Backyard Aquaponics
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Hi everyone,
Quite some time ago (months) I observed that some of my goldfish had started "flashing" and rubbing their sides on the bottom of the tank etc.
I could not observe anything visually wrong with them and so just left it and kept am eye on them.
I continued to observe the behavior, and still don't not see any visual signs of anything until about a month ago one of the fish started to develop red saws around it fins.
At this point I decided to jump into action and salted the system to 3ppm, which resulted in some of my plants dying off.
About three weeks later, the saws have since home away but I am still observing flashing and have just diluted the water a bit more as part of expanding the system, and have also cleaned all the alge off the sides of the tank as I assume this could have been leading to poor water conditions.

Wondering if a little flashing is nothing to worry about, or if I need to take some more action, and if so what is recommended.
Would really prefer to not have to salt the system again as the plants really don't seem to like it.
Thanks in advance for any help.


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I wonder if there is something in the water that’s causing irritation. Have you checked the pH and ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? Could there be chlorine from the water source? Parasites can also cause flashing.

Ph is around 7.4 (normal fir the system which has scoria beds)
Amonia and nitrites 0 nitrates about 5ppm.
Water source is chlorine free.

Guessing it must be some kind of parasite but can't see any physical signs.


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It would be ideal if you could find someone to take skin scrapings and gill samples for microscopic exam, perhaps a veterinarian, diagnostic lab, or commercial aquaculturist. Then you’d know what you’re dealing with and how to treat it. You would need to separate the fish from the plants for treatment though.

3ppm is not enough rectify fungal issues or rid them of parasites.

I would put some of your system water into a another clean barrel, large esky etc, add sea salt at 6gm/Ltr, add a heap of aeration, then put your fish in there about 4 hours. If you see them showing signs of stress in that time then remove them, but they should be fine.

_________________
Mr Damage - a.k.a: Yabbies
Owner at Perth Aquaponics - Aquaponic Consultant & Trainer
Trade certified Horticulturist & Cert IV TAE

Great information Mr Damage! Is there a practical way of preventing parasite reinfestation from the system water without shutting it down completely? Would you need to keep the fish elsewhere for a period of time until the parasite stages in the water die off? As you can tell, I’m new to fish and am learning a lot from these discussions.

It's sometimes difficult at best to treat one issue without causing grief to everything. Been there, done that and caused unintended problems for everything and actually prolonged the problem. Ended up stripping the beds and treating the entire system. Supply lines, drain lines, everyplace can be a place for a "problem" to reside and reinfect everything once the targeted treatment stops. You may be a little off in your timing getting things started for the season, but your issue chould be solved a lot quicker if you treat everything at one time. Sacrificing plants, in my opinion, is better than taking a chance of harming or prolonging the fishs' discomfort.