Flashing Rainfords Goby

[ghinch23]

Hi All,
I am new to reef keeping and I have a potential Flukes/parasite question.

My Rainfords Goby who has been doing well for 3 months since I got him appears to be flashing, and I wanted to get some opinions on what to do.

Here’s a video of him doing it. I have only caught him doing it while feeding, however he is quite reclusive and comes out most when I put food in.

What are your thoughts? Could he be doing this as a cause of running sand through his gills to clean them? He does not show any other signs of sickness and still has food drive.

I first noticed this behavior a few days ago.

View attachment 20260312_201146_FF6075D6-2EDC-4379-A9B1-04F54D4D92AF.mov

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi All,
I am new to reef keeping and I have a potential Flukes/parasite question.

My Rainfords Goby who has been doing well for 3 months since I got him appears to be flashing, and I wanted to get some opinions on what to do.

Here’s a video of him doing it. I have only caught him doing it while feeding, however he is quite reclusive and comes out most when I put food in.

What are your thoughts? Could he be doing this as a cause of running sand through his gills to clean them? He does not show any other signs of sickness and still has food drive.

I first noticed this behavior a few days ago.

I dont see the frequency associated with flukes but rather when near the clown it did which may be intimidation as clowns can be territorial. With flukes, you would also notice 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.
Keep an eye on them and write down the frequency of scratching if its continuous

 

[ghinch23]

Hi All,
I am new to reef keeping and I have a potential Flukes/parasite question.

My Rainfords Goby who has been doing well for 3 months since I got him appears to be flashing, and I wanted to get some opinions on what to do.

Here’s a video of him doing it. I have only caught him doing it while feeding, however he is quite reclusive and comes out most when I put food in.

What are your thoughts? Could he be doing this as a cause of running sand through his gills to clean them? He does not show any other signs of sickness and still has food drive.

I first noticed this behavior a few days ago.

I dont see the frequency associated with flukes but rather when near the clown it did which may be intimidation as clowns can be territorial. With flukes, you would also notice 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.
Keep an eye on them and write down the frequency of scratching if its continuous

I did not even consider aggression, I will definitely keep keep track of the tendencies!

Thanks!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi All,
I am new to reef keeping and I have a potential Flukes/parasite question.

My Rainfords Goby who has been doing well for 3 months since I got him appears to be flashing, and I wanted to get some opinions on what to do.

Here’s a video of him doing it. I have only caught him doing it while feeding, however he is quite reclusive and comes out most when I put food in.

What are your thoughts? Could he be doing this as a cause of running sand through his gills to clean them? He does not show any other signs of sickness and still has food drive.

I first noticed this behavior a few days ago.

Flukes can take quite some time to develop into serious infections, sometimes many months. I would just watch all of the fish for now - if you see new fish scratching/flashing, then consider that it is more likely flukes. You can then treat your tank with praziquantel:

Dosing Praziquantel (PZQ)

Using Praziquantel (PZQ) to treat flukes Overview In the early 1990’s, a researcher at the New York Aquarium published a paper on using Praziquantel (PZQ) to help control flukes, a parasitic flatworm. Also known as monogenean trematodes, these fish parasites can cause significant mortality in...

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