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Greetings all! The situation is this... About last thursday, I noticed that a couple of fish began to dart around like something was bothering/itching them. I promptly did a water change and retired for the night. The next day, they were still doing it. I noticed that the surface of the water was really "bubbly" and figured that it was one of the filters and possibly the reason the fish were darting. Today, I did another water change and cleaned out one of the filters, and the bubbliness of the surface disappeared. The thing is, the fish are still occasionally darting around... they are not actually scratching on any objects, but just darting around suddenly. I checked the water parameters and everything is fine. I'm really not sure what this could be as I keep the water in my tanks nice and clean. Could this be the start of an ich bout? I see no white spots upon inspection and there are no dead fish anywhere either.. I'm REALLY stumped and at the same time worried. Some of the first fish I ever purchased are in there and I don't want something stupid to happen after all this work I do to keep my tanks in tip top shape and health... Any ideas??
Thanks for your time!

An "almost" sure sign of flukes...

The fish will dash wildly, come to a sudden stop and repeat the action again.

Pick up a product called "Parasite Clear" and dose accordingly.

The malady is contageous.

--garyroland.

Did you check your water hardness?

the softer it is, the easier it is for the conditioner etc you put in the water to foam up. That might have absolutely nothing to do with the fish behaviour - which I thought sounded like flukes - but I am NO EXPERT!

Ali

Thanks gary! What usually causes this? I make sure that the tanks are well taken care of... *sigh*

It's caused by a parasite known as Gyrodactylus which lodges in the skin and gills...

I like to think of flukes brought in from a new fish, some plants or possibly snails.

When I scoped one awhile back it looked like a flat tiny worm.

--garyroland.

Thanks gar, I have live plants as well as a few snails, so they could be the culprits... I've went ahead and bought the Parasite Clear tablets, removed all active carbon and dosed accordingly.