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Erratic swimming and itching


Hally M.
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I'm having some problems with my 4 month old Electric Blue Acara's. I performed a 35% water change on a 20 gallon due to cloudiness about an hour ago and afterwards my fish are darting and seem to be itching on rough surfaces. There are no external signs of parasites, however some appear to have clamped fins and a singular light colored spot on the tops of their heads. Not sure if this is a scale pattern for this species as I've never bred chiclids before or it is fungal. Water is still cloudy but it's not a newly set up tank. Ammonia levels are a little green but everything else seems to be in order. Ph seems to be pretty low. Around 6.8 for this species. Could this be the cause?

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Can you provide photos? I would preemptively treat for parasites as a precaution. Salt may also be enough to work, so that might be the "best course" to start off treatment.

The behavior you're talking about is called "flashing" and it usually happens normally.  There might be a piece of substrate, debris, something that the fish wants off of them.  You stimulate their slime coat and it might remove the irritation they have.  If they open up a sore, you're looking at treating for bacterial as well, again, as a precaution. 

If you have sharp hardscape, they may have accidentally opened up a cut or something that that is what is bothering them as well.  Double check your decor just for very sharp corners or something that would result in an accident.

Also, welcome to the forums!

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Unfortunately my device takes poor quality photos so the smaller details.You can just barely see a little white spot on one of the fry's heads Thank you for your help! Nothing sharp that I can see except some drift wood that I'm taking out. I just noticed one of the fry actually have a protruding cottony bump on their head. This is the only one that's protruding that I can see of. 

Should I treat with a fungal med as well as some salt? 

image.jpeg.6c88a90fd663487fbda87365c97173fd.jpeg

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