flashing question

cjrose

cjrose

Member
Are there any other reasons for flashing other than ick? My yellow tang and hippo tang have been in quarentine for about 2 months now. I haven't seen any spots on them in a little over 2 weeks I think. My yellow tang does have a bacterial infection that I am treating. Other than that they are eating fine. That said, they both flash from time to time. When I fed them this morning I sat down and watched them. I still don't see any spots on them so I'm not sure if it's still ick or not.
Any guesses on what it could be?
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
By flashing....do you mean change colors?? All my tangs change colors...especially if spooked or at night.
 
cjrose

cjrose

Member
They were in Hypo for 7 weeks. Yes I used a refractometer and kept it at 1.009. I am going out of town and don't have anyone that can do the frequent water changes needed during hypo so I have slowly brought the salt up over the past week so I can put them in my DT. The reason being is that my friend will only have to feed the fish and top off the water rather than having to do all the things we have to do when changing water in a hypo tank. I only have a couple fish in my DT and the water in there is pristine.
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
Originally Posted by cjrose
http:///forum/post/3190886
They were in Hypo for 7 weeks. Yes I used a refractometer and kept it at 1.009. I am going out of town and don't have anyone that can do the frequent water changes needed during hypo so I have slowly brought the salt up over the past week so I can put them in my DT. The reason being is that my friend will only have to feed the fish and top off the water rather than having to do all the things we have to do when changing water in a hypo tank. I only have a couple fish in my DT and the water in there is pristine.
7 weeks in Hypo should have killed off the parasites.
Is there any way to bring the SG up in your QT, but leave them there until you get back. Your friend can then just top-off and feed both tanks. Depending on how long you will be gone, if the parasites haven't been killed off, they may show themselves again by the time you get back.
I'd hate for you to put them back in your DT and come home to Ick all over again and have your other fish at risk.
 
cjrose

cjrose

Member
My concern is water quality. I have had a hell of a time keeping decent water quality in the QT. It took a while to level out while in hypo and now that it's back to a normal salinity the params are all screwed up again.
Ph is 8.0
Ammonia .5
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 15
I just dosed with Amquel+ so it will come down in a few minutes. Also, this is after a 25% water change that I did last night. My water in my 125 DT is perfect. I only have a couple fish in there, not that I want them to get sick, but I'm pretty sure that if I leave the tangs in the 55 gl QT, they will be dead from poor water quality by the time I get back. I will be gone for a couple of weeks. If it was just a couple days I wouldn't worry about it.
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
Originally Posted by cjrose
http:///forum/post/3190917
My concern is water quality. I have had a hell of a time keeping decent water quality in the QT. It took a while to level out while in hypo and now that it's back to a normal salinity the params are all screwed up again.
Ph is 8.0
Ammonia .5
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 15
I just dosed with Amquel+ so it will come down in a few minutes. Also, this is after a 25% water change that I did last night. My water in my 125 DT is perfect. I only have a couple fish in there, not that I want them to get sick, but I'm pretty sure that if I leave the tangs in the 55 gl QT, they will be dead from poor water quality by the time I get back. I will be gone for a couple of weeks. If it was just a couple days I wouldn't worry about it.
A 55 Gallon QT?? Nice size QT!!! When do you leave?? What kind of filtration do you have on the 55?? Is there any rock in there??
A few weeks...if the fish come down with ick again....does your friend know how to treat them?? In a few weeks if they have ick again, they may not make it until you get back. Tough spot your in!! Do you belong to a local reefers/SW fish club?? Do you know anyone with a SW tank??
 
cjrose

cjrose

Member
lol...thanks. It used to be a freshwater tank. I have a HOB filter with some bioballs in it. I had charcol in it but since I'm treating for a bacterial infection, today's the last day, I can't have that in there just yet. No rock, just some substrate. No to the club, no to anyone else with a sw tank....lovely huh? Should I take some rock from my DT and put it in? I got some errands to run, will be back in a couple hours.
Thanks for your help.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
flashing Rubbing against objects within you tank does not necessarily mean ick. Fish will do this as a way of dislodging food from rocks within your tank. Without obvious signs of an irritant I don't think its ick
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3190948
flashing Rubbing against objects within you tank does not necessarily mean ick. Fish will do this as a way of dislodging food from rocks within your tank. Without obvious signs of an irritant I don't think its ick
I would think also, that it depends on how often they are doing it. But 7 weeks in Hypo should be more than enough...right Joe?
 
R

rcreations

Guest
Fish will also flash when stressed so it doesn't have to be ich.
 
cjrose

cjrose

Member
I'm sure they are stressed with the crappy water conditions. I"m going to drip acclimate my hippo tang tonight and then drip acclimate the yellow tang tomorrow. I'm sure they will both be happy to have great water, live rock to graze on and lots of room to swim.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
But 7 weeks in Hypo should be more than enough...right Joe?
Seven weeks in a true hypo condition will brake the life cycle of ick
 
R

rcreations

Guest
I had a naso tang in QT for 2 months, in hypo and he was still flashing. Then I put him in my DT and he never showed any ich at all since then. I'm guessing he was flashing from stress of being in a small QT (40 long) with no LR.
 
stevedave08

stevedave08

Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3190948
flashing Rubbing against objects within you tank does not necessarily mean ick. Fish will do this as a way of dislodging food from rocks within your tank. Without obvious signs of an irritant I don't think its ick
Agreed, my purple and hippo tang both do this, not to mention my LMB and Midas.
 
marine7198

marine7198

Member
i have a kole tang that did this for the first week or so, 12 months later nothing in my tank has died everything is healthy, it doesnt have to be ich, look into it more before treating for ich and further stressing your fish
 
peter1215

peter1215

Member
any type of parasite can cause a fish to flash. Including ich, flukes, oodimium etc. I wouldnt put the fish in my dt until the flashing has stopped.
 
cjrose

cjrose

Member
I just wanted to give you a quick update. Before leaving for my 2 week 13 state road trip with my husband and 4 kids I decided to take the leap and put the fish back in the DT. I had my neighbor feeding the fish and taking care of the rest of the zoo that lives at my house, and another friend watching the water params and cleaning the filter.
When I got home I immedietly went to my tank...much to the dismay of my dogs and cats. My yellow tang has no signs of the bacterial infection he had before I left. His beginnings of hole in the head are gone. He is much fatter than he was before leaving on my trip. The colors on both my yellow tang and yellow tang are vibrant. I see no signs of ick at all.
Happy New Year Everyone!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top