Fish Flicking

[bikerfish]

Hi All
Since swapping over to sand a few months ago , my bottom dwellers started to flick and still do. There has been no ick or signs of ulcers or anything else. I treated for internal parisites awhile ago for my guppies as not sure if there was a problem there , but they are ok .
It is just my keyhole cichilds and cories that do this and just wondered why?
I do a weekley water change and clean sand and a monthly clean of external fluval 306 and use tank water when doing so . I have changed water treatment to API + stress coat last month to see if this will help , but still doing this.
It is a well matured tank and stats are good .
There is no way any irritants get into the tank as very carefull to keep fish bits seperate to the point of being nurotic with this . Tank has a closed lid and never use polish near or nor room deodrants.
Any idears what can be causing this ? all fish are healthy
cathy

Sorry meant to add I have looked up gill parasites but no signs of this or any unexplained fish dying
cathy

 

[LaurenRhiain]

Hey! About a month ago I switched to sand also and ever since my loaches have been doing the exact same thing yet are all perfectly healthy I got myself a Krib Cichlid the other day and he too flicks at the sand. At first I was worried something might be wrong with them but after watching closely it appears that they are just foraging for leftovers I also read up somewhere that some fish and bottom feeders use flick against the sand as a way of cleaning themselves so I'd say your fish are perfectly fine and there's nothing to worry about! Hope this was helpful for you x

 

[bikerfish]

Hi cheers for answering I was hoping this was all it was but thought I would ask the question just in case
cathy

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Have you tested water from just above the sand floor? Some tanks can suffer water quality variances caused by poor flow.

Have you changed dechlorinator? Some fish find a change in prducts irritating.

Have you been adding excess dechlorinator? My Beckford Pencilfish in particular do not like it if I add excess Prime.

 

[sputnick]

I've had the same thing happening with my African Cichlids. They started doing this a little before i switched over to sand. I treated my water for a month straight with no change in their behavior, and they are all in perfect health so this thread helps a lot, thanks!

 

[bikerfish]

Hi I only recently changed water treatment to see if they would stop flicking , but still the same. They are all healthy touch wood so maybe it is just what certain fish do cheers for replys
cathy