twitchy kenyi's

[rslinn]

My kenyi chichlids have been acting strange lately. I have 4 mature (3-4") kenyi (2 male and 2 female) in a 30 gallon tank. They have bred once and there is 8 young (1.5") also in with the adults. I have about 30lbs of split slate providing lots of hiding spots for all. ac30 and ac50 for filtration. 0 amonia 0 nitrite 40 nitate. I do a 25% water change every 7-10 days. Anyways the mature fish have started to scratch against the gravel and slate and generally act kind of twitchy. This has gone on for 4-6 weeks with no outward signs of disease (no spots,etc,). This week I noticed the males have begun to hang in the flow from the filters and there fins slightly clamped. I am going to increase my water change regiment to get the nitrates down but I'm not sure if I should treat for anything else. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[Icedkore]

I would first off test your tap water to see if there is anything that is off a little. Also I had this problem off and on for about a year in my african tank. After much digging I found that a lot of it has to do with the change in pH when you do a water change. I hope this help if you have anymore questions about africans pm and I try to help you.

 

[repair]

Any time fish are "flashing" I add some salt. I would add 1/2 a cup per 30 gal.

If we thought that you had ich I would use 1 cup per 30 gal.

Salt helps their slime coat and it's almost always a good place to start.

 

[fishnutham]

this could be from mild ph shock there is a change in the the tap water during winter months

if they stop twiching after a couple of days this is likely
test your ph before a water change and after see if there is a big jump


also make sure you are mixng in the water conditioner well when you do a change
i always put in enough for the volume of the tank not just the % being changed


if any of this doesnt help you probably have the early signs of ich treat with higher water temps and salt good luck

 

[rslinn]

Thanks for the advice so far. PH shock has been mentioned .My ph has been quite stable at around 7.6. I will check my new water and check the tank after I do my water change today. But what is the range I should be ok with . Can it vary up or down by .2 (7.4 or 7.8)
as I always check ph before my water changes and have noticed no more than this and it always seems to stableize at 7.6. Thanks again for any help.