Cichlids Flashing-No spots-Red Gills-Help

Cichlids4Ever · 11-07-2006, 06:32 PM

Hi,
I went through a relatively easy cycling experience, but now, I am seeing 3 or 4 of my Cichlids flashing, and although I am no expert, it appears that the gills are more red than they are supposed to be.
Water is perfect as far as I can see.
Ammonia=0
Nitrites=0
Nitrates=5
PH=8.2
GH/KH=75-100
Tank is crystal clear.
I did some Internet research and the only thing I can come up with is Gill Flukes??? If anything.
What do I do?
I already keep salt in the tank at the rate of 1 tblsp per 5 gallons, and I have raised the temp to 85.
Is this OK? Should I do more? How long should I keep the temp up?
How about meds? Are there any parasite meds that DON'T stain the tank or hurt the fish.
Any input will be greatly appreciated.
I just lost 4 prize Cichlids last night when my filter somehow cracked and the tank nearly emptied out. The only survivor was my pleco.
I don't want to lose more fish, please help out..
Thanks!

fishuz · 11-07-2006, 06:39 PM

did the filter crack before or after you noticed this..and how much water did you have to add

Loman · 11-07-2006, 07:27 PM

One more question - Did you treat the water you added back for chlorine or Chlorimine

Tommy Gun · 11-07-2006, 07:49 PM

I am really sorry to hear about your new troubles Joe, but dont give up here. I think this is a good time to point out that IMO, it is advisable to keep the filter intakes at least a bit higher in a tank in order to avoid such events as a filter pumping water out of the tank. I had an instance once with a tank in which the filter got 'plugged' somehow and emptied itself out on the carpet. While it was a big mess to clean up, I didnt lose any fish due to the loss of water since the intake was only about 6 inches 'deep' in the tank and could obviously only pump out water down to that level.

I really think that if you are going to constantly add aquarium salt to your tank, you would be well advised to get yourself a cheap, easy to read hydrometer or add more salt ONLY when you do a water change. I think there could be a possbility here that if salt was constantly added to the tank, as evaporation occurs, the tank can become more 'salty' than you might think it is. Keep in mind that the water leaving the tank during evaporation does NOT take the salt with it and so eventually, you could have a salt to water ratio of 1 tblsp to 4 gallons and so on and so on.

I think with many cichlids, 'flashing' is also a sign of dominance, in particular with a tank that has several species of fish and especially when there are more than one more aggressive type cichlid in the tank. (e.g. P. Kennyi and Electric Blues) From the sounds of your visual explainations Joe, it could be more than this with the red gills, but do not be overly surprised to see this behavior. I see it often in my tank from the male and he usually has two to three locations in which he rubs on a particular decor or plant. I have also seen him do it on the gravel substrate, but only in one particular place.

I have also seen this occur in a tank with non cichlid type fish when I forgot to add dechlor chemicals or in an emergency when I did not have these conditioners available.

HOWEVER, this can be a sign of a few things as well, one being Ich. I would keep a really good eye on your fish for signs of Ich in the future. There is also an Ich like problem called "Velvet" that will really cause fish to itch on rocks, gravel substrates and the like. With Velvet, your fish will appear to lose their color and become a golden velvety color and texture. They will also breath heavily as this affects the gills. I am hessitant to advise you to use meds in your tank and do not know of any meds without the staining problem. Someone else may know, however I do know that dissolving the common 'tablets' that usually stain a tank in a plastic cup or jug for a day or so a head of time can help reduce the stain effect. I am unsure as to the reduction in the medicinal properties however and like I said, this would be better left to someone else to answer. I would be very sparring with the use of these meds though but I am sure you know that already.

Cichlids4Ever · 11-07-2006, 11:10 PM

First let me answer Fishuz..
The filter cracked on my 30 gallon, I am having issues with a different tank.
Sorry for the confusion.

Loman...
I am on well water and I do add Prime or stress coat when I do water changes, but I didn't add anything back to my 30 g.
The fish were dead. That tank is not up and running.

Tommy...
I think I will just monitor the fish then, right?
The temp is up, there is already salt present in the tank, and if things worsen, maybe large water changes and a little extra salt?

Man, I have been through some stuff over the past days!
I'll be back and post after things subside...IF they do!

fishuz · 11-08-2006, 12:25 AM

I would go easy on the salt...air rate the water well and keep a close eye on the fish...sounds like a water quality issue but you never know ( using medications without knowing if they are necessary is inadvisable )

Cichlids4Ever · 11-08-2006, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishuz

I would go easy on the salt...air rate the water well and keep a close eye on the fish...sounds like a water quality issue but you never know ( using medications without knowing if they are necessary is inadvisable )

That's sort of what I wanted to hear.
Only one of the fish is acting weird. Looks sick, goes to the top a lot.
The others are flashing a bit but they are active and normal.
I guess with the temp raised and the little salt I keep in there, if it is anything, that should help?

I think I asked this already, but when you use "heat" as a treatment for ailing fish, generally, how long do you keep the temp raised???
Lastly, I heard 2 different theories on lighting.
One says 8-10 hours of light a day, and the other says turn on the light ONLY when you need to see your fish. The reason I ask is that yesterday I kept the light off all day and the fish improved???
Maybe too much light stresses them?
I mean, even the gills don't look red anymore???

Tommy Gun · 11-08-2006, 08:02 PM

I think the heat and salt method can be used for quite a while, certainly much longer than I would use meds. I think two weeks to a month would be ok. I am concerned as gm is about the use of salts in your tank. I think for 'normal' operating in your tank, you should try to stay with a temp of 75ish and keep salt to a relatively minimum amount. You might do well to slowly ween the tank off the salt though.

For lights, I try to stay around 8 hours of light and I like to introduce light slowly by using timers to turn one of my hood lights on at a time (about an hour apart) and then vice versa. I do not know of any reasons that your fish's gills would be overly affected by light alone but them seeming spooked could be from light as well as your stocking. I would experiment a bit with your decor and switch things around in the tank for a few water changes to mess up the territories a bit to see if that helps.

trust-e-man · 11-08-2006, 08:10 PM

heres my opinion my cichlids had the same thing and i treated them with tetracycline its a anti-biotic for bactieria and if you do what the instructions tell you to do them it should help.

if thats the problem if not then yeah it may be a side of dominance my jewel cichlid did the same thing to and i thought it was a bad problem but im still new to this and learning every day for the past six months that which i first started the hobby for me.

Cichlids4Ever · 11-12-2006, 08:11 AM

Thanks for your post.
I tested the water and found my PH had sort of crashed for some reason. It was down to 7.2 like my tap water.
I bought some Cichlid salts and buffers and the PH went to 8.4
The fish are not flashing any more.