Flowerhorn scratching.. should i be worried?

[TheFishJunky]

are there any sings of white spots or stringy looking things on body??or is it just scratching?

 

[TheFishJunky]

okay thats it- i have given you 12 minutes of my awesome life-time i will never get back and you have not answered me.goodbye

 

[terminalMTS]

with the water that warm, it is not likely to be ich. one of the cures for ich is to raise your temp to 85 for a week. salt is a good idea. kosher salt is cheaper than aquarium salt and it is the exact same thing. it doesn't have iodine so it is safe. you could start with one tablespoon per ten gallons of water in your tank.

 

[christ4paul]

seems like the flowerhorn is just scratching himself without any cause. if its eating and doing back flips then its pretty healthy to me.

 

[JPlikewoah]

Whit spot diease(AKA ICH) is the most common, but not the only diease that will cause your fish to itch. And all it takes is high temp with salt to speed up their life cycle process and dehydrate them to cure, no meds are needed. Velvet,flukes,anchor worms,fish lice, and other worms can also cause the itching and some like flukes, aren't visible to naked eyes. If he scratches more than usual, say at least once in 10 minutes then something is bothering him. most if not all of the dieases other than ich are harder to kill off than ich. But for the same on all fish, I'd start off with .3% salt, raise the temperature upto 86-90F, and do 25% WC every other day(also keep adding salt to maintain the .3% concentration)for a week or two.

If this doesn't work, it's medication time and do NOT use it unless it's the last resort. Anti parasitic meds are really harsh on fish and there's also a rumor that makes the fish sterile since it's so strong. Jungle parasite away is a good anti parasitic meds containing praziquentel, which is a good medication for parasitic worms. Never medicate without knowing "which" parasites you are dealing with. Protozoan meds(Ich,velvet) will NOT kill almost any of the parasites other than those two and won't do anything.

On soft water fish, hard water(high GH) which also means PH is high(not totally but usually yes) will cause them to itch since they feel the hardness and is bothering them. I'd say your check water parameters, ammonia,nitrite,and nitrate levels along with your PH,and GH. This usually isn't the issue for FHs but do check your GH and PH levels.

Hope this helps and your fish feel better.
Happy new years everyone!

JP

 

[midasman714]

okay thats it- i have given you 12 minutes of my awesome life-time i will never get back and you have not answered me.goodbye

sorry for taken 12 precious mins of your time, i had to take a 5 hour break from mfk to shop for my future home but i appreciate the attempt, and no, there are no white spots, no stringy wormy characters... just scratching.

Whit spot diease(AKA ICH) is the most common, but not the only diease that will cause your fish to itch. And all it takes is high temp with salt to speed up their life cycle process and dehydrate them to cure, no meds are needed. Velvet,flukes,anchor worms,fish lice, and other worms can also cause the itching and some like flukes, aren't visible to naked eyes. If he scratches more than usual, say at least once in 10 minutes then something is bothering him. most if not all of the dieases other than ich are harder to kill off than ich. But for the same on all fish, I'd start off with .3% salt, raise the temperature upto 86-90F, and do 25% WC every other day(also keep adding salt to maintain the .3% concentration)for a week or two.

If this doesn't work, it's medication time and do NOT use it unless it's the last resort. Anti parasitic meds are really harsh on fish and there's also a rumor that makes the fish sterile since it's so strong. Jungle parasite away is a good anti parasitic meds containing praziquentel, which is a good medication for parasitic worms. Never medicate without knowing "which" parasites you are dealing with. Protozoan meds(Ich,velvet) will NOT kill almost any of the parasites other than those two and won't do anything.

On soft water fish, hard water(high GH) which also means PH is high(not totally but usually yes) will cause them to itch since they feel the hardness and is bothering them. I'd say your check water parameters, ammonia,nitrite,and nitrate levels along with your PH,and GH. This usually isn't the issue for FHs but do check your GH and PH levels.

Hope this helps and your fish feel better.
Happy new years everyone!

JP

i will attempt to raise the temp to 86-90 and add some salt (i have some aquarium salt sitting around i'm sure) and do a few water changes every other day and report back.

thanks JP, always helpful.

 

[christ4paul]

hope things turn out well. let us know how it goes.

 

[midasman714]

will do... and yea, its still eating and doing back flips, more like a half back flip but who's judging huh?

 

[orbit]

will do... and yea, its still eating and doing back flips, more like a half back flip but who's judging huh?

QUICK, QUICK send him to me!!!!! LMAO!! My FH does the same thing all of the time. Hes fine. Just itching himself.

Don't you ever itch?

Besides you of all people know what to look for if there is an issue.

 

[midasman714]

QUICK, QUICK send him to me!!!!! LMAO!! My FH does the same thing all of the time. Hes fine. Just itching himself.

Don't you ever itch?

Besides you of all people know what to look for if there is an issue.

just paranoid since its my one and only FH.

i think i read a thread on mfk, and someone related fish scratching to guys scratching our balls

but i'm still listening to JP and upping the temp and adding some salt. I made the mistake of not listening to him before about purchasing a certain fish, now i'm paying for it.