Why do fish "flash"?

[Freshwater Tim]

Justonemoretank is correct....you need to take one step at a time. Get you ammonia to ZERO. Run the carbon to remove any meds that remain in the tank, continue your water changes and make sure you are dechlorinating your water with every change. Once you get the water parameters where they should be you can take it from there. As it is now, you would just be throwing meds at something that may not be there. Check your PH, Nitrites and Nitrates as well. Sudden changes in PH, or high levels of either Nitrite or Nitrate can cause flashing as well.

Keep a close eye on the fish for anything unusual....like white spots, a film covering the fish....anything around the gills or them getting inflamed or red. At that point you can medicate for the appropriate problem.

Right now get your water parameters in check, keep the temp up around 86 to 88 and use salt. Watch the fish closely (get up real close with a magnifying glass if you can)

Be careful of cleaning your filters and substrate and doing frequent water changes all at the same time as this may throw the tank into a mini cycle which you may have done already. This would explain the ammonia levels.

good luck!

 

[justonemoretank]

The only thing I see here that could have happened with respect to your biological filter is that you cleaned the media with tap water, which contains chlorine and chloramines, which kill beneficial bacteria. Since you haven't seen more salt grains, or, as I said, fish gasping for air at the top of the water, let's rule out ich. I'm not sure what size tank you have here, or even who all you've got in it, but it sounds like you may need to add another filter in order to deal with increasing biomass from, not only growing fish, but additional fish. However, this may not be true, since the BB that was on your media is now dead, and you're experiencing a mini-cycle. I'd wait for your filter to stabilize, doing water changes straight on through. If this doesn't happen in (at the most) two weeks, then you need more filtration. From now on, always clean your media in tank water! And get a cheapie siphon from the LFS that siphons into a bucket. Python is overrated -- I've got about 1600 gallons' worth of water in the house, and we don't own a Python! There are other ways of going about it, for sure.

 

[jeffries]

Thank you both for the comments and suggestions.

I do have one of those cheap-o syphons from the lfs that I use but I always assumed that it wasn't vacuuming the sand very well because the suction power was so small.

I will raise the temps a bit. I had stopped using salt because there seems to be differing opinions on its long term use, even "tonically". But if you think that is best I will add some back into the mix. I certainly still have some left.

I will be much more careful in the future when I do a full-on cleaning of the filter. As has been suggested, I will leave the carbon in and continue with my aggressive water changes.

Also, I ALWAYS use Stress Coat on my tap water that I put into my tank, without fail. If anything, I might even overcomphensate in this area by adding a little more than required.

 

[justonemoretank]

I would not use salt in the long term, but only as suggested by Freshwater Tim. It is only useful as a tonic, and can even be harmful as a constant additive. Otherwise, I THINK you're on the right track here. And here's a tip on vacuuming sand with a siphon: Have another person take a net, and when you've got stuff in the siphon that just won't go up, let it out into the net. You do lose some sand this way, but not that much, and some stuff (I have had plecos in sand tanks, ew) just won't go up the siphon, because, as you say, the suction is relatively low. I wish you the best with your biological filtration. Any chance you've got a buddy who could spare a couple of scrubbies, or something? You could throw them in your filter now, for insta-bio, and when (if, but most likely when!) you add another, you could just transfer them.

 

[Freshwater Tim]

One last thing...in case you didn't know. Salt will remain in your tank. It does not evaporate or get removed with filtration. You can only take it out with every water change. While you are "treating" the tank with salt, make sure you replace the correct amount of salt which corresponds to the amount of water you change. Dillute the salt in water then add it to the tank slowly. Don't pour the salt directly into the tank.

Let us know how things go for ya.

T

 

[jeffries]

Any chance you've got a buddy who could spare a couple of scrubbies, or something?

Scrubbies??

Nope, no buddies here that are into fish as well. Maybe I will get lucky when I love to Philly next month and meet some people into fish. This town is a little too podunk for an aquarium society.

 

[jeffries]

One last thing...in case you didn't know. Salt will remain in your tank. It does not evaporate or get removed with filtration. You can only take it out with every water change. While you are "treating" the tank with salt, make sure you replace the correct amount of salt which corresponds to the amount of water you change. Dillute the salt in water then add it to the tank slowly. Don't pour the salt directly into the tank.

Let us know how things go for ya.

T

Yeah, I did know that about the salt not evaporating actually. Also, I always "dissolve" the salt in a bottle of the tank's water before I pour it into the tank. Thanks for the help and suggestions.

 

[jeffries]

I kinda forgot to ask.... how long should I keep up the increased temp and the adding of the salt to the water?

Is it okay for the temps to stay at 86-88 degrees for awhile? My fish seems even more active than he already is at these increased temps. I hope he is not uncomfortable.

 

[justonemoretank]

Increasing temps increases the fish's metabolism. This causes his respiration to increase, thereby, he's breathing faster, moving faster, and taking in more oxygen. Make sure that you've got enough airstones, powerheads, whatever you use to move water, to compensate for these side effects. He's also going to be hungrier at higher temps, but resist the urge to feed him (at all, if you can help it) until your bio filter gets back to where it should be. As for the length of time you should continue this treatment, I'd say three days past the observance of no visible spots on the fish. However, others may feel differently on that, because I think everyone (fish, I mean) handles this treatment in their own way. If you have fish that are tolerant of salt, and everyone's okay, then a little longer would be acceptable. Someone else may chime in on that part.

 

[jeffries]

Thanks for the info.

I have still been feeding him because I am concerned about him not getting enough "greens" in his diet, so I have increased those but I haven't been feeding him any more than I normally do.

I don't have any airstones in the tank and I don't use an air pump either. One thing I have always done though is make sure that I don't fill the water all the way to the top of the tank because it seems like the HOB filter causes more disruption of the surface of the water if the water level is down a little from the top. From what I understand, when the surface of the water is agitated in this way, it causes the water to become more oxygenated.