Yoyo's flashing

[aegolius]

I have a huge problem with these flashers, been since I introduced little yoyos in the tank. Half a year ago (when I got these little yoyos) they had ich --> made it disappear with half a dosage of Protozin.

Nowadays the fish eat fine, they are very active yet they have these symptoms:
- Yoyos and tetras keep flashing a lot on daily basis.
- Ancistrus breaths heavily/rapidly.
- Tetras have swollen/red gills.

I've tried changing water more often (up to three times a week 30-50%) but it doesn't seem to be helping. No rotting plants in the tank. Tested water quality and there are no problems with it. I also use water conditioner and the tank has extra aeration to help fish to breath. Thus I think I've ruled out everything that could be the problem with water.

Then I started searching for possible diseases, thought it could be either Gyrodactylus or Dactylogyrus and treated the tank with praziquantel. --> It didn't have any effect.

Anyone have any idea what could be the problem? Here's some photos of the fish. See anything that could be a sign of a disease?

Little yoyo's both sides:
http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/iso/img1041842.jpg
http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/iso/img1041843.jpg

Little yoyo 2's left side (this yoyo has lost a bit colouring but it could also be because she/he is the one that is being chased, she/he keeps flashing more often than others though):
http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/iso/img1041844.jpg

Ancistrus (her head seems a bit greyish/dusty but I don't know if it's just her normal colour):
http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/iso/img1041846.jpg

Help. Any ideas what to try next?

[andre]

Hi Aegolius, welcome to LOL.

First of all congratulations for your photos which are beautiful.

The fish look fine to me but wait for other members to read your post and they may give you a better opinion.

Just a question: how big is the tank and how many fish do you have in total?

[aegolius]

Hi Aegolius, welcome to LOL.

First of all congratulations for your photos which are beautiful.

The fish look fine to me but wait for other members to read your post and they may give you a better opinion.

Just a question: how big is the tank and how many fish do you have in total?

Thank you very much. It was unbelievable hard to take photos of the fast loaches.

The tank is 300L / 79(?) gallon.
Fish: 4 yoyos, 12 tetras, 1 ancistrus.

[newshound]

what water conditioner?

[aegolius]

what water conditioner?

Tetra AquaSafe.

[newshound]

no sure what that is but not all water conditioners are equal!
Prime is the sure WC.
I was using aqua plus and it is basically useless.
loaches flashing like mad

[starsplitter7]

Prime is very nice, and cheap. You only use 1 mL per ten gallons (many products are 1 mL per 1-2 gallons).

So my 55 uses 5.5 mL of Prime or 25-55 mL of other products. Much cheaper to use Prime and it treats a wider range of water issues.

What are your Nitrate readings? How about Ammonia and Nitrite? What is your tank temperature? Did you drop your water level to increase oxygen?

I am new, so I am not able to help you with your issues, but answering those questions may help others answer your questions. The only thing I can think of is that with all your cleaning you may have cleaned up your good bacteria. I have accidentally done that before when I am trying to clean up a problem in my tank.

[aegolius]

no sure what that is but not all water conditioners are equal!
Prime is the sure WC.
I was using aqua plus and it is basically useless.
loaches flashing like mad

I don't think it's the water conditioner (tried changing it to Sera Aqutan --> flashing continues. Also tried without water conditioner --> flashing) that's causing all this. I've used the same stuff for years --> no flashing with old yoyos. But when the new ones arrived all of them are flashing. Even the ancistrus is rushing all over the tank which is something I haven't seen before.

They don't sell Prime over here.

[Ashleigh]

Hi aegolius,

Welcome to LOL Those are some really good photos

I wouldn't be adding water w/o water conditioner to your tank. The conditioner you add breaks down chlorine/chloramines amongst other chemicals etc that has been added to your tapwater. It is possible that chlorine/chloramines contained in the untreated tapwater will have a negative effect on your fish, it can cause problems regarding the gills of the fish. The benefical bacterial housed in your filter will also be negatively affected-it would be possible to send your tank into a mini-cycle by adding untreated tapwater as the chlorine can kill off your benefical bacteria (hense never rinsing your filter pads in tap water).

