help!
2 x 2217 eheim classics
eheim powerhead.
temp 78F
substrate is pool filter sand mixed with fine coral sand
tank decor basalt rocks only obtained from LFS
stock are all male Malawi with 8 fish all under 4 inches - no bullying seen amongst the group (fingers xd stays this way)
fed NLS and Dainichi twice daily
water change up to 40% weekly using safe.
Issue: tank has been up and running now going on 5 months. Fish are always flashing and scratching on substrate and happens constantly. Fish have never had any white spots show. Can’t see anything around gills either. Fish don’t appear stressed with all feeding and lots of mouthfuls of fry regularly. Fish are not gasping or lethargic anyway. It’s really frustrating.
Ive treated the tank for 2 weeks with white spot remedy by blue planet and recently treated the tank for 2 weeks with praziquantel in case of flukes but see no change.
Was in the past using seachem salts and buffers when prepping water for changes to maintain a steady higher ph of 8.0 and thought maybe the buffers were irritating the fish so slowly stopped adding the buffers but again no change to this behaviour.
current water specs are:
ph 7.2
Ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 15ppm
Kh 8dkh
Gh 9dgh
using a jbl master kit and have done a number of other tests like iron etc and nothing ill shown.
Ive done similar tests on my tap water prior to being treated with safe in large storage tubs but nothing that was to be concerned ( no ammonia or nitrates ).
Also tried taking out the powerhead and also swapping out the heater to eliminate some kind of electrical charge but zip.
Anyone able to offer any advice? These fish look absolutely happy and understand fish flash occasionally but this scratching is constant amongst All the fish.
Appreciate if One of you champions can help!
