Newbies Needs Advice - Wcmm Flicking

[black angel]

no need to add salt..and i agree to wait it out and just go with carbon and water changes and see if it helps ... keep us posted.

 

[doggiebag]

what I am trying to do is this.....the fish were getting daily waterchanges throughout cycling, this was for 2 months, every day........then I get the cycled zeros so water doesn't get so many changes......flicking starts, pretty close to the start of the zeros......so maybe the fish are 'used' to some fresh water everyday.....and the sudden stop cause slight irritation?

So I have done a large wc 2 days ago and am going to try doing partial (20%) changes every other day, as they had this everyday before, so maybe if I now do every other day and see if the flicking goes away.....shooting in the dark now lol but willing to try all options.

the 2 males affected do seem to be chasing everyone in the tank......may be just mating behaviour........one grey female was swimming erratic but she had just been chased by the males so that may be why, getting paranoid now, you noticed way too much when you sit and look for things lol

 

[doggiebag]

Okay, it has been a good few days now.........I have been doing a 20% waterchange every other day for the past few days to see if that helps......the flicking seems a little less, but the grey male is still flicking, not all the time, just maybe once/twice a day for a few flicks. No one new appears to be flicking, just the 2 so far, though not sure if the golden male has flicked, haven't caught him.
They don't appear any worse. Nobody looks ill, no clamped fins or rapid breathing, just the occasional flicking with the grey male, and possibly the golden male.....nothing has gotten worse since end of treatment.


I have just set up the new 63 litre tank for a fishless cycle, was going to move them into that when its ready. Trouble is I don't want to move them if they have a disease......would prefer to resolve this first.

Should I give them more time to see what occurs?

 

[doggiebag]

Just a quick update.........

it has been a few weeks now and the fish are fine. They two males still flick as well as one of the females, though it is only once a day or so, it has not spread to anyone else and they fish that flick remain healthy and active. I am now putting it down to behavioural as if it was anything bad (ich/flukes etc) i think they would have died by now, or at least appear very ill. it must be either because they are in a smaller tank (they will be moved to a larger 63litre tank soon, currently fishless cycling) or because its a mating thing lol........

I am hoping they all remain well, and guess the flicking may be the odd thing I see from time to time.

I have been checking their water daily, and it remains constant at ph 8.0-8.2, ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates 20 (same as tap water). they now get a waterchange of 25% once a week. This seems to keep them happy.

 

[Lisa Riley]

Just a quick update.........

it has been a few weeks now and the fish are fine. They two males still flick as well as one of the females, though it is only once a day or so, it has not spread to anyone else and they fish that flick remain healthy and active. I am now putting it down to behavioural as if it was anything bad (ich/flukes etc) i think they would have died by now, or at least appear very ill. it must be either because they are in a smaller tank (they will be moved to a larger 63litre tank soon, currently fishless cycling) or because its a mating thing lol........

I am hoping they all remain well, and guess the flicking may be the odd thing I see from time to time.

I have been checking their water daily, and it remains constant at ph 8.0-8.2, ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates 20 (same as tap water). they now get a waterchange of 25% once a week. This seems to keep them happy.

Gouramis like a pH of 6-7 and suffer from a condition known as "alkalinity toxicity". I think your water is too alkaline and needs to be more acidic. Treat your water with a product called "Proper pH 6.5" made by API Co. It dechlorinates as well as has aloe vera to help increase the slime coating on aquarium fish with each water change. I also use "Stress Coat" every time I change the water in my tank (75 gallons) to help with osmotic pressure on the fish. I have a community tank with 6 gouramis. Hope this helps.

 

[doggiebag]

do you think this is the issue then? I had them for a long time before they even started flicking and they came from a supplier that also has hard water.........plus I had researched them fully and the ph range seems fine for minnows?? They are not as sensitive to ph as gouramis are.....
sorry to question, Im just not 100% on this as I had them for ages before it started, and through chatting with a WCMM breeder they felt it was more likely to be behavioural, either small tank or breeding behaviour. I am cycling a lrger tank for them now and it should be ready in the next couple of weeks......

 

[Hokum]

Hi, are your fish still doing this? I ask as i did a fishless cycle and added some WCMM's in early December. I then suffered two losses from Coulmnaris. After treating them with Ektol fluid and watching them like a hawk i noticed them flicking. I then added some new WCMM's to bring the total up to 8. These didnt flick for the first couple of days then started flicking everynow and then with the others. My param's are 0 ammonia 0 nitrites 5-10 nitrates and Ph 7.4. The fish seem healthy but the flicking hasme worried. I was thinking of treating with Ektol Crystals as it doesn't kill the filter but your post has me thinking as i've noticed that they don't flick when the main light is off. Could it be normal?