Twiching/scratching

[crazylady]

Im worried about my axies i was sat watching them an noticed that they seem to be twiching slightly mainly the tails an back legs ive never noticed them do this before
they are all adults 2 males 1 female
i did a water change yesterday 40% like i do every monday night but this time i took all the sand out as im getting some coloured sand on friday this morning i topped the water back up with treated water that had stood the night before i put my axies back in there tank i made sure both tank temps were the same
it only seems to be my males who are slightly twiching. Every so often my golden male an female try scratching there gills this happens after they have eaten they seems to be eating a pooping fine but my female does seem to be funny with her food

water temp is 15c
water paraments are
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate is inbetween 0ppm and 5.0ppm
an the tank is 3ft by 2ft by 2ft
the tank was fully cycled for over a year before the sand was tanked out
there is 2 large sponge filters 3 hides 2 large fake plants a fake moss ball abit of driftwood an a alien ornament these is nothing new been added to the tank apart from 2 weeks ago i added my second male who had been in quaratine for 3 weeks

any help would be great
i can upload pics at the mo but i will try an get some uploaded soon

 

[crazylady]

first pic is my female freckels she hasnt got any bigger since her last batch of eggs
second are my 2 boys bruiser is the bigger one specles is the smaller one
third pic is of there tank
i dont know how to upload videos off my mobile but brusier seems to me twiching more than speckels

 

[crazylady]

well the twiching has stopped so thats good ive just put it down to stress

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

My first thought was it was probably purely down to the fact they were on a bare bottom - something they're not used to after being on sand! It's debated and although I do agree that bare bottoms are by far the easiest to keep clean, I've watched lotls in my bare bottomed tank and they don't look nearly as steady and/or comfortable to those that are on substrate. - Yours almost look like they're slipping in the pictures! Ah well, glad to hear they're doing better :happy:

 

[Sylerwin]

Mine twitches if I don't let my water sit for at least 24 hours before adding it to tank, with or without dechlorinator in it. Though they may be confused that they can't get a grip on the floor, too.

 

[crazylady]

They haven't done it since im sure they were just shaking there heads in disgust that they had there tank changed there ok with bare bottom now an are walking on it fine i am sure the new plant bribe worked.
I always treat and let my water sit for 24 hours before i add it to there tank so i know its not going to harm them
the place i was getting my coloured sand from has rang saying its going to be another few weeks before it comes in stock so for now its bare bottom its a load easier to clean and im amazed on how much sand they are passing since they are all hand fed worms