Concerned about parasites

[chrisfoerst]

At night my tilapia do these fluttery movements to the bottom of the tank. They dip themselves and brush the side of their bodies to the bottom of the tank. Someone just told me that they must have parasites and are trying to remove them.

Does anyone have experience with this? Should I be worried?

[urbanfarmer]

Do you see anything on the fish? Possibly white patches?

[cedarswamp]

Water parameters?

Could be parasites, could just as easily be poor water quality.

[badflash]

They could be spawning.

[rfeiller]

if they do the rubbing only at night it is probably a behavior thing.
fish live with parasites, due to crowding or when water quality is poor it weakens the fish and the parasites are opportunist. if you are concerned about the fish having parasites you can look at a sample of their skin mucus under a microscope. there are several parasites that will cause the irritation that makes them rub.
if you have a microscope you can gently net the fish and gently scrape slim from the scales around the gills and look at the scraping under the microscope. if you have parasites you will see them. you can Google fish parasites to identify them. problem is the meds toxic enough to control them can not be used on food fish. don't waste your time with salt. african cichlids are very tough fish, unlike many other species of fish and normally don't die as a result.

[chrisfoerst]

I also thought they might be spawning. They look so beautiful when they move that it was hard to believe that parasites are behind it. Water quality may have something to do with it. I am slowly moving these guys into my aquaponic system but it hasn't been ready until now. (in fact, the nitrites are still very high!)

They look very healthy to me. I don't have a microscope but what would I do if I found them anyway?

[rfeiller]

Ttheir movements would be that of trying to get away from something if it were parasites usually not graceful. Cichlids are intelligent fish with complex behavior patterns. The tilapia can be taught to do tricks for their food.

[chrisfoerst]

Ha! That is something I have yet to try.

[rfeiller]

In 1970 I was given a pair of mossies that had been used by a medical doctor to get his PhD in behavior. He had taught the tilapia to go through mazes, ring bells for their food and a few other little tricks. He had experimented with several different species and found the tilapias to be the most intelligent.
Anything that was hanging into the tank they would "ring" by hitting it with their mouths.
At that time I was breeding several different species commercially on a small scale for pet shops. There wasn't any interest in the locally. :) g

[keith_r]

sounds like on demand feeders would be great for tilapia

[rfeiller]

Good idea but food bill may go up, the pair I had were piggies. :D

[urbanfarmer]

In 1970 I was given a pair of mossies that had been used by a medical doctor to get his PhD in behavior. He had taught the tilapia to go through mazes, ring bells for their food and a few other little tricks. He had experimented with several different species and found the tilapias to be the most intelligent.
Anything that was hanging into the tank they would "ring" by hitting it with their mouths.
At that time I was breeding several different species commercially on a small scale for pet shops. There wasn't any interest in the locally. :) g
That sounds like an amazing idea. I wonder if you left it to the fish, if they would maximize the efficiency of the feed by not wasting it. This would be a great research study!

[chrisfoerst]

In other words, my tilapia don't have parasites not are they spawning, they are just plain bored! Great story to keep in mind.

[rfeiller]

ethology the study of animal behavior, is in the dark ages, fish behavior is far behind that. cichlids are busy little guys, defending territories, preparing spawning sites and spawning, nuturing their young, (discus feed their fry off of the body slim) mouth breeding, mouth brooding. their means of communication, expressing emotions each is a study in itself.

[rfeiller]

urbanfarmer most fish will actually limit their food intake to their need, which is probably a lot more then you would normally feed. i would wager that the vast majority of fish are stunted becaused of crowding and nutrition.

[urbanfarmer]

I would agree with the stunting...

It is my understanding that Tilapia will eat beyond what they will actually digest and use in their body. This has to do with the way their intestinal tract is laid out. Newly eaten food can actually bypass the stomach for digestion and gets excreted very quickly thereby wasting the food.

[rfeiller]

That is basically correct that is why force feeding works with fish. When They have all the nutrition they need will excrete the rest. But I also know that they will limit their intake at a point above base need. In the wild all animals are not assured the next meal so they max out as opportunities present themselves. A wolf can eat 40 lbs of food at one feeding, but may not eat again for a week for lack of game.

[urbanfarmer]

Well, a wolf is built for that...

Wolves aside... some fish are built differently than tilapia. I'm not sure if tilapia get ANY significant nutrition when overfed. Some fish DO, but from what I understand tilapia DO NOT. What do you think??

[grimsteph]

The behavior you described is called flashing. It's a normal thing tilapia do, so no need to worry. :)

[urbanfarmer]

grimsteph, you need to stay active in the forums. It would be a great contribution of knowledge for us as a community. :twisted:

[rfeiller]

you are right grimsteph, i had forgotten. do much with cichlids?

[chrisfoerst]

The behavior you described is called flashing. It's a normal thing tilapia do, so no need to worry. :)

Great, thanks for the response.