Fish Flashing

[Cole_Voeller]

Hello all,
So in one of my tanks, I have two fish who I have seen flash: a blenny and a fang blenny. A while back my tanks got ich (Very visible ich too), and all fish were flashing like crazy and I quarantined all fish. All fish underwent 30 days of copper, and then an additional 60 days of being in QT while I let my tank remain fishless for 90 days (Bit overkill, but I figured why not). During the 60 days there was absolutely zero flashing on all fish as well as no visible ich. I also used prazi and metro during this time. I finally put my fish back into their tanks over a month ago.
During this last month I have seen my starry blenny flash several times. He will perch up on his rock, and then out of nowhere just zoom to the sandbed, flash once, very rarely twice, and then go back to perching on his rock. He has had no visible ich at all, and still has a ravenous appetite. The same goes for all other fish; no visible ich and acting completely normal. Just today I am now seeing my fangblenny flash as well. Though this is not what it was like when he had ich before. He is very lightly just scratching himself rather than the aggressive flashing he did when he was sick. I will send the video in the replies. I dont want to panic, but after the entire ordeal I had to go through last time, quarantining everything in my college apartment, I don't want to have to do anything like that ever again. Quarantined fish were also added back to the other tanks, and all of them have been perfect this entire time as well.
I would love to hear everyones thoughts to the matter, and if there is anything I can/should do.

 

[Cole_Voeller]

Here is the video

 

[Weeb]

Hard to tell if this is a problem, or not. The video was kinda short. Fishes will flash very seldom from a mild irritant like water quality. If the flashing is frequent, then the fish has a problem, most likely in its gill(s). More information would be useful:
You said the fangblenny had ich? Tell more about this; when; where (in DT or QT or?)
What are you feeding?
What was most recently added to the aquarium (fish and inverts)? and when? Were they quarantined first?
What is the water quality: Salinity, pH, temp? Any ammonia or nitrites present? when and how much of a water change did you most recently do?

If the DT was fishless for so long, some nitrifying bacteria may have died off, hence the question about ammonia and nitrite. Or, did you keep them alive some way?

The treatments you performed, if done correctly, should have eliminated some of the more or less common issues, but you said there was no surface indication of marine ich.

Anymore information would be helpful. Do you see any other feature on the surface of the fish? Any other fish in this DT displaying a surface problem?

What do you mean when you write, "Quarantined fish were also added back to the other tanks, and all of them have been perfect this entire time as well?" You have multiple DTs?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello all,
So in one of my tanks, I have two fish who I have seen flash: a blenny and a fang blenny. A while back my tanks got ich (Very visible ich too), and all fish were flashing like crazy and I quarantined all fish. All fish underwent 30 days of copper, and then an additional 60 days of being in QT while I let my tank remain fishless for 90 days (Bit overkill, but I figured why not). During the 60 days there was absolutely zero flashing on all fish as well as no visible ich. I also used prazi and metro during this time. I finally put my fish back into their tanks over a month ago.
During this last month I have seen my starry blenny flash several times. He will perch up on his rock, and then out of nowhere just zoom to the sandbed, flash once, very rarely twice, and then go back to perching on his rock. He has had no visible ich at all, and still has a ravenous appetite. The same goes for all other fish; no visible ich and acting completely normal. Just today I am now seeing my fangblenny flash as well. Though this is not what it was like when he had ich before. He is very lightly just scratching himself rather than the aggressive flashing he did when he was sick. I will send the video in the replies. I dont want to panic, but after the entire ordeal I had to go through last time, quarantining everything in my college apartment, I don't want to have to do anything like that ever again. Quarantined fish were also added back to the other tanks, and all of them have been perfect this entire time as well.
I would love to hear everyones thoughts to the matter, and if there is anything I can/should do.

