my dats keep itching/scratching on he decor in my tank i also have clown loachs and flag tail the loachs itch a little but the dats do it the most but i see no sign of ich no fungus or sores on them they are just itching them selfs but it seems like alot to me the temp is at 80 i had it at 85 they where fine i added new plants yesterday and all week slowly turned down the temp to 80 for the plants any therorys?
itchy dats
- Thread starter Tiger-army
- Start date
My under 2" Micros do it. I think they get itchy from their swelled bellies after gorging on black worms.
all dats like to scratch themselves on something--pretty normal behavior. itchy not ich right? no need to treat for itchiness.
flashing "itching" could be a sign of high nitrates, so I would suggest testing to see the level of nitrates. Weekly water changes will also help with this.
mubu;4034858; said:
Four days after a 1/3 water change my water tests: Ammonia-0, Nitrites-0, Nitrates-0BushFishRox;4035499; said:
I'm positive it's not water quality. It's not like they rub themselves raw. They will turn sideways and brush off, really no big deal.
KAWAMIKIE;4035602; said:
Well you should never have a 0 reading for nitrates unless it is an uncycled tank. If you are getting a 0 reading especially 4 days after a water change, check the expiry date on the test. They do flash once in a while but when you see it becomes more common then there is a reason for it and normally it is just a sign of your nitrates becoming higher.
Having a full belly doesn't make them itch, I have some fat dats and they never flash. Just so you know flashing is a sign that something is irritating them, so should really looking into why they are doing it. sometimes they just rub against something and didnt like the feeling other times it could be related to water chemistry.
Tiger-army;4041984; said:
the best and easiest way is.... water changes, I would do 50-75% once a week. but the best way to really tell is get a nitrate test, and you never want to see the nitrates go higher than 20ppm.