fish flashing question

[ARGYGANG]

hi i have a quick question what would be a normal amount of flashing to see on a fish, all my fish went through 30 days copper and then prazi baths and i used metro soaked food through out. ive noticed my hippo tang flash around 1-3 times a day (not frequent at all i recorded the tank and walked away for a hour and no flashing happened on this video) and i saw my bird wrasse flash one single time in the last week these are the only two fish ive seen do it since qt was over almost two months ago. there is no visible signs of parasites (no white spots no fish loss no lethargy or swimming into wave makers and appetites are good, my dispar anthias yawns on occasion but ive read this is normal since she doesnt do it often at all) is this reason for alarm or is this considered normal behavior? would dosing the tank with prazi be a good approach? i have plenty of the stuff and not worried about using more. flukes are all i can think of or its just normal behavior, im not going to bother attaching any pictures as like i said there is no signs of visible disease on any fish. to further explain the hippo will do 1-3 quick flashes on the same side of her body and then wont do it again for the rest of the day and she is not doing it ever single day but im seeing at atleast twice a week.

 

[vetteguy53081]

hi i have a quick question what would be a normal amount of flashing to see on a fish, all my fish went through 30 days copper and then prazi baths and i used metro soaked food through out. ive noticed my hippo tang flash around 1-3 times a day (not frequent at all i recorded the tank and walked away for a hour and no flashing happened on this video) and i saw my bird wrasse flash one single time in the last week these are the only two fish ive seen do it since qt was over almost two months ago. there is no visible signs of parasites (no white spots no fish loss no lethargy or swimming into wave makers and appetites are good, my dispar anthias yawns on occasion but ive read this is normal since she doesnt do it often at all) is this reason for alarm or is this considered normal behavior? would dosing the tank with prazi be a good approach? i have plenty of the stuff and not worried about using more. flukes are all i can think of or its just normal behavior, im not going to bother attaching any pictures as like i said there is no signs of visible disease on any fish. to further explain the hippo will do 1-3 quick flashes on the same side of her body and then wont do it again for the rest of the day and she is not doing it ever single day but im seeing at atleast twice a week.

Many regal/Hepatus tangs do this. Do I call it normal - Somewhat. If performed properly, with copper and prazi treatments, it should be clean.
How did you dose/administer the prazi and for how long?

 

[ARGYGANG]

Many regal/Hepatus tangs do this. Do I call it normal - Somewhat. If performed properly, with copper and prazi treatments, it should be clean.
How did you dose/administer the prazi and for how long?

I Dosed the recommended amount each dose I administered, and in total I dosed three times over three weeks, one of the three doses being on each Sunday of the three weeks.

 

[ARGYGANG]

Many regal/Hepatus tangs do this. Do I call it normal - Somewhat. If performed properly, with copper and prazi treatments, it should be clean.
How did you dose/administer the prazi and for how long?

Then after that gave a prazi bath to each fish before entering DT. I am having a ditritus issue right now I think it may just be the fish getting it stuck on them and them scratching it off.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I Dosed the recommended amount each dose I administered, and in total I dosed three times over three weeks, one of the three doses being on each Sunday of the three weeks.

Did you go by bottle directions?
Generally we recommend Applying initial dosage known as an interval for 8 days, do a water change and do one more 8 day dose interval and repeat if necessary
Use airstone with prazi as it does reduce both oxygen and appetite

Was your application similar?

Copper- was it copper (ionic) or coppersafe and what therapeutic level and for how long ?

 

[ARGYGANG]

Did you go by bottle directions?
Generally we recommend Applying initial dosage known as an interval for 8 days, do a water change and do one more 8 day dose interval and repeat if necessary
Use airstone with prazi as it does reduce both oxygen and appetite

Was your application similar?

Yes so instead of every 8 days I did every 7 days, and I did it for three weeks instead of two weeks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes so instead of every 8 days I did every 7 days, and I did it for three weeks instead of two weeks.

That is acceptable.
Copper- was it copper (ionic) or coppersafe and what therapeutic level and for how long ?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Then after that gave a prazi bath to each fish before entering DT. I am having a ditritus issue right now I think it may just be the fish getting it stuck on them and them scratching it off.

There are three primary causes for flashing:

1) Flukes and other external parasites
2) Removing detritus
3) Behavioral - fish sometimes flash in the same spot as a learned behavior, and some wrasses flash on the gravel looking for food.

I generally try to tie in some other clue/symptom in order to determine which of the three is the cause.

Jay

 

[ARGYGANG]

There are three primary causes for flashing:

1) Flukes and other external parasites
2) Removing detritus
3) Behavioral - fish sometimes flash in the same spot as a learned behavior, and some wrasses flash on the gravel looking for food.

I generally try to tie in some other clue/symptom in order to determine which of the three is the cause.

Jay

That’s the issue I’m having the fish are not giving me any clues as to why, I do have detritus in my tank and am fixing it. It sounds as if the fish may just be behaving this way due to detritus and natural instinct.

 

[ARGYGANG]

That is acceptable.
Copper- was it copper (ionic) or coppersafe and what therapeutic level and for how long ?