I saw the blenny dive the gravel a couple of times. Are you sure it isn’t just going after pods? Does it scratch on the rocks or glass? The rate of scratching is also important - once or twice a day and the fish may just be trying to dislodge detritus from their skin. Once or twice in 30 minutes all day long is probably flukes.
If this is flukes, you could dose your DT with prazipro. If it were ich, you would see the classic spots.
Jay

 

[Cole_Voeller]

Hard to tell if this is a problem, or not. The video was kinda short. Fishes will flash very seldom from a mild irritant like water quality. If the flashing is frequent, then the fish has a problem, most likely in its gill(s). More information would be useful:
You said the fangblenny had ich? Tell more about this; when; where (in DT or QT or?)
What are you feeding?
What was most recently added to the aquarium (fish and inverts)? and when? Were they quarantined first?
What is the water quality: Salinity, pH, temp? Any ammonia or nitrites present? when and how much of a water change did you most recently do?

If the DT was fishless for so long, some nitrifying bacteria may have died off, hence the question about ammonia and nitrite. Or, did you keep them alive some way?

The treatments you performed, if done correctly, should have eliminated some of the more or less common issues, but you said there was no surface indication of marine ich.

Anymore information would be helpful. Do you see any other feature on the surface of the fish? Any other fish in this DT displaying a surface problem?

What do you mean when you write, "Quarantined fish were also added back to the other tanks, and all of them have been perfect this entire time as well?" You have multiple DTs?

He had ich in the display tank, as well as the other fish, which is why they went in to quarantine.
I feed a mixture of mysis and brine shrimp, pellets as well, but haven’t fed them pellets in a while.
The most recent fish added was the Starry Blenny. I him from my LFS. Separately from all other fish, I ran him through tank transfer method for 6 transfers, as well as prazi on the third, fourth, and fifth transfer.
Salinity is 1.025, ph is 8.1, temperature is 82 currently (no idea what’s up with that, I have heater set to 75 and our apartment heater doesn’t even work so no way that be that warm), no ammonia or nitrites, nitrates are sitting at 15.
I dosed all tanks with Dr. Tims ammonia while they were fishless to ensure the bacteria all lived, and checked ammonia often to make sure. I also tossed some pellets in as well, but not very often due to how messy they’d get. I had my CUC in a separate tank (90 day fishless as well).
I don’t know if they’re classified as display tanks, since they’re only 10 and 20 gallon tanks (college apartment) but I do have multiple tanks yes. I just call them my main tanks haha. So by that last part, I took every fish out from each tank, and put them all into one giant tank, (if apartment director found out there would have been hell to pay) where I ran QT for them all, so all tanks went fishless for the 90 days. When I added them back, I just separated them into which fish went into which tank.
I see no visible surface problems with any of the fish, and today is the first time I have ever seen the fangblenny do this.
Another thing I added was inverts- snails, scarlets, blue legs, a conch, and a halloween hermit. Though all of these were purchased from Dr. Reef, quarantined for 76 day. I know they are quarantined but figured I should this.
I think that answers everything, haha!

 

[Cole_Voeller]

I saw the blenny dive the gravel a couple of times. Are you sure it isn’t just going after pods? Does it scratch on the rocks or glass? The rate of scratching is also important - once or twice a day and the fish may just be trying to dislodge detritus from their skin. Once or twice in 30 minutes all day long is probably flukes.
If this is flukes, you could dose your DT with prazipro. If it were ich, you would see the classic spots.
Jay

