i have a african cichlid tank set up and i watch it quite often and i notice from time to time that some of the seem like they are "scratching" themselves with the rocks, i knwo that this can be a sign of ick but theyve done it for awhile and no occur has occurred... ammonio and nitrite are at 0, nitrate at 30, temp at 78..any ideas?
fish scratching?
- Thread starter adamroque12
- Start date
Sounds a lot like Ick. My albino cats were doint this for a while...but I was told it is not until the ick gets into their gils that they actually break out. I'm currently have a parrot, kisser, and a frontosa in a hospital tank for ick.
yea i was thinking ick but its been going on for weeks now and still no signs of any white dots at all, ive been checking out each fish very carefully too
Raise temp to 80-82F and try to keep your nitrates a bit lower. They probably have some kidn of parasite on or under thier scales which is iritating them.
When my fish got ICH only some of them actually showed the white spots (2 out of 23!) but all were "flashing" against leaves and the sand. You could increase the temp and add salt or you could try something like ich attack which i've personally used with good results.
Unless they are all doing it, and pretty constantly its not necessarily parasites. It can be pretty common amongst malawi species if thats what you have.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=147615&highlight=scratch+itch
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=147615&highlight=scratch+itch