# Why do my "scratch" themselves on tank objects?



## dan3345 (Jan 27, 2010)

Ok my tank water is all perfect, 0 ammonia, 20 nitrates, ph good, everythings good. occasionally I will notice a few of my balloon mollie fry, and even rarer I will notice a gourami or two scratch themselves on an ornament, or the cord to my uv sterilizer. Non of my fish have ich, a month ago my dwarf gourami had ich but it cleared away 100%. I cannot visibly see anything wrong with any of my fish at all. They are all acting completely normal as well. its only every so now and then that I even see them do this scratch. So do fish just scratch like people, or this a sign of a problem? Thanks


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

IMO fish just itch i think its from aquarium salt is what ive noticed. dont get me wrong they will itch more when they have externall parasites and fungus but i think they do it no matter what also especially mollies. a lot of people will tell you that if they are itching there is a problem but yeah i dont think so. when i first got in the hobby i was at petsmart asking why my fish were itching and they were like they are def. sick well then i pointed at their fish tank and was like well why is your fish itching and the person was like ummm idk and walked away lol. then i started noticing that in all tanks at all stores fish would itch including mine. then i started noticing as i increased my salt content the fish would itch more as i brought it down they would do it less. at work we have some tanks with salt and some without the tanks with salt itch more. sometimes when fish get sick we also dose with salt and ive noticed they started itching so like i said i think that may be why but thats just my opinion.


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## dan3345 (Jan 27, 2010)

i am not doubting a bit of what you said, but. My tank has no salt in it. I know it should for the mollies, but I keep it strictly freshwater. So maybe, just like all land animals occasionally fish to itch themselves. idk


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

dan3345 said:


> i am not doubting a bit of what you said, but. My tank has no salt in it. I know it should for the mollies, but I keep it strictly freshwater. So maybe, just like all land animals occasionally fish to itch themselves. idk


yeah it could just be something in the water i mean i have still seen fish itch in tanks without salt but its a lot less and if im not mistaken water softeners and add salt into your tap water also even plain tap water contains trace amounts of salt different chemicals in the water could possibly also irritate their skin.


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

If they are doing it a lot, they may have flukes. You can treat those with praziquantel or prazipro.


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## dan3345 (Jan 27, 2010)

pinetree said:


> If they are doing it a lot, they may have flukes. You can treat those with praziquantel or prazipro.


theyre not doing it alot. its just every so often i see them do it. again most of the time they act completely normal.


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## tapia63 (Jun 24, 2010)

*Question.*

Hi Dan what did you use the clear the Ick in the gourami? I just Noticed on mi thank the Blue Gourami has a white spot (ick), I looked for cures tablets or liquids but everybody has different opinions. can you help me??

I'm new in the hobby and I'm learning.

Jorge
20 lg tank

25 fish

gouramis
tetras (rosy,neon,black neon,black fin,)
Algeters
Up-side down car fish


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

tapia63 said:


> Hi Dan what did you use the clear the Ick in the gourami? I just Noticed on mi thank the Blue Gourami has a white spot (ick), I looked for cures tablets or liquids but everybody has different opinions. can you help me??



In my opinion, API Super Ick Cure is the best! It managed to get rid of ick on our loaches, which are notoriously delicate and ick-prone. The only bad thing is it has a blue color to it, and may dye certain things in your aquarium, like air tubes. You need to remove any activated carbon from your filter before you treat with any medication, generally, or else the carbon will just take the medicine right out of the water again.


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## dan3345 (Jan 27, 2010)

I dindnt do anything actually. I turned up the temp to 82 and within three days I noticed it was gone. The ich was not that much to begin with, so I assume because i saw it early and turned up the heat, burning out the parasite before it got a foothold is what killed it.


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## sbetsy (Apr 6, 2010)

I'm all about the copper for ich. I use coppersafe b/c aquarisol isn't available at my lfs. 1/2 dose for loaches and remove the plants temporarily.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

turn the temp up to 82 and dose with a little bit of salt about 1 and a half table spoons per 5 gallons seems to work great.... thats all we ever do at work and it does the trick every time. depending on how severe the ich is it will take a little longer. i have seen fish absolutely covered in ich and it took about a week for it to disapear off them.


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## JimW/Oscar (Jul 4, 2010)

sbetsy said:


> I'm all about the copper for ich. I use coppersafe b/c aquarisol isn't available at my lfs. 1/2 dose for loaches and remove the plants temporarily.


I've had good experiences with Mardel's Coppersafe in past


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## Peeps (May 24, 2010)

I have always been able to cute the worst ick with Rid Ick +. It works great. 

But fish will sctratch themselves from time to time. If they do it a lot then there is a problem, it could be your water or a disease. Mostly they will flash from parasites.


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## Erotik (Jul 11, 2010)

sbetsy said:


> I'm all about the copper for ich. I use coppersafe b/c aquarisol isn't available at my lfs. 1/2 dose for loaches and remove the plants temporarily.


I thought loaches can't take anything with copper in it?


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

I have used Seachem cupramine on horse faced loaches with no problems. Check on the loach forum for a list of loach safe meds.


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