i have a fishtank and some of the fish seem to be scraping themselves on the gravel?

Question

it has only been set up for just over a week-it is 2 foot and i'm keeping coldwater fish. a few goldfish, 2 carp, a catfish and a couple of tiny fish. the carp and the tiny fish seem to be scraping themselves across the gravel and the ornament. what can this be? and how to treat?

Answer 1

its called "flashing" and fish do it because they are uncomfortable or itchy - this is from infection in the water or bad water conditions.

check the temp and PH - each species will need different conditions.
PH for goldfish/carp = 7
temp = 55 - 70F

i would need to know the species of the smaller fish and catfish to tell you what PH and temp they need.

if water conditions are normal, then treat the tank for bacterial infections, then fungal infections.
if parasites appear, obviously, treat the tank for those (they can be tiny on the fish, they might look like fungus).
get medications for all things from your local petshop.

p.s. ICH (not "ick") is NOT an algae like another poster said, its a parasite.
.

Answer 2

Scraping on the gravel is a sign of irritation. Usually fish do this when their skin is irritated. Since it's a new tank I would assume the source of that irritation is most likely ammonia. Either test or have tested by a pet store the water in your tank for ammonia. If it's high, then you will need to do water changes to control the ammonia until the tank cycles. I'll include a link about tank cycling at the bottom in case you need it.

Another major source of irritation is parasties. Ich is the most common, but several others are fairly common as well. If ammonia isn't the problem, I would assume your fish have some type of parasite. Which one would be impossible to say without your seeing signs of them, such as white spots or discolored areas on the fish. You can treat with a parasite medication without knowing exactly which parasite you have, but it's far better to know so that you can select a medication sure to kill the parasite in question. I'll also include a link that can help you determine which parasite if any, you may have in your tank.

There are other potential causes as well, most of which are covered on the second link below.

Hope this helps

MM

Answer 3

It's called "flashing",and it's a sign of skin irritation.It probably means the ammonia levels in the tank are creeping up and burning the fish. The remedy is small daily water changes(10 or15%) until the ammonia is controlled. Don't do a large water change,you will risk killing fish. Also begin vacuuming the "stuff" out of the gravel,this is the source of the ammonia.All of the large fish are particularly dirty fish (they create a heavy bio-load) and require extra water care.

Answer 4

It sounds like the first signs of ick. It is a parasitic disease, the parasites cling on to the fish and irratate the fish's skin. The fish itch them selves on the gravel and rocks.

Answer 5

appears like ich, up the temperature to the decrease 80's, upload one teaspoon of aquarium salt in line with 5 gallon of water. save the water high quality suitable and the ich would desire to pass away by way of itself, if no longer there are meds at your interior of sight puppy save.

Answer 6

ok takel out the gravel and put some sorter kinds in not rocks like a sorta of sandy gravel

Answer 7

fish are know to have scale problems.This is my first guess and it will spread to the other fish.Buy some additive for the water to cure this.The most common scale problem is called ich.This website has complete rundown

Answer 8

sounds like sickness is coming on. look for ich first - white dots on fins or body

Answer 9

carp are bottom feeders probably looking for food

Answer 10

well if i were you insted of gravle use marbles or plastic blue things they like them better and easyer to clean