Multiple Fish Flashing Suddenly - Cause Unknown

[cryingrn]

Today I've had some sudden issues pop up in my reef tank that Im having trouble explaining. It started with my adorned wrasse, who exited the sand bed at her normal time this morning and was flashing/yawning excessively for the first 10 minutes or so. I chalked this up to her dislodging sand grains after waking up, since it was really only for that initial period of time and she spent the rest of the day hunting and cruising as normal.

Then my yellow tang started acting up. He would dart around and flash, and spent the later afternoon hiding in the liverock which was unusual for him. He doesnt seem to be directing this at anyone and is the only tang in my tank.

Around the same time, my juvenile goldflake angelfish decided to hide in the rock separately from the yellow tang. This is, again, out of character behavior but given that he is normally attached by the hip to my tang and my tang was acting weird, I figured this was just an extension of this behavior. I was able to lure the goldflake out briefly with food.

Then as soon as my lights went out, my chalk basslet flashed 3x in a row against the rocks. After not noticing any odd behaviors from my fish to all of this unusualness, I was officially worried. I tried pulling one of the symptomatic fish for a diagnostic fw dip, but can presently only grab one of my clownfish without taking out rocks. I took out my male occellaris and did a fw dip, but nothing came off (I didnt realize at the time that not all flukes are visible with the naked eye/receptive to a fw dip so I didnt take a sample to look under a microscope). Again though, the clownfish are not currently displaying any unusual behaviors.

Ammonia and nitrites are 0ppm.
Nitrates are 13.7
Temp has been stable at 77.6-77.8°F all day

Now, for context, Im still not able to 100% rule out water quality issues. Im currently battling dinoflagellates and put in UV sterilizers yesterday to combat them. I recently did a tank move to this 180g about a week ago and it destabilized everything. My corals all still have good PE though and my anemones seem relatively happy, so Im not really sure. I was also cleaning today around the tank. I mopped my floors with fabuloso and I did (carefully) use febreeze on my rug and furniture but was very mindful to minimize aerosol particles from going up in the air. I also cant rule out that maybe, after cleaning, if I stuck my hand in the tank without thinking and maybe had chemicals on my hand (but I dont know that I did I just cant rule out that I didnt).

So ultimately Im at a bit of a loss. Here's a video of my yellow tang doing some of the weird charging behaviors (no other tang in the tank and I dont have any aggression at all currently. I dont even think there was even anyone near him). Also a close-up of his gills bc I cant tell if they look irritated or not

I am still trying to capture a symptomatic fish for a fw dip just to more confidently rule-out flukes however

 

[MegabiteOG]

Did you happen to be wearing a bright orange shirt? My fish freak out if I get near the tank with one. Doubtful, but figured I’d ask.

 

[cryingrn]

Did you happen to be wearing a bright orange shirt? My fish freak out if I get near the tank with one. Doubtful, but figured I’d ask.

Man I wish! No it was skin colored, and these were behaviors that were happening without me being immediately present

 

[MegabiteOG]

With just moving everything over, it can be so many things. Hopefully someone can give you advice, you figure it out, or it works itself out. I’d throw in a bag a GAC in case there are some toxins from the Dinos and move.

 

[cryingrn]

With just moving everything over, it can be so many things. Hopefully someone can give you advice, you figure it out, or it works itself out. I’d throw in a bag a GAC in case there are some toxins from the Dinos and move.

Thank you. That's the frustrating thing. Maybe its flukes, but the clownfish came back with a negative fw dip and the yellow tang (who is currently the worst offender) doesnt seem like his gills are that irritated. Im thinking logically its dinos and the wq issues that come with that, but dont know if its worth it to dose prazipro for the sake of it or if the side effects would be too great atp (especially for a tank that essentially was completely destabilized recently).

I did add in a bag of the blue chemi pure yesterday, so hopefully that will help

 

[305]

Today I've had some sudden issues pop up in my reef tank that Im having trouble explaining. It started with my adorned wrasse, who exited the sand bed at her normal time this morning and was flashing/yawning excessively for the first 10 minutes or so. I chalked this up to her dislodging sand grains after waking up, since it was really only for that initial period of time and she spent the rest of the day hunting and cruising as normal.

Then my yellow tang started acting up. He would dart around and flash, and spent the later afternoon hiding in the liverock which was unusual for him. He doesnt seem to be directing this at anyone and is the only tang in my tank.

