Possible reasons for flashing

germs101 · Aug 10, 2017

My tank has gone fallow twice. The first time was because of a velvet outbreak that taught me the lesson to quarantine. The second was out of precaution after I learned about transferring disease on hard surfaces. The fish that went back in (over a year ago) were all heathy, but went through TTM just to be safe. I've only added fish once since then. They went through 30 days of Coppersafe, were treated with Prazipro, and also Kanaplex and Furan-2. This was four months ago.

About three weeks ago I saw our Hippo flash while we ate dinner one night. She did it just a couple of times, and my heart about stopped. I never saw her do it again, and I was watching close after that. Tonight during dinner I saw our Mimic tang do the same thing! It was only twice, and I'd never seen this fish do this before.

I have added coral twice in the past year but only after it was in a separate qt in a separate room after being in there well over 76 days.

Is there a senario here where I don't need to worry? I'm at a loss as to what could be happening.

Maritimer · Aug 10, 2017

Flashing basically means "that itches" or "that's annoying". Sometimes it's due to a parasite, sometimes ... it's just an itch.

Keep an eye on them. (That's half the fun, anyway - fishwatching!)

~Bruce

4FordFamily · Aug 10, 2017

It could be that they are displaying-- I wouldn't necessarily worry without other symptoms. Tangs behave strangely in glass boxes because they cover vast areas of the ocean every day and they are not able to do that in captivity -- so it can lead to some strange behavior.

ngoodermuth · Aug 11, 2017

Maritimer said:
Flashing basically means "that itches" or "that's annoying". Sometimes it's due to a parasite, sometimes ... it's just an itch.

Keep an eye on them. (That's half the fun, anyway - fishwatching!)

~Bruce

+1 If you are really worried you can try to catch one fish for a fw dip to check for flukes. There's a video in the link below that shows what to look for.

Freshwater Dip

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/Freshwater-Dip.248898/

Just double checking- did all of your fish receive TWO doses of Prazi, 5-7 days apart?

germs101 · Aug 11, 2017

ngoodermuth said:
+1 If you are really worried you can try to catch one fish for a fw dip to check for flukes. There's a video in the link below that shows what to look for.

Freshwater Dip

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/Freshwater-Dip.248898/

Just double checking- did all of your fish receive TWO doses of Prazi, 5-7 days apart?

Not the clownfish that were already in the tank. They had been given fw dips before with no flukes showing. Do flukes due off during a fallow period?

ngoodermuth · Aug 11, 2017

germs101 said:
Not the clownfish that were already in the tank. They had been given fw dips before with no flukes showing. Do flukes due off during a fallow period?

Yes, they would die off in the fallow tank. But, all the fish would all have to be treated for them with Praziquantel to eradicate it.

germs101 · Aug 11, 2017

ngoodermuth said:
Yes, they would die off in the fallow tank. But, all the fish would all have to be treated for them with Praziquantel to eradicate it.

Are clowns more resistant to flukes than other fish? They are pretty resilient!