itchy fish...

[frankie33]

hey all,
thanks everyone who responded to my thread baout the tiny emp. angel. Does anyone have possibilities on why fish scratch against the rock work? I know they will if ick is present, but it's not. is it a water quality problem? My little emperor has been scratching a lot, and now you can see patches on him. Any advice on this one would be great!
Thanks,
Frank

[infalible-one]

test your water for any, and i mean any, problems. scratching is generaly associated with stress and water quality is a big cause. how long has it been in your tank? that also might be a problem. my fresh wate cichlids scratched alot against rocks at first too but stoped afetr a month and all patches healed up nicely.

[frankie33]

he's been in QT for a week now. he looks the worst when I turn the light on, but after he sees me and I give him some food, his colors come right back.

[danorth]

I still say that some fish like to scratch. I had a banana wrasse (sunset wrasse) that scratched everyday for months. Nothing was in that tank as far as parasites that could be seen. I understand if they can't be seen one day, but for 5 months?

How long has the qt been running? I still also will argue that tanks need to get a bit of wear on them before fish like them. Seasoned if you will and I don't mean the glass, but the water and the machinery running the system. Too much "new tank smell" syndrome.

[DamnPepShrimp]

Usually (not everytime) it is a sign of parasites or some kind of infection. Even though you can't see it, some ich is so small, it's undectable by the human eye. What are you using in your QT tank? Copper? Hypo?

[billsreef]

If a fish is scratching (flashing) more than a couple of times in an hour on a very regular basis, it is most likely some external parasite. Most likely suspects, in no particular order, are flukes, ich and velvet. Flukes are very easy to find and treat with a simple fresh water dip. So I would start by giving the fish a dip in aerated, pH and temperature adjusted fresh water for at least a full minute and up to 5 minutes. If flukes are present, they will turn opaque and look like little flaps of skin, then they will fall off and make the dip container look like a snow globe. Should nothing fall off, that leaves ich and velvet which are best treated in a seperate quarantine tank with copper, as copper is effective on both.

[jim48]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9742147#post9742147 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DamnPepShrimp
Usually (not everytime) it is a sign of parasites or some kind of infection. Even though you can't see it, some ich is so small, it's undectable by the human eye. What are you using in your QT tank? Copper? Hypo?

Yeah, ick is difficult. It usually starts in the gills of the fish and progresses on to other parts of the body( at least thats what the professionals say).

[snapper1]

Parasites