Flashing for 8 months, no sign of disease

[Rupertdaropefish]

I have been dealing with all my fish flashing going on 8 months now. Not a single fish is dead and there’s no sign of disease. They all do it, some quite frequently. I am at my end trying to figure this out. The tank is a 75g community tank with Cory’s, Angels, a Blue Gourami, Plattys and Glofish Tetras.  I thought it was a case of flukes but after treating with Procure( malachite green, methanol and formaldehyde) and Prazipro before that, they still flash. All parameters are good( ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20, ph 7.4). The ph is a bit higher than I would like but it is steady and I’d rather not do the whole battle the ph with chemistry thing, haha. The tank is planted moderately heavy. My tank is a great source of joy to me and I take very good care of it with water changes at least weekly. It’s important that my fish are comfortable and happy so I need to get to the bottom of this. TIA for the help and thoughts. 

[Guppy Guy]

Which fish are flashing? What are they flashing on? How long has the tank been set up? Where did you get your fish from? Did you quarantine them when they were new? What temperature is the tank? What kind of filter does it use?

Nice tank by the way. Hopefully we can help you fix the issue.

Edited October 7, 2021 by Guppy Guy

[Scapexghost]

This probably sounds silly but how frequently is frequently? When they do flash, do they flash multiple times in succession or just once?

[Colu]

Flashing can be  caused by parasite high levels of ammonia or nitrites  can cause flashing chemical contamination such chorine do you add a dechlorinator like prime when doing water changes do you notice more flashing before or after a water changes

Edited October 13, 2021 by Colu

[Rupertdaropefish]

The tank has been around for a little over a year. Most of the fish came from Petco within the first month I had the tank cycled. All the fish flash, often multiple times in a row. I didn’t have a quarantine tank at the time. Actually, I forgot my common pleco, that’s the only one I never saw flash. I do 25% change at least weekly. I have 2 hob filters and a canister that cycle the water around 20 times per hour. Prime is my go to for dechlorination but I also have used API stress coat water conditioner. I use one of them with every water change, mostly Prime. I have watched and I don’t notice an appreciable increase or decrease in flashing after changes. I have been through this with others and the obvious things. I’m just hoping someone else has had a similar experience and was able to solve the issue. 

[Colu]

On 10/8/2021 at 1:40 AM, Rupertdaropefish said:

The tank has been around for a little over a year. Most of the fish came from Petco within the first month I had the tank cycled. All the fish flash, often multiple times in a row. I didn’t have a quarantine tank at the time. Actually, I forgot my common pleco, that’s the only one I never saw flash. I do 25% change at least weekly. I have 2 hob filters and a canister that cycle the water around 20 times per hour. Prime is my go to for dechlorination but I also have used API stress coat water conditioner. I use one of them with every water change, mostly Prime. I have watched and I don’t notice an appreciable increase or decrease in flashing after changes. I have been through this with others and the obvious things. I’m just hoping someone else has had a similar experience and was able to solve the issue. 

Nothing jumping out at me what the temperature of your tank 

Edited October 8, 2021 by Colu

[Rupertdaropefish]

Tank is 77F and does not fluctuate much. Even when I do water changes, I use a meat thermometer to match the temp of the tank. 

[Colu]

It's an odd one it possible small particles could be irritating they gills if you use powdered actived carbon the fine dust can irritate the fish gill if it get into the the water column

Edited October 9, 2021 by Colu

[Guppy Guy]

On 10/7/2021 at 9:22 PM, Colu said:

It's an odd one it possible small particles could be irritating they gills if you use powdered actived carbon the fine dust can irritate the fish gill if it get into the the water column

I don’t even use activated carbon. I just use a biological media in that spot on all my filters. No problems for the 3+ years I’ve been doing that.

[Colu]

Nothing else is coming to mind it's odd one hopefully someone else has some suggestions as to the cause

[GardenStateGoldfish]

Do you notice it mostly after water changes? If you live in the United States especially this time of year a lot of the tap water can be flushed with extra chemicals and that could be impacting your fish. 
 

second guess would be flukes

[Rupertdaropefish]

Unfortunately, it’s been a constant for the last 8 or so months. I changed from the charcoal that’s dusty to the pellets about 6 months ago. I actually tried going without it but found the aquarium was giving my room a smell. It’s in my bedroom and it’s not the biggest room. I do know the water here in SC is not the best. It could be something that I can’t test for causing it. I am moving 600+ miles this month back to Pittsburgh where I am from. Hopefully, with the different water it will cure itself. I would think if it was something really serious I would have lost a fish or two, knock on wood, but I haven’t. I plan on taking half the water with me so it’s not such a shock to the fish. I may also try to initially adjust the ph closer to what it is here. I know from past experience that the water there is on the acidic side and it’s more alkaline here. Aghhh, I’ve racked my brain and tried everything and anything. I appreciate all the input. I just hope I can eventually make my fish more comfortable and figure this out.  

[Guppy Guy]

I live in SC as well, but where I am, the only tap water issues are a slightly high PH(8.2 ish). But that’s no issue for me, because once it mixes with aquarium water of 6.8, it balances itself out.

[Dwayne Brown]

@Rupertdaropefish You could try dosing aquarium salt. When my fish were flashing that's what I did and it "cured" it. 

[Lyon Aquascapes]

Hi @Rupertdaropefish,

So I have had a similar problem in the past.

When the flashing was at its peak for the fish in my 75 about a year ago I actually lost a few fish. I took some of my fish to the vet bc I was simply going crazy after trying tons of meds and thinking it was flukes or a variety of other small parasites. The vet actually did a skin swab as well as a gill sample and found the fish were suffering from bacteria infection and a pretty nasty outbreak of trichodina sp. (single cell parasites).

This critters can be hard to eradicate and are a big problem in fish farming these days but also exist in ponds etc. and I have heard are increasingly common in aquarium set ups. I think I may have brought some in to my tanks via  mosquito larvae I got in a pond I harvested for fish food in the past.

So my fish are currently not flashing anymore and what seems to have done the trick is a med from Sera, Protazol, that is available here in Europe, not sure about whether you can get it in the US but the US website has it so maybe.

https://www.sera.de/us/product/freshwater-aquarium/sera-med-professional-protazol/

Also I have done some research on fish farming and Trichodina and there seems to be new research that shows high dosages of catappa leaf concentrate can essentially eradicate it. There are lots of Catappa concentrates and some don't seem to make your water brown either. I am actually going to test this one from Sera for some fin problems a few of my fish have so I can let you know how it works for me.

https://www.sera.de/us/product/freshwater-aquarium/sera-phyto-med-catappa/

Anyways I am not sure whether Trichodina are connected to your flashing but after thinking my fish had a million other things the vet showed me under a microscope that I was dealing with them, so maybe your fish might have them as well.

If you know of any meds in the USA that are highly effective against Trichodina give them a try and see what happens. Could be your culprit. Let us know how things progress.

Will