Around the same time, my juvenile goldflake angelfish decided to hide in the rock separately from the yellow tang. This is, again, out of character behavior but given that he is normally attached by the hip to my tang and my tang was acting weird, I figured this was just an extension of this behavior. I was able to lure the goldflake out briefly with food.

Then as soon as my lights went out, my chalk basslet flashed 3x in a row against the rocks. After not noticing any odd behaviors from my fish to all of this unusualness, I was officially worried. I tried pulling one of the symptomatic fish for a diagnostic fw dip, but can presently only grab one of my clownfish without taking out rocks. I took out my male occellaris and did a fw dip, but nothing came off (I didnt realize at the time that not all flukes are visible with the naked eye/receptive to a fw dip so I didnt take a sample to look under a microscope). Again though, the clownfish are not currently displaying any unusual behaviors.

Ammonia and nitrites are 0ppm.
Nitrates are 13.7
Temp has been stable at 77.6-77.8°F all day

Now, for context, Im still not able to 100% rule out water quality issues. Im currently battling dinoflagellates and put in UV sterilizers yesterday to combat them. I recently did a tank move to this 180g about a week ago and it destabilized everything. My corals all still have good PE though and my anemones seem relatively happy, so Im not really sure. I was also cleaning today around the tank. I mopped my floors with fabuloso and I did (carefully) use febreeze on my rug and furniture but was very mindful to minimize aerosol particles from going up in the air. I also cant rule out that maybe, after cleaning, if I stuck my hand in the tank without thinking and maybe had chemicals on my hand (but I dont know that I did I just cant rule out that I didnt).

So ultimately Im at a bit of a loss. Here's a video of my yellow tang doing some of the weird charging behaviors (no other tang in the tank and I dont have any aggression at all currently. I dont even think there was even anyone near him). Also a close-up of his gills bc I cant tell if they look irritated or not

I am still trying to capture a symptomatic fish for a fw dip just to more confidently rule-out flukes however

I’d check ammonia and stray voltage…
Especially since u did a tank transfer ammonia-wise

 

[305]

Also, anytime Dino’s come up… my goto is iron!
The last thing I’d do is dirty the water cuz I’ll just keep feeding em.
Watch reefbums video labeled Dino’s with Jake Adam’s .. they give u the low down on the iron

 

[TylerHaworth]

Yawning and flashing sounds like flukes, I’m sure Jay or Vetteguy will chime in sometime today.

 

[vetteguy53081]

The behaviors you mentioned are likely flukes but need to confirm. Videos are not playing - try you tube version videos please. If flukes. you can treat with PraziPro dosed at 85% of recommended and allow it to work for 8 days, change water and apply one more application lasting 8 days and do add an air stone as Prazi lowers both oxygen and appetite
How are you testing your levels?

 

[W31Olds]

Does sound like Flukes, but unlikely you would have and outbreak unless something was added to your tank. FW dips are inconclusive except in the case of one type of Fluke. In a large system like yours, unlikely something on your hands would cause an issue. If you we worried about Toxins, you could run Carbon or a Polyfilter.

 

[cryingrn]

So sorry a bunch of replies came in at once! I'll just address them all generally.

I am checking my ammonia and nitrate with hanna checkers. Nitrite im just checking with an API test. I also have a seachem ammonia badge in my sump that Im checking multiple times a day. Ammonia has not been detectable since the tank move, but I had the sand and about half of the rock cycling for several weeks in the tank before doing the move.

I did add in the angelfish recently, but he went through a medicated qt before being added to the tank. I dont qt my corals though... im unsure if flukes or eggs can come in on those.

I normally havent been running carbon on the tank bc Ive been struggling with hlle on the yellow tang. Speaking of, the charging behaviors Ive been noticing I think could be boiled down to flashing or just general agitation from itchiness. His gills still dont look that inflamed to me and I dont see any redness, but he is going back and forth this morning flashing. My basslet, which Ive also noticed last night, has not flashed this morning that Ive seen. The wrasse usually comes out around 10am or so from presumably the sand bed so Ill see how she looks then.

My water is actually pretty dirty and was so before the ostreopsis outbreak. Ime, I tend to get pop-up outbreaks anytime my microbiome is destabilized which I think a tank transfer would accomplish. Theyre slowly clearing up since adding the UV filters. I also am doing small 10% wcs either at night or when the lights initially come on for manual removal (with water dosed with nitrates/phosphates to match the tank levels). Unfortunately, Ive had several run-ins with ostreopsis over the years so this has always been the winning ticket for me.

