strange behavior - ich?

[drpleco]

This is a new one to me - My new L14 (5") has been extremely active in the last two days and while this is cool, it has me worried. The worrying part is that every once in a while (every 10 minutes or so) he'll "jump" off a rock and twist his body in the water. It looks a lot like flashing/flicking seen with ich, but he has no spots. He also spends a lot of time swimming across the front glass. Through all of this he is eating well and has good color. I can't see any spots anywhere on him or any other fish.

The other fish in the tank show no symptoms, which makes me doubt parasites are to blame. I have a couple dozen mixed botia and some giant danios, plus a few L075's. If Ich were present, I would think that the clowns would show it, too.

The tank is a 125g 6'er, 0,0,10, ph of 8 and temp of 82. I know the ph is a bit on the high side, but everyone seems OK with it. Substrate is silica sand with a bit of aragonite mixed in (used to be a cichlid tank). I have been changing 50% of the water once or twice weekly since I have the time and the fish don't mind.

The L14 spent 2 weeks in quarantine before being brought to the LFS. I QT'd him for one week after that in a 10g before putting him in the main tank.

Has anyone seen this "flicking" before? I'm tempted to add some ridich just in case, but really don't want to treat uncessessarily. Thanks!

[Richard B]

I'd say better NOT to treat just in case - only treat when you are sure there is a problem.

That said it doesn't seem normal behaviour & it always pays to be cautious. I have seen many fish 'flick' themselves like this with no visible signs of anything - but just cos we can't see something doesn't neccessarily mean there is nothing there. Careful monitoring of the situation is in order & fast reaction if things change for the worse. Often fish that keep 'flicking' stop it after a while without being treated & don't start doing it again.

[Birger]

he'll "jump" off a rock and twist his body in the water

Is it doing this shortly after the 50 % water changes or all the time?

[drpleco]

pretty much all the time, though it seems to calm down a bit after water changes, which supports a parasite theory. But it also supports a water quality theory.

I guess I"ll just keep observing and hope for the best. I'm glad to hear that it's not completely abnormal to have twitching occur and then disappear. Hopfully the little guy just needs to settle in a bit more.

Thanks!!!!

[Birger]

pretty much all the time, though it seems to calm down a bit after water changes, which supports a parasite theory. But it also supports a water quality theory.

I was thinking sometimes they can get twitchy after a water change, sometimes I have had to make frequent smaller changes...but you say it gets better so it can't be that

Birger

[drpleco]

I just retested the water and came up with 0,0,5, and a ph of 7.4. I have no idea why it's so low (comparitively), but I imagine the water company is trying something different. Maybe they added something irritating to the water.

This morning he's still at it, and a couple syno multi fry in there are scratching a bit as well. But no spots on anyone.

[ashik]

I've seen the same thing in one of my tanks before; scratching without any apparent malaise otherwise, which isn't resolved with water changes. I treated for a few days with a copper based med (aquarisol or something, but below the recommended dosage, as it was in a heavily planted tank with inverts), and the scratching stopped after a few days.