Loaches Online Forum

I've seen my kubotia and yoyos flashing quite a bit this past month, but after monitoring closely, everything in the water is perfectly fine and no signs of ich.

Is there something else that causes them to flash?

Itching in general will cause flashing. Has the water changed lately? Water company adding something different?

Knowing the water company around here, I wouldn't doubt it. These days the water is about 95% other stuff, 5% H2O !

what water conditioner are you using?
one word -- PRIME
loaches will flash from time to time...

You know - I ran out of Prime a few months ago and there was none on the shelf, so I switched to Tetra... I'll have to get some Prime and see if the issue goes away!

Once I tried switching from API's Stress Coat to Tetra's AquaSafe, and my fish started flashing. This went on for about a week, while I debated with myself over whether the fish were sick, before it occurred to me that switching water conditioners might have something to do with it. I switched back to Stress Coat, and the flashing stopped shortly thereafter.
Btw, I don't endorse Stress Coat--in fact, I was trying to switch to something else because I heard Stress Coat wasn't that good. But, like it or not, my fish seem to be used to it and get irritated when I try different brands. So I thought I'd mention my experience because you said you'd switched water conditioners recently.

Water conditioners that 'enhance the slime coat' may do so by adding irritants to the water. Irritants do make the fish develop more slime coat.

A healthy fish will produce just the right amount of slime coat, and does not need 'slime coat in a bottle'.

I use Pond Clear's "Chloramine Buster". It breaks apart the chlorine-ammonia bond of chloramine, and locks up the chlorine and ammonia.
No extra chemicals in there that the tanks may or may not need. A 16 ounce bottle is good for up to 8000 gallons, and costs about the same as a bottle of Amquel (Which is only good for 960 gallons)