Over the past few months, I have noticed my Peacock Gobies flashing. Mostly the female. They do it about one to three times a week. The second I saw these symptons, I checked for all signs of disease. There is no ich, no gill flukes, no external parasites, no inflamed gills, no excessive mucus or slime trail. Eating healthy, poop is normal, behavior is normal after flashing episodes. If it had been parasitic or any disease, the whole tank should theoretically be dead by now.
No other fish exhibit these symptons. I suspected it to be velvet, but no gold or brown dust is apparent. I thought the Harlequins had it, but it turned out just to be their natural puprle and brown irridescent glimmer.
I then suspected it to be a harmful chemical or toxin. So I ran some Purigen for a few days. But sooner or later, they started up again. I haven't tried carbon yet though.
Then, I suspected it to be a pH problem, since they like neutral pH but I'd been adding some almond leaves. I have two in there, and I put them in at seperate times. When one degrades completely, I take it out and replace it, but the other stays, keeping the pH level from fluctuating too severly.
So I tested my pH. Surprisingly, it hasn't changed at all. PH is exactly 7.6 according to my testing kit. I even tested it three times to make sure.
So, I checked my stats to see if anything was up...
0 Nitrates? Weird. That's impossible. I'm starting to think I have a faulty kit, but then again I just did a water change yesterday
I think it might be breeding stress. The male is always trying to get her attention, flashing and spreading his fins for her. She sometimes responds, but mostly swims away or ignores him. They have plenty of room to get away from each other, and are most of the times seperate from each other. But there will be times were the male relentlessy puruses the female around the tank until he gives up or she hides.
There is a rock cave and a PVC pipe in there specifically for them to breed in, but they seem not to care. Occasionally, the female or male take a power nap in the PVC pipe, but most of the time the loaches have claimed it.
I could always add another PVC pipe, but I fear the male will become very aggressive to the other fish. The last time a fish bred in my tank (sparkling gouramis) the female claimed half the tank and anyone who came within a foot of her nest was promptley pecked out. (That's saying something, my tank is only 2ft long)
Any ideas on what this could be? I'm thinking it's breeding stress. No negative side effects besides the flashing have come up. They're still eating like little pigs. It can't be a cracked heater discharging, because then all of the fish would be flashing.
Help would be appreciated
No other fish exhibit these symptons. I suspected it to be velvet, but no gold or brown dust is apparent. I thought the Harlequins had it, but it turned out just to be their natural puprle and brown irridescent glimmer.
I then suspected it to be a harmful chemical or toxin. So I ran some Purigen for a few days. But sooner or later, they started up again. I haven't tried carbon yet though.
Then, I suspected it to be a pH problem, since they like neutral pH but I'd been adding some almond leaves. I have two in there, and I put them in at seperate times. When one degrades completely, I take it out and replace it, but the other stays, keeping the pH level from fluctuating too severly.
So I tested my pH. Surprisingly, it hasn't changed at all. PH is exactly 7.6 according to my testing kit. I even tested it three times to make sure.
So, I checked my stats to see if anything was up...
0 Nitrates? Weird. That's impossible. I'm starting to think I have a faulty kit, but then again I just did a water change yesterday
I think it might be breeding stress. The male is always trying to get her attention, flashing and spreading his fins for her. She sometimes responds, but mostly swims away or ignores him. They have plenty of room to get away from each other, and are most of the times seperate from each other. But there will be times were the male relentlessy puruses the female around the tank until he gives up or she hides.
There is a rock cave and a PVC pipe in there specifically for them to breed in, but they seem not to care. Occasionally, the female or male take a power nap in the PVC pipe, but most of the time the loaches have claimed it.
I could always add another PVC pipe, but I fear the male will become very aggressive to the other fish. The last time a fish bred in my tank (sparkling gouramis) the female claimed half the tank and anyone who came within a foot of her nest was promptley pecked out. (That's saying something, my tank is only 2ft long)
Any ideas on what this could be? I'm thinking it's breeding stress. No negative side effects besides the flashing have come up. They're still eating like little pigs. It can't be a cracked heater discharging, because then all of the fish would be flashing.
Help would be appreciated