So I’m not too sure if it’s going after pods. I sort of lost most of my pod population a while back. Stopped feeding them while tank was fishless, as I was trying to get digitate hydroids to die off (which worked thank god). So I don’t see pods very often in here, though I plan to buy a culture sometime soon. I have only seen the striped fangblenny do his little scratch thing in that one spot in the sand just today. The Starry blenny will divebomb the sand, but I don’t think he has ever flashed on the rock. Throughout writing these last two replies, I have not seen either flash. Flukes is what I was thinking personally. Since I treated the Starry Blenny separately from the rest. Glad to see that you agree with my though process on the ich. Every since QT, I check all fish my closely to make sure they don’t have Ich. Kind of weird, I agree, but the last experience I had with ich was horrible, so checking on them super often is just habit. Flashing due to dislodging detritus stands out to me. My rock has always had bubbles coming out of it during the day. Used to think it was dinos, but I genuinely don’t know anymore, and stopped being worried about it a long time ago. I’ll attach a picture, but seeing as how the Starry Blenny sits on the rock, could it be possible he is getting air bubbles stuck to him, which is why he flashes? I know it’s a long shot, but I have no other ideas besides flukes.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So I’m not too sure if it’s going after pods. I sort of lost most of my pod population a while back. Stopped feeding them while tank was fishless, as I was trying to get digitate hydroids to die off (which worked thank god). So I don’t see pods very often in here, though I plan to buy a culture sometime soon. I have only seen the striped fangblenny do his little scratch thing in that one spot in the sand just today. The Starry blenny will divebomb the sand, but I don’t think he has ever flashed on the rock. Throughout writing these last two replies, I have not seen either flash. Flukes is what I was thinking personally. Since I treated the Starry Blenny separately from the rest. Glad to see that you agree with my though process on the ich. Every since QT, I check all fish my closely to make sure they don’t have Ich. Kind of weird, I agree, but the last experience I had with ich was horrible, so checking on them super often is just habit. Flashing due to dislodging detritus stands out to me. My rock has always had bubbles coming out of it during the day. Used to think it was dinos, but I genuinely don’t know anymore, and stopped being worried about it a long time ago. I’ll attach a picture, but seeing as how the Starry Blenny sits on the rock, could it be possible he is getting air bubbles stuck to him, which is why he flashes? I know it’s a long shot, but I have no other ideas besides flukes.

I doubt it is bubbles - if it was detritus, you’d see that floating around the tank - the little particles land on the fish, they think it’s a parasite, and they try to scrape it off.
Jay

 

[Cole_Voeller]

I doubt it is bubbles - if it was detritus, you’d see that floating around the tank - the little particles land on the fish, they think it’s a parasite, and they try to scrape it off.
Jay

Would there be any downsides to dosing prazi in the tank?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I side with Jay as to fluke symptoms.
Are they eating?
How are fish breathing- Normal or rapid?

Other signs will be . . . . gills will be red or swollen with rapid breathing, fish acting lethargic or swimming near the water surface, hiding in the corner of tank or behind rocks, loss of appetite, shaking its head, flashing/darting, develop clamped fins, , or scratching against objects. They may also exhibit what looks like yawning from gill irritation develop, cloudy eyes and loss of color .

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Would there be any downsides to dosing prazi in the tank?

No, just the cost.
Jay

 

[Cole_Voeller]

I side with Jay as to fluke symptoms.
Are they eating?
How are fish breathing- Normal or rapid?

Other signs will be . . . . gills will be red or swollen with rapid breathing, fish acting lethargic or swimming near the water surface, hiding in the corner of tank or behind rocks, loss of appetite, shaking its head, flashing/darting, develop clamped fins, , or scratching against objects. They may also exhibit what looks like yawning from gill irritation develop, cloudy eyes and loss of color .

All eating a ton still, always hungry. Normal breathing. None of those signs match, except for the flashing and maybe for the cloudy eyes. His eyes have always look the same. Maybe they are cloudy, but I thought that’s just how they looked. I can try to get a picture of them.

 

[vetteguy53081]

All eating a ton still, always hungry. Normal breathing. None of those signs match, except for the flashing and maybe for the cloudy eyes. His eyes have always look the same. Maybe they are cloudy, but I thought that’s just how they looked. I can try to get a picture of them.

Prazi as mentioned is good but known to lower appetite and oxygen slightly - adding an air stone for added O2 will be of benefit

 

[Cole_Voeller]

Ok, he decided it’s bed time, so I’ll try to get a picture tomorrow.

 

[Cole_Voeller]

Prazi as mentioned is good but known to lower appetite and oxygen slightly - adding an air stone for added O2 will be of benefit

I’ve always used an airstone with prazi while during QT. I’ve just never used prazi in main tanks. I’ll be sure to keep all pumps on with the airstone when I dose it. How much should I dose in my main tank for this specific issue, and for how long? Turn off UV sterilizer?

 

[Cole_Voeller]

I side with Jay as to fluke symptoms.
Are they eating?
How are fish breathing- Normal or rapid?

Other signs will be . . . . gills will be red or swollen with rapid breathing, fish acting lethargic or swimming near the water surface, hiding in the corner of tank or behind rocks, loss of appetite, shaking its head, flashing/darting, develop clamped fins, , or scratching against objects. They may also exhibit what looks like yawning from gill irritation develop, cloudy eyes and loss of color .

