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bottle-blonde
01-04-2003, 12:38 PM
one of my fish has started scratching on the rocks. i don