Itchy Fish?!?!?!?!

Tommy Gun

Tommy Gun

Fish Fanatic
Aug 1, 2006
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Wisconsin, USA
I noticed today that my cichlids seem to be 'itching' themselves on the rocks. It is almost like they are swimming sidways to rub against the rock. It is not happening a whole lot, but it is still weird.

Is this a sign of disease or infection? It seems like it is only a couple of the fish so if it is a sign of something going on, do I need to quarenteen these fish?
 
it 'can' be a sign of external parasites such as early ich or gill flukes. in addition, irritants in the water such as heavy metals can cause fish to itch. often, adding some aquarium salt to the water can help ... about 1 tsp per gallon.
 
I think you're talking about flashing. They do this when they are showing dominance. If it's just occasionally, there's nothing to worry about. If most or all of the fish are doing this alot, there's probably something wrong....as liv2padl said, parasites and such. This also happens if they go through a quick change in water parameters. (quick reduction or increase in ph, etc.)
 
I think this behavior is really limited to one or two fish. The way my tank is set up at the moment, there are 'caves' around the back half of the tank and the fish that are doing this are the ones who seem to have established a territory in the middle, and some what larger caves.

Still, is there are preventative measure I can take? I have put aquarium salt in the tank when I first got these fish, about a week ago. How often can I add it? The 'box' the salt is in is not really clear at all on how often.

I also have ICH 'tabs' but I dont really like them since they stain everything for a long time. I dont really think that I can just add this medicine 'just in case', but let me know if I am wrong.

Thanks for the guidance!
 
I don't think you have a problem. It sounds like a dominance thing. Don't add anything to your tank if you don't have to.
 
Surely, I just redid my testing for this tank (a week ago I had huge ammonia problem, but I think it was a bad test)

The water parameters are 7.6 Ph, Oppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrate, and 0.25ppm Nitrite. This is the levels about three days after about 40 to 50% water change (On saturday).

I have been watching a lot again today and for the past hour at least, I havent noticed anything obvious like I saw before. The fish are doing a lot of digging in the 'caves' and so I think they may have gotten things straightened out pretty well as far as territories.

So, one more question comes to mind. Territories...How do I ensure that I do not mess up the established territories when I clean this tank? My schedule usually is a 20 or 30% water change weekly (saturdays), with every other week getting a really good substrate cleaning. So, on the weeks I dont vac out the gravel, i tend to get what I can see and leave the rest. The problem would be then that when I do more thourough cleanings, I run the risk of 'redecorating' a touch. Could this mess up these territories and create more aggression, or am I just thinking too much about all of this?
 
0.25ppm Nitrite
Click to expand...
if this is your level AFTER a 50 % water change, you've got problems and i suspect the flashing was in fact due to your water quality.

depending on your stocking density (which you've yet to state, nor the tank size these cichlids are in), a 20-30 percent water change is probably not enough. all my cichlid tanks are understocked and i do 50-65 percent water changes weekly.

as for rearranging the rocks and caves, i'd strive to put them back as close to sthe original configuration as possible to avoid unneccessary stress on the fish.
 
As liv said, your nitrites could be irritating the fish. Any level above 0ppm are not good for them. Do another partial water change. Try to get your nitrite levels to zero. Good luck :)
 
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