Whoop never mind, got a pic while he was “sleeping”.

 

[Weeb]

He had ich in the display tank, as well as the other fish, which is why they went in to quarantine.
I feed a mixture of mysis and brine shrimp, pellets as well, but haven’t fed them pellets in a while.
The most recent fish added was the Starry Blenny. I him from my LFS. Separately from all other fish, I ran him through tank transfer method for 6 transfers, as well as prazi on the third, fourth, and fifth transfer.
Salinity is 1.025, ph is 8.1, temperature is 82 currently (no idea what’s up with that, I have heater set to 75 and our apartment heater doesn’t even work so no way that be that warm), no ammonia or nitrites, nitrates are sitting at 15.
I dosed all tanks with Dr. Tims ammonia while they were fishless to ensure the bacteria all lived, and checked ammonia often to make sure. I also tossed some pellets in as well, but not very often due to how messy they’d get. I had my CUC in a separate tank (90 day fishless as well).
I don’t know if they’re classified as display tanks, since they’re only 10 and 20 gallon tanks (college apartment) but I do have multiple tanks yes. I just call them my main tanks haha. So by that last part, I took every fish out from each tank, and put them all into one giant tank, (if apartment director found out there would have been hell to pay) where I ran QT for them all, so all tanks went fishless for the 90 days. When I added them back, I just separated them into which fish went into which tank.
I see no visible surface problems with any of the fish, and today is the first time I have ever seen the fangblenny do this.
Another thing I added was inverts- snails, scarlets, blue legs, a conch, and a halloween hermit. Though all of these were purchased from Dr. Reef, quarantined for 76 day. I know they are quarantined but figured I should this.
I think that answers everything, haha!

Thank you for the thorough response. I would try to vary the diet more. Use vitamin soaks -- especially if you can get/use freeze-dried mysis or (small) plankton.

 

[Cole_Voeller]

Thank you for the thorough response. I would try to vary the diet more. Use vitamin soaks -- especially if you can get/use freeze-dried mysis or (small) plankton.

You got it. I can definitely get some freeze dried mysis, and planned on buying selcon next time I was out.

 

[Cole_Voeller]

No, just the cost.
Jay

I’ve been looking online, and it seems like having my cleaner wrasse in the tank may be an issue. I’ve had him through prazi before, but I figure I should ask about this. Didn’t realize there had been negative reports when using prazi on wrasses

 

[Lionfish hunter]

Prazi killed my lion fish in 5 minutes, there is a downside. Putting chemicals in the tank is always a risk reward. And it is likely not flashing for flukes, not worth it if it were me.

Would there be any downsides to dosing prazi in the tank?

 

[Lionfish hunter]

Hello all,
So in one of my tanks, I have two fish who I have seen flash: a blenny and a fang blenny. A while back my tanks got ich (Very visible ich too), and all fish were flashing like crazy and I quarantined all fish. All fish underwent 30 days of copper, and then an additional 60 days of being in QT while I let my tank remain fishless for 90 days (Bit overkill, but I figured why not). During the 60 days there was absolutely zero flashing on all fish as well as no visible ich. I also used prazi and metro during this time. I finally put my fish back into their tanks over a month ago.
During this last month I have seen my starry blenny flash several times. He will perch up on his rock, and then out of nowhere just zoom to the sandbed, flash once, very rarely twice, and then go back to perching on his rock. He has had no visible ich at all, and still has a ravenous appetite. The same goes for all other fish; no visible ich and acting completely normal. Just today I am now seeing my fangblenny flash as well. Though this is not what it was like when he had ich before. He is very lightly just scratching himself rather than the aggressive flashing he did when he was sick. I will send the video in the replies. I dont want to panic, but after the entire ordeal I had to go through last time, quarantining everything in my college apartment, I don't want to have to do anything like that ever again. Quarantined fish were also added back to the other tanks, and all of them have been perfect this entire time as well.
I would love to hear everyones thoughts to the matter, and if there is anything I can/should do.

The fish had ich before, they could still be some irritation. Fish will flash sometimes without parasites. I wouldn’t overreact just yet.