# Fish "glancing"? What to do?



## Strick (Apr 6, 2009)

Glancing, or "flashing" is generally a sign of external parasites. Ich is the most common, and it looks like grains of salt sticking to your fish. Do you see anything like this?

Ich (and most other external parasites) can be treated easily with clean water, raising the temp (if possible) and either aquarium salt (which might be bad for your plants) or medication containing malachite green or copper sulfate.

Note that malachite green will stain rubber tubing and fake plants a bluish color, and that copper sulfate may also kill any inverts (like shrimp) in the tank. Both should be readily available in any pet store or WalMart.

Raising the temp to 82 or 84 degrees helps a lot because it speeds up the 3-stage life cycle of the ich parasite, which can only be killed during one of the three stages. If you're unable to raise the temp for whatever reason, then I would recommend dosing for a minimum of two weeks, even though your fish may seem better after only a couple of days.


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## jmontee (Mar 20, 2009)

I would not recommend using these two chemicals unless it is a final option. Melafix and Pimafix are great natural remedies that have worked for many in the past. The good thing about these products is that they are both plant and animal friendly. They are plant extracts so they do have a strong essential oil type of smell but I actually liked it. My wife on the other hand is allergic to melaleuca so I had to stop using it. Anyway I would try treating with these first and raising the temp to 80 degrees if possible. 

Good luck.


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## Strick (Apr 6, 2009)

A word of caution about MelaFix and PimaFix: if you have a betta or any other fish with long fins or a labyrinth organ, stay away from them. Melaleuca oil is known to damage labyrinth organs and fins both. Even BettaFix, which is supposedly formulated just for bettas will do this.

I belong to a couple of betta forums and the use of anything containing melaleuca oil is strongly discouraged at both of them.

Having said that, I strongly discourage the use of any medication until a diagnosis can be made. Do your fish show any other symptoms? Can you maybe post a pic or two?


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## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

At this point there's nothing to take a pic of. The fish look healthy other then they've been glancing / flashing lately. No white spots of ich. It does seem to be a new behavior though, so something's out of the ordinary.

I did however just move a very large goldfish into a rehabilitation tank. He's been acting very strange lately. Anytime I made any sudden movements near the tank he would freak out and swim into a wall, sometimes so hard he'd knock himself out for a few seconds. It was damaging his nose.

Also, I have been getting a rash on my fingers. Seems to correspond with filter cleanings. Wearing rubber gloves during filter cleanings seems to prevent the rash. I did some searching and a form of fish-TB called Mycobacterium marinum fits the description of my rash. Does this bacteria affect fish negatively?

One final note... I've been running a UV filter on this tank continuously. The bulb burnt out a week or so ago. I still need to replace it.


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## Strick (Apr 6, 2009)

Well, I have no idea about the rash - maybe someone else here has experience with that.

You goldfish's excitability could also be caused by parasites. The good news is that external parasites are rarely fatal so long as they don't go untreated for long periods.

Another common parasite is velvet. This one causes your fish to have a goldish sheen (like velvet) that can be seen with a flashlight. Velvet marks are much smaller than ich, more like grains of flour.

I would recommend not doing anything for now. Keep a close eye on them and see if you can actually see anything wrong.


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## jmontee (Mar 20, 2009)

I agree with strick on this one. I wouldn't do anything without confirming something is wrong. Have checked your ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, phophates and pH lately? Maybe the fish are reacting more to an irritant than an organism.


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## kid creole (Dec 25, 2008)

jmontee said:


> I agree with strick on this one. I wouldn't do anything without confirming something is wrong. Have checked your ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, phophates and pH lately? Maybe the fish are reacting more to an irritant than an organism.


Good advice.


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## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

Well... Let me answer by copying a post I made about this on another forum:



> This is an old pic. The stock list has changed a lot since then.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## kid creole (Dec 25, 2008)

I wouldn't think a goldfish would be compatible with all those other fish.

Any updates?


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## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

I've got more questions about Goldie... He's in a quarantine tank- 20gal. Being medicated with Maracyn and Maracyn-two (which can be used together), as well as Melafix, and Rid-ich. 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon in water also.

The pop-eye seems to have subsided, however just behind the top of his head has swollen and now has a kind of sore that's very red. What is this?


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## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

kid creole said:


> I wouldn't think a goldfish would be compatible with all those other fish.
> 
> Any updates?


lol, My experience with aquariums defies all logic in so many ways. I've been told so many things can't be done & have somehow managed to do all those things. 

This goldfish was bought as a feeder for a couple African Clawed frogs. The frog had this goldfish half swallowed and the goldfish managed to get free somehow and live with those frogs till he grew too big to be eaten. Eventually he outlived the frogs. Most of the other fish have been added into an older tank that was already established with the goldfish. I'm told that helps, along with the fact that he's easily two to three times the size or more of anything else in the tank.

If goldie doesn't make it my fiance and I are going to be awfully sad. He's such a gentle giant & is the oldest fish in our collection.


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## Mr. Fisher (Mar 24, 2009)

I have noticed that fish tend to do this when there is something wrong with the water...meaning too high in nitrites or ammonia (aside from more obvious sickness).

What are/were you current readings when the fish were intially upset?

YOu did not list the nitrite levels. There are also gasses underneath the substrate that are toxic/ can kill you fish if disturbed. Did you happen to mess with the substrate at all?


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## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

Nitrites are zero, and actually it's only been a few weeks that I dug all the subtrate out of the tank & washed it to remove silt from clouding the water. Substrate shouldn't be a problem. Water changes should have removed anything released into the water during the substrate cleaning.

I suspect my problems have come from a combination of the UV bulb burning out & going unreplaced for several weeks, adding fish at the same time, and letting the goldfish get very ill in that tank. The disease took hold in the weakened goldfish and spread through the water column to the others. The only question left is how to treat it. I have raised the temp to 84*F in the main aquarium and have removed goldie to a quarantine tank for rehabilitation (hopefully.) I don't have any other tanks / equipment available to separate and rehab the whole population right now so I'm monitoring the rest of the fish for further signs of trouble. If things get worse I'll have to start putting them in with the goldfish.


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## Mr. Fisher (Mar 24, 2009)

From all that I have heard, rinsing substrate can kill beneficial bacteria in the substrate. This could cause your tank to cycle again. Gravel vacs are much less invasive (even then, you are only suppose to do a approx. 25% section of the gravel per water change).

There are certain gasses that can be released in the aquarium water from a type of anaerobic condition. They are released when the substrate is disturbed. This gas can kill or weaken fish.

That being said, I hope your fish gets better. 

Remember that if you are not dealing with an infectious disease, higher temps can cause ammonium (which doesn't register on certain tests) to turn into ammonia.

Whether or not you are running the UV, your tank should be able to sustain healthy fish.

Btw, what caused the cloudiness in the water?


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## Mr. Fisher (Mar 24, 2009)

Oreo said:


> I've got more questions about Goldie... He's in a quarantine tank- 20gal. Being medicated with Maracyn and Maracyn-two (which can be used together), as well as Melafix, and Rid-ich. 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon in water also.
> 
> The pop-eye seems to have subsided, however just behind the top of his head has swollen and now has a kind of sore that's very red. What is this?


 
Each medication causes an added amount of stress on your fish. I wouldn't recommend multi-dosing your fish at one time.

Aquarium salt if okay as a tonic, but if you are treating with three other meds...

I would concentrate on daily water changes, and one med. depending on the symptoms.


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