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Minnows (?) Flashing (?)


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#1 Guest_fuzzyletters_*

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Posted 21 May 2007 - 10:01 PM

I was looking at some minnows that I might want to collect in a local stream and I noticed a behavior in many of the fish in the school that alarmed me a bit... the minnows were turning on their sides so that they flashed in the sun underwater. I think in tropical aquarium forums I read that this was a sign of ich, and that the fish were doing this to scratch off the parasites, but it didn't seem like they were coming close to any debris, just open water. I thought that possibly this was something they did as part of their feeding, but I wondered if anyone could comment on this because I'd rather not get my first bunch of native fish only to have ich slowly eat all of them :S
Sorry if there's some kind of really obvious answer to this... thanks.

#2 Guest_Brooklamprey_*

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Posted 21 May 2007 - 10:34 PM

I would bet they are spawning....

#3 Michael Wolfe

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Posted 22 May 2007 - 07:19 AM

Agreed, I have seen this often in the wild as well. If you read a little more on "flashing" or even on "scuffing" like you have seen you will find references to it also being a behavioral thing (not just a response to parasites) to "mark" territory. I have seen fish in an aquarium do this after chasing other fish. This kind of territory marking is also common prior to or during spawning I beleive.

I would bet they are spawning....


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#4 Guest_fuzzyletters_*

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Posted 22 May 2007 - 12:10 PM

thanks a lot :)

#5 Guest_Casper Cox_*

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Posted 18 August 2007 - 12:09 AM

louisville eh...
use to live there as a kid. went to ballard and jumped off the diving board at westwood or was it westport?
flashing... well down here in tennessee we have stone rollers and while standing on the bank they always flash while feeding. silver flash, no color and they stay in groups working a run.
now in the spring they will congregate while the males develop into "horny heads" and dig pits in the gravel.
pretty cool and hardy in urban streams but a dirt common fish around here and im sure in ky as well.
they could be your flashers.

now if you see fish frenzy swarming and with color then you do got spawning!

but just casual silver flashing... stone rollers grazing.

here is a cool pic from garold sneegas of a hornyhead stoneroller...

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