I am including YouTube links to the videos in case anyone was unable to view the original format. Its the charging behavior from yesterday (which has now developed into more intentional flashing) and a close up of my yellow tangs gills from last night.

 

[cryingrn]

Editing to add something that might also be relevant. Some of the rock is from the old tank that I tore down. Some of it is dry rock. Some of it is also live rock from someone else's tank. Unsure if they could've come in on that

 

[W31Olds]

Absolutely could come in on Rock. Flukes have very sticky eggs and will stick to rock frag plugs, etc. As far as running Carbon, you need the correct type, and I just meant it as a temporary event. But for all your fish to be flashing then item that had Flukes would have to be in your tank for a while. Flukes need time to multiply.

 

[cryingrn]

Also adding a close-up of my basslet. He was flashing last night, but again I havent noticed anything this morning. The fact that hes just laying on the sand bed during the day is a little unusual for him

 

[cryingrn]

Absolutely could come in on Rock. Flukes have very sticky eggs and will stick to rock frag plugs, etc. As far as running Carbon, you need the correct type, and I just meant it as a temporary event. But for all your fish to be flashing then item that had Flukes would have to be in your tank for a while. Flukes need time to multiply.

Thank you. So before the tank move then? It very well could've been on a frag plug. Most of my fish seem to be behaving normally (the clownfish pair, damsel, dottyback, and valentini are all behaving as normal. I havent noticed any flashing from the angelfish and hes back out and about following the yellow tang). But I have seen flashing from the chalk basslet, yellow tang, and adorned wrasse. The prior two are also acting unusual- hiding more. I'll get prazipro tomorrow from the LFS and treat the display- I dont have anything that I think would be affected besides the bristleworms in my sump (Ill just remove as many as I can first to prevent an ammonia spike). The prazi i have on hand has metro in it, which Im assuming isnt as reef-safe as the prazi is

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The fish are breathing a bit fast and the tang is acting a bit “flighty”.

This could be flukes, but with all the tank changes, I can’t rule out something from that.

If you can get pure praziquantel powder, you might try using that to see if it helps. I wouldn’t use Prazipro on this tank though - while it is convenient to use, the solvent in it can cause minor issues, and you want to minimize water quality issues right now….

 

[cryingrn]

Thank you! I did also want to add, about the juvenile goldflake angel, I have not seen this fish flash so far but he went from being very confident to jumpy and skittish overnight. Ive also noticed some erosion happening primarily on his pectoral fins, but potentially also on his caudal fin. The erosion is bilateral and seems roughly equal, although Im not seeing any redness. Im unsure if this is consistent with flukes, or if I should attempt to pull him to treat for secondary bacterial infections at this time. This is turning into quite the mess

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you! I did also want to add, about the juvenile goldflake angel, I have not seen this fish flash so far but he went from being very confident to jumpy and skittish overnight. Ive also noticed some erosion happening primarily on his pectoral fins, but potentially also on his caudal fin. The erosion is bilateral and seems roughly equal, although Im not seeing any redness. Im unsure if this is consistent with flukes, or if I should attempt to pull him to treat for secondary bacterial infections at this time. This is turning into quite the mess

Fin damage like that is consistent with flukes - but could also be from tankmate aggression. If you can rule out that latter issue, and given the species involved, I would say this is fluke damage.

 

[cryingrn]

Fin damage like that is consistent with flukes - but could also be from tankmate aggression. If you can rule out that latter issue, and given the species involved, I would say this is fluke damage.

I havent seen any aggression, but aggression happens in an instant and usually not when youre watching. Still, no one is acting jumpy with each other theyre just acting jumpy in general if that makes sense. Do you think the fin damage will heal well with prompt prazi treatment? I mostly just dont know how to tell when/if a secondary infection has set in. And hes so little, I dont want to wait too long to make that determination

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I havent seen any aggression, but aggression happens in an instant and usually not when youre watching. Still, no one is acting jumpy with each other theyre just acting jumpy in general if that makes sense. Do you think the fin damage will heal well with prompt prazi treatment? I mostly just dont know how to tell when/if a secondary infection has set in. And hes so little, I dont want to wait too long to make that determination

O.K., so let's rule out tankmate aggression.

Sometimes, bacterial infections do set in during/after fluke infections. First, you need to eliminate the flukes. Then, watch for signs of bacterial infection - these include additional fin erosion after the flukes are gone, as well as redness or white growths on the fins. then, a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic would be needed. Common ones to try include Neoplex and Kanaplex.