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| Posted | Malawis flicking off sand and rocks? |
| 02-01-2008 19:08 by zalanz |
Probably been asked before but why do they do this?
Water tests are perfect, apart from PH at 7.5 [ think should be higher with Malawis?] This is not just one fish but several seem to flick their sides on rocks and the sand. [maybe just an itch?] They all look healthy so am fairly sure it is not gill fluke. |
| 03-01-2008 00:13 by robert.pope |
it sounds like they have something wrong for them to be flicking. perhaps its early stages but its better to treat early and possably re-check water conditions Zalanz what were your test readings?
keep posting on progress good luck |
| 03-01-2008 00:16 by robert.pope |
you recently cleaned your tank is it this tank in question?
were the fish flicking before the tank /filter clean? |
| 03-01-2008 13:21 by Alan |
Check the level of nitrate and make sure it is kept low and also watch for nitrite even at low levels I have known it to cause malawi's to flick.
A ph of 8.2 would be better with malawi's. Also look at the hardness of the water, if the water is to soft the ph will be unstable plus malawi's need hard water. |
| 06-01-2008 01:09 by chris |
It's generally a sign of aggression or a breeding dance but as said check your water again to make sure. mine do it a fair bit my water fine so its nothing to worry about
chris |
| 06-01-2008 12:41 by jonie |
could one of two things, BReeding or possible start of white spot |
| 28-01-2008 10:49 by Fry Lover |
It's actually perfectly normal Malawi behaviour. Obviously you would take the standard precautions however like water tests and close observations for any parasite signs.
But believe me this happens a fair bit in perfectly healthy Malawi tanks. Like Chris has said, its usually either male on male aggression or a male looking to breed. I am sure females can do it as well but its only my males that i see do it. Sometimes you may notice it increases after feeding. Immediately after feeding can be a time a Malawi tank is at its most "tense" and various fish can kick off for a few minutes. In my experience they do it more on the sand. |
| 28-01-2008 10:52 by Fry Lover |
I am not sure about what your hardness is, but i would bet the vast, vast majority of experienced malawi keepers would tell you that a pH of 7.5 is nowt to worry about. Obviously the closer you get to 7.0 the more it becomes out of their normal and required range. But i certainly would not worry about 7.5 as a pH reading. |
| 28-01-2008 12:23 by Alan |
This is just an observation I use to keep malawi's and had this problem all in good health but use to flick after feeding more than usual no parasite out breaks were apparent.
However when I converted the tank to normal tropical the problem continued. Therefore I concluded there was a problem. I have done the following to stop this problem. Firstly I concluded there must be some form of irritant in the tank what I did not know and to be frank still don't know. I noticed especially after feeding the substrate and detritus had been stirred up and was sticking to the fish's mucus layer after and during feeding. So I decided to reduce this now I carry out a 50% water change weekly as well as cleaning the filters every 2 weeks on alternate weeks so detritus is kept relatively low. However due to the size of the fish and their boisterous behaviour during feeding the substrate and detritus is always stirred up. I also use to operate my filters as fully biological so there was no mechanical filtration. To improve this I added sponges to one of the filters this reduced the incidence of flicking after feeding considerably however they still flicked when I observed the water closely before feeding I could still see some particulates therefore I have added filter wool to both canister filters the water is now crystal clear and free of particulates. This almost irradicated the flicking but did not in its entirety therefore I concluded there must be some form of parasite present or perhaps a straight forward hitch hiker on the fish that causes irritation as the fish were not down in any major way a side from the clear annoyance from the itching. In the past I have tried many remedies all of which whilst I use to use treated tapwater the most effective had been esha 2000 used with esha exit however the dechlorinator reduces the effectiveness considerably therefore I set up a system for collecting the waste water from my RO unit this waste water is a considerable improvement over tap water and in addition I do not need to use any water conditioners with it so once I had been using this for some time the flicking continued so I treated with esha 2000 and exit and there was an immediate marked improvement however after the end of treatment the problem came back I should also add I use a UV sterilizer obviously switched off during treatment. So if I do have a parasite problem the complete cycle is on the fish there is no free swimming stage. The end result was 2 weeks ago trying a treatment could wormer plus this removed the problem within 2 days entirely, I was gobsmacked. This treatment is based on a chemical used in a pig wormer called flubenol it is apparently safe to use with freshwater rays and is marketted for use with Discus fish for regular worming. The effect this treatment has on the fish is minimal infact the response to this treatment from my fish if anything is to act as a general pick me up. I believe that there may be some fomr of hitch hiker carried by malawi's that results in this flicking and I suspect these hitch hikers feed on detritus in the water column and whilst they do not feed on fish they use them as a home base. I have found the suspect organism in the past its name escapes me but from memeory they look like UFO's under a microscope. Anyway wormer plus has fixed the problem with my fish. |
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