How long has it been since you added untreated water to the tank in question??

Do you have any of the numbers from testing your water?

You mentioned that when the new 'ones' arrived the flashing started. Did you quarantine the fish before you added them to your main tank?



Ashleigh

[starsplitter7]

Hi Aegolius,

Where are you?

Sometimes locals have a product suggestion.

[aegolius]

Prime is very nice, and cheap. You only use 1 mL per ten gallons (many products are 1 mL per 1-2 gallons).

So my 55 uses 5.5 mL of Prime or 25-55 mL of other products. Much cheaper to use Prime and it treats a wider range of water issues.

What are your Nitrate readings? How about Ammonia and Nitrite? What is your tank temperature? Did you drop your water level to increase oxygen?

I am new, so I am not able to help you with your issues, but answering those questions may help others answer your questions. The only thing I can think of is that with all your cleaning you may have cleaned up your good bacteria. I have accidentally done that before when I am trying to clean up a problem in my tank.

Nitrate: 10
Nitrite: 0
Temperature: 26'C
Don't know about Ammonia but pH is 7.
No, I didn't drop the water level (except when medication was on).

I don't think you can clean the tank too much if the filters are always kept a bit shitty so that the good bacteria stays alive + if you don't vacuum the whole bottom at once.

Update:
I've noticed two of the tetras having lighter grey (not slimy or thicker skin, just the color has changed a bit just like ancistrus' head) neck and upper tail area which leads me thinking it could be Trichodina/Chilodonella parasite. Thus I am now thinking about two options:

1. Put second dose of praziquantel (next friday when it should be the time for an optional renewal) to make sure it isn't some of those parasites which can be killed with it.
2. Get this strong medication for Trichodina/Chilodonella/ich. As the Protozin was only a half dosage back then trichodina might have survived it.

Of course better ideas are welcome!

[starsplitter7]

Do you have a picture of these guys? Could it be fungus?

[aegolius]

Hi aegolius,

Welcome to LOL Those are some really good photos

I wouldn't be adding water w/o water conditioner to your tank. The conditioner you add breaks down chlorine/chloramines amongst other chemicals etc that has been added to your tapwater. It is possible that chlorine/chloramines contained in the untreated tapwater will have a negative effect on your fish, it can cause problems regarding the gills of the fish. The benefical bacterial housed in your filter will also be negatively affected-it would be possible to send your tank into a mini-cycle by adding untreated tapwater as the chlorine can kill off your benefical bacteria (hense never rinsing your filter pads in tap water).

How long has it been since you added untreated water to the tank in question??

Do you have any of the numbers from testing your water?

You mentioned that when the new 'ones' arrived the flashing started. Did you quarantine the fish before you added them to your main tank?



Ashleigh

I didn't add water conditioner only when medication was on or when I was just about to put it in as water conditioner can also make medication useless.

Last friday when I used praziquantel and changed a bit water before putting it in I didn't use water conditioner as I don't know if it affects praziquantel. After cleaning prazi off the tank I added some conditioner again.

Test results in the previous post, taken today.

I did quarantine the fish but apparently it wasn't enough. After ich was gone I didn't see any odd behaviour/signs of a disease for a month (well, I didn't watch them 24/7 so I could have missed possible flashing) and moved them to main tank. Stupid me, should have kept them there for longer.

[aegolius]

Hi Aegolius,

Where are you?

Sometimes locals have a product suggestion.

That would be Finland.

Aquasafe was suggested to me by locals.

[aegolius]

Do you have a picture of these guys? Could it be fungus?

It doesn't look like fungus but I can try taking some photos again (didn't succeed in it when I took the other photos, they are just way too fast).

[edit] Here's one of them:
http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/iso/img1046257.jpg

Bad photo but the grey area can be seen fine enough.