Fish are scraping on the rocks

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NOLAGT

NOLAGT

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Dec 5, 2007
2,347
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Louisiana
I know that some is normal...and sometimes its them showing off...but im pretty sure thats not my case. All the fish (even the catfish) is doing it...scraping on the sand and like hitting there noise into the sand quite frequently.

The tank is a 240 I just started...I have had fish for 2 weeks today. I started the tank with tetra safe start to try it out and so far so good my readings have been 0 and the PH 8.2-8.4 the whole time. I have been feeding a lot too to give safestart a try and been testing 2x a day. Started with 15fish now im up to 25. I added salt (1 tbs per 5gal) to the tank right after the first batch went in. I noticed them scraping almost right away so I think they came in like this and tis spread to everyone. I also raised the temp to 83 for a few days but they are still doing it. I have been holding off on treatment since the tank is new and im unsure of the good bacteria situation since im trying the safe start stuff.

Now tho I would like to treat since they are ALL doing it a lot. What can I use that wont stain the silicon or kill off the bacteria. I was going to use a copersulfate (aquarasol) stuff but after reading about copper a little more I decided against it. I also read good things about jungle parasite clear but I think that might stain blue....so will clout....so what else?

Also there are no visible signs of anything on the fish at all...they seem to be breathing normal....and they eat like pigs that havent been fed in a month!
 
You wont be able to see the parasites that they are infested with,they are either too small or are on the inside of the fish's gill cover.I have used Aquarasol and Coppersafe with good results,anything else will probably stain your water untill you have done enough changes to get it all out.Once you solve this problem you will have to place all newcomers in a quarantine tank in order to avoid future outbreaks.
 
I know about the QT thing...I wasn't to worried about it since all the fish in there are "new" but I forgot about the staining the silicon thing. I am not worried about the water color...I just dont want light blue silicon.

I also didnt expect to see anything on them...unless it was ich but its def not that. I just wanted to give all the info I could at first :D

There has to be something that wont stain. If not I guess I will use the coppersafe stuff. I have used copper long ago but had never really read about it.

With that aquarasol...did you just add the drops daily like it says on the directions?
 
Okay,I just followed the instructions when I used the Aquarasol.It has been some time since I used the other types of meds but I dont remember them staining the silicone in my tanks.
 
It sounds like the begining stages of Ich. Ive used Metronizadole with alot of success.
1) raise temp to 86F
2) add salt more than what the package says ( search for"using salt for treating Ich")
3) Treat with Metro
4) 50% WC daily for up to a week, more if you want to make sure you got it all.

Ive done this before and have successfully beat Ich in two of my tanks. Also mix up a little bit of water and Metro and "soak" NLS in it and feed them that for a few days itll help fight internal parasites too.

Good luck man
 
Wouldnt it have shown up on the outside of the fish after 2 weeks of it. I dont think its ich...I was thinking more like gill flukes or something like that. There are no spots on the outside of the fish (as you can see in my pics) eyes are clear...they just scraping the sides and like knocking the head against the sand. There is currently 1tbs of salt per 5 gal in there and I ran the temp at 83 for like 4-5 days.
 
I would use the coppersafe/ with salt. It is a 30 day treatment and works well for me and stays clear. My Africans will scratch periodically. If this was ich you would see some white spots by now. Probally some less harmful parasites.
 
I guess they wouldn't just clear up on there own with the salt in the water.
 
Probably flukes of some kind, I think flukes are very common. And most of the time it isnt a serious threat until you see it really irritating the fish.
 
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