Fish seem to be scratching themselves on the gravel - what is wrong?

Question

I have 2 tanks... One saltwater and one freshwater.. Both my fishes in both tanks are scratching themselves on the gravel at the bottom. And yesterday, one of my shark catfish died and also one of my mollie died... Can u tell me what's going on? And what should i do to help them? Are they sick? Let me know.. Thanx...

Answer 1

It would be odd for both tanks to get a parasite at the same time, but that sounds as if it's the case. Scratching or "flashing" as it is often called is a sign of skin parasites. It could be any one of several so you will need to look very closely at the fish to see what you can spot on them. Here's a link that will help you figure out what they may have and can offer suggestions for treatment.

http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/fish_diseases/skin_disorders.html

Hope that helps and good luck with them!

MM

Answer 2

CHECK YOUR AMMONIA FIRST. Fish will flash if there is a high amount of ammonia or organics in the water. Has anything else changed? Have you used any chemicals or cleaners around the tank recently? Did your kids put a cupcake in? Do an emergency water change, like 20%.

If you do have to treat for ich or velvet, and you decide to use copper, make sure you use a quarantine. Can be simple as a 55 gallon tupperware tub with a heater and filter with some biological media fr the main tank. Find the tub at home depot. They're cheap $15. Copper will leach into your aquariums glass, you may never be able to keep inverts or corals in it if you use it in your main tank. Also, get a good copper test kit if you decide to use copper. Too little is innefective, too much is lethal.

Answer 3

Yes, sound sick. This behavior preceeds Ich-which is a bear in saltwater tanks. The skin parasite literally itches the skin of the fish.

In freshwater, add aquarium salt-not the salt for your sw tank, its different and that will clear the freshwater tank right up. For the saltwater tank...boy, they are hard to treat. There are many varieties of treatments but i have had more fish die from the remedy. Turn up the temp to about 82-84, change the water. Cleaner gobies are really good to have around for times like these. But the higher temps cause the ich parasited to cycle faster and also speeds up the fishes metabolism. You could add some slime coat but if you have a protein skimmer, that will go wacky with the slime coat. i suppose the BEST treatment is to isolate the fish in a hospital tank in which the water has been treated with copper-if indeed it is ich. Ich will appear as little whitish spots soon enough if that is the problem. if you don't think its parasites and see no signs of this...just monitor. Could be natural behavior. check out www.wetwebmedia.com for all kinds of answers to all kinds of questions.

Answer 4

There are very few diseases that effect both freshwater, and saltwater. Generally scratching/flashing is a sign of external parasites , but don't know of any that live in fresh water, and salt water. With fresh water examine the fish closely under a flashlight. If it has a redish/golden coating it's velvet. Most ich treatment will treat it.

Note that an outbreak in a tank is often the result of bad water conditions. Check your nitrate levels.

Answer 5

Is the temperature in your tanks going up do to the outside temperature? I don't know what part of the world your in, but if it's getting warmer outside, they may know the season is changing and are getting ready to breed. If you have a couple of the same species and opposite sex. Weather change will also make them "change" there scales to adapt better to temperature changes. If you see any "white fluffy stuff" clinging to there body, they might have "ICK" (spelling wrong, but that's what they call it.) You can get a treatment for that at any pet store that handles fish, but you'll need a "sick tank" if they don't all have it yet. Just a seperate small tank to put the afffected fish in (1 for fresh & 1 for salt) and then use the treatment in the seperate tank.

Answer 6

that's an exterior parasite. likely Ich or Velvet. Ich is characterised by white spots that make the fish look like its been sprinkled with salt. Velvet is characterised be a goldish colored dusting. Velvet would be extra good to verify on gold, orange, or yellow fish. Ich, of direction, would be extra good to verify on white fish. you're able to might desire to apply a flashlight. Run the beam over the fish, and the two the ich and velvet will grow to be plenty extra seen, in case you could not see the two because of the coloring of the fish. the two may be taken care of extremely fee effectively with drugs offered from the puppy keep. Ich has numerous drugs particularly for it. in basic terms the unfastened-swimming style would be killed by the drugs, so which you will might desire to repeat remedies to get something (eggs, for instance) whilst they get to the unfastened-swimming area of their life cycle. Copper-based drugs are the main helpful against Velvet.

Answer 7

Look at the fish closely. They may have parasites. If they do you shoul dbe able to see them. Yes it sounds like your fish are sick, go to the pet store and check the medication aisles. It's ok to ask store personnel what worked best for their fish as they usually know, but read the boxes which list symptoms because there might be something else you've noticed and failed to mention. Also places like Petco and Petsmart will test your water for free, bring in a sample of it so you'll know if you need to adjust the water conditions for your fish.

Answer 8

they have a skin parasite. the most commen skin infection is ich, signs of ich are small white specs the fish tend to look like they are covered in sand.


SLY

Answer 9

Sounds like the sickness "ich". You can get meds for it at your local pet supply store.

Answer 10

maybe they have ick. talk to someone at an aquarium store who is experienced enough to be able to answer your question and sell you exactly what you need to cure this problem.