Coppersafe I kept it around 2.2 to give some wiggle room before going below 2.0 since I used ceramic biorings that have the potential to absorb copper. It remained at 2.2 for most of the treatment and dropped down to 2.15ish towards the last week due to absorption but that’s still well above 2.0

 

[ARGYGANG]

There are three primary causes for flashing:

1) Flukes and other external parasites
2) Removing detritus
3) Behavioral - fish sometimes flash in the same spot as a learned behavior, and some wrasses flash on the gravel looking for food.

I generally try to tie in some other clue/symptom in order to determine which of the three is the cause.

Jay

Also I want to add that I am housing a white dog face and blue spot Toby with the hippo (fish that are all very prone to parasites from my understanding) and all three have zero signs for external parasites and they are eating as normal (clear fins and eyes no white spots) also the hippo when she flashes she is not hitting a fill she is flashing and scraping below her right fin on her right side, the fine looks fine and functions properly.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Also I want to add that I am housing a white dog face and blue spot Toby with the hippo (fish that are all very prone to parasites from my understanding) and all three have zero signs for external parasites and they are eating as normal (clear fins and eyes no white spots) also the hippo when she flashes she is not hitting a fill she is flashing and scraping below her right fin on her right side, the fine looks fine and functions properly.

Ok - good
And that is the same behavior both my Hepatus and chocolate tang do always. The hepatus- well over 2 years f doing this and also observed doing same in other tanks.

 

[ARGYGANG]

Ok - good
And that is the same behavior both my Hepatus and chocolate tang do always. The hepatus- well over 2 years f doing this and also observed doing same in other tanks.

Awesome, I will keep a close eye but for now no action will be taken. After a year of struggling with disease I broke down all my tanks and QT all fish in my home so until I see white spots/infections/elevated breathing/a dead fish I’ll just continue to write it off as fish being fish and have faith in my work. Thank you and @Jay Hemdal for both of your opinions and help as always have a great day.

 

[bshonesy]

So I am experiencing a similar issue. Long story is, I got a blue tang and a gold rimmed tang last Fall. They were flashing, becoming lethargic and had obvious lesions while in QT, so I treated with praziquantel 2 x 8 days. Got better, all was good. Fast forward to April, I get an ich outbreak in my DT. Everyone goes into QT with 2.5 Copper Power. I had 2 new fish already in QT on day 10 in copper and the DT fish had to go in with them. All is fine, ich is gone, I ended up doing about 60 days at least in copper (this is my second fallow this year, I’m not taking any chances). Around the time I remove copper, but just prior to, I noticed the blue tang flashing, and next day I see a small lesion on the gold rim tang (easier to see on him due to color). Praziquantel goes back in, 2x8 days. Lesion goes away by 2nd day. Now about a week after that 16th day in praziquantel I’m seeing the blue tang flashing again. No lesions, all fish are behaving normally (and have been throughout). I’m at Day 86 fallow, I gave them another dose of praziquantel yesterday, still seeing flashing today, just the blue tang. Is there anything else I should be doing differently???

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So I am experiencing a similar issue. Long story is, I got a blue tang and a gold rimmed tang last Fall. They were flashing, becoming lethargic and had obvious lesions while in QT, so I treated with praziquantel 2 x 8 days. Got better, all was good. Fast forward to April, I get an ich outbreak in my DT. Everyone goes into QT with 2.5 Copper Power. I had 2 new fish already in QT on day 10 in copper and the DT fish had to go in with them. All is fine, ich is gone, I ended up doing about 60 days at least in copper (this is my second fallow this year, I’m not taking any chances). Around the time I remove copper, but just prior to, I noticed the blue tang flashing, and next day I see a small lesion on the gold rim tang (easier to see on him due to color). Praziquantel goes back in, 2x8 days. Lesion goes away by 2nd day. Now about a week after that 16th day in praziquantel I’m seeing the blue tang flashing again. No lesions, all fish are behaving normally (and have been throughout). I’m at Day 86 fallow, I gave them another dose of praziquantel yesterday, still seeing flashing today, just the blue tang. Is there anything else I should be doing differently???

Sometimes, certain fish will flash/scratch and not have flukes at all. It seems to be a behavior thing with them. However, it multiple fish flash, or if the flashing is combined with any other symptoms (lesions, fast breathing) you need to assume the worst.

Here is the issue with praziquantel - it is reef safe, and virtually safe for all fish, but it does NOT kill fluke eggs. It just causes the adult flukes to spasm and drop off the fish. If the timing isn't 100% correct, even one egg getting through can start up a new infection. Not all fluke species are egg layers though.

Another issue - with multiple prazi treatments, heterotrophic bacteria grows in the tank that consumes the prazi faster and faster, to the point where after about 4 or 5 doses, it simply does not have time to work. This bacteria persists in aquariums for months/years, pretty much defeating future prazi additions.

You might consider hyposalinity - 30 days and half salinity will work for even the toughest flukes (Neobendenia).

Jay

 

[ReefDreamz]

I have a convict tang that always flashes when I stand in front of the tank. I think it's his way of begging for food. I've also seen him flash on top of my tiger conches, I don't think he likes them. I've had him for 8 months and he seems otherwise healthy so I think it's just behavioral.