Cichlid Behavior

I noticed a some of my cichlids skimming on their sides through the sand in
my tank. They are all juveniles. Is there any significance to this behavior
or is it just what they do?

It's known as "Flashing". They do this when their skin/scales are irritated.
Is your tank setup new? Have you completed the full "cycling process"? How
are your Nitrate levels??

You may alleviate some stress by adding a tablespoon of course aquarium salt
to the water, also something like amquel might do good. Do all of this in
conjunction with a water change (20 - 30%).

HTH




"Pokey" wrote in message
t...
I noticed a some of my cichlids skimming on their sides through the sand
in
my tank. They are all juveniles. Is there any significance to this
behavior
or is it just what they do?

On Fri, 03 Oct 2003 10:53:53 GMT, "Pokey"
wrote:

I noticed a some of my cichlids skimming on their sides through the sand in
my tank. They are all juveniles. Is there any significance to this behavior
or is it just what they do?


Ive noticed some of my Malawis doing the same recently, was going to
put a post on, to find out why, but you beat me to it.

Mine arn't juveniles tho'

Just put some stress zime in the tank today, thought it may be small
parasites, so also got some tonic for them.

May try the salt trick

I read somewhere that with the Malawis this can also be because the water is
not hard enough. I am trying to find the link and then I will post.


"Chris Foster" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 03 Oct 2003 10:53:53 GMT, "Pokey"
wrote:

I noticed a some of my cichlids skimming on their sides through the sand
in
my tank. They are all juveniles. Is there any significance to this
behavior
or is it just what they do?


Ive noticed some of my Malawis doing the same recently, was going to
put a post on, to find out why, but you beat me to it.

Mine arn't juveniles tho'

Just put some stress zime in the tank today, thought it may be small
parasites, so also got some tonic for them.

May try the salt trick

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/oddities.php
"Sean" wrote in message
...
I read somewhere that with the Malawis this can also be because the water
is
not hard enough. I am trying to find the link and then I will post.


"Chris Foster" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 03 Oct 2003 10:53:53 GMT, "Pokey"
wrote:

I noticed a some of my cichlids skimming on their sides through the
sand
in
my tank. They are all juveniles. Is there any significance to this
behavior
or is it just what they do?


Ive noticed some of my Malawis doing the same recently, was going to
put a post on, to find out why, but you beat me to it.

Mine arn't juveniles tho'

Just put some stress zime in the tank today, thought it may be small
parasites, so also got some tonic for them.

May try the salt trick

"Pokey" wrote in
t:

I noticed a some of my cichlids skimming on their sides through the
sand in my tank. They are all juveniles. Is there any significance to
this behavior or is it just what they do?




Do they behave as though they are scratching an itch? If so, a certain
amount of this is to be expected among most rift lake cichlids. All of
them seem to carry a certain complement of mostly harmless parasites --
similar to a dog having fleas -- that seem pretty much impossible to
eradicate completely. But if your fish do this a great deal, it might be
caused by low pH or a parasite infestation or disease.

Meph