The old scratching Dat topic again!!!

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Col-Dats

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 13, 2007
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England
I know this has been covered over and over - Dats scratching, so please dont get upset :)

I have been keeping Dats for many years and have observed them scratching every now and again with no problems.

But recently mine have all been scratching, each one, only now and again but its not stopping this time.

Im at a total loss. Have continued normal weekly water change, checked water conditions which are normal, and observed each one up close and no tell tail signs of anything wrong or any signs of illness, spots, sores, bugs.

Problem is, due to scratching, a couple have ended up with eye injuries, from slight cloud (which I know goes given time to heal) to actual damage.

Have tried Melafix and Pimafix which didnt do anything. Am reluctant to just dose them with other medications but even though I know they scratch, dont want to leave them to damage themselves.

Any other ideas, has anyone else experienced eye injuries from Dats scratching.

I know some will say ich, medicate for this. Has anyone done this and stopped the scratching, all previous post recommend ich treatment, but nothing about if this actually worked.

Temperature is normally 80-82.

Sorry for raising this old chestnut again, but any thoughts?
 
Have you recently added any new dats to the mix? I've lost 3 big dats, due to adding new ones that were quarantined for months and healthy. Still dont know what happened, but they scratched themselves untill they got an infection. The other dats in the tank were not affected by the new ones... strange. So now no new fish will be added to my big dat tank. I've heard of this happening to other people when new dats were added.
 
mine did it before. try adding some salt and maybe upping the temp to 85. mine did it when i use to keep the temp around 78, mine is now 82 and i never see it any more.
 
No new Dats added for about 2 months.

What salt do you add (aware not table lol) could be worth a try. What sort of measures are we talking salt to water volume?

Its almost like they are all copying one another, my smallest Dat started it about a month ago.

Just examined my largest Dat (about 8 inches) up close the the glass, with a light source, nothing on him at all, no marks, redness, bugs, sores, spots, sugar grains. Nothing, but at he scratches. Could it be a stress thing?
 
use aquarium salt. i think the kind i used was jungle brand aquarium salt. i think its a teaspoon per 10g

some people say that dats just scratch, dunno
 
Might give it a try. Yep, plenty of previous discussions on this, and I have observed my Dats scratching now and again but never experienced the level of eye damage.

Feel I need to explore all options to prevent fish lose due to acting too late.
 
how large of a tank, and how much water do you change a week?
 
My little (5") IT is scratching now. :irked: he is doing it so bad on one sad that it has rubbed the skin on his operculum raw. Other then that his behavior is normal.
 
Tank is 2 metres, 700L, I change about a 3rd of this every week to try and control nitrates.

Scratching only becomes a problem when they start injurying themselves.

One of my IT's is living in a large breeding trap within the tank to prevent anymore scratching and damage to its eye, unknown if it can recover from the injury.
 
Hmmmm,

If it were me I would check my Nitrates after my usual water change. Depending on how many fish are in the tank and how big they are, you may need to do larger or more frequent water changes.

Have you added anything new to the tank? Driftwood ect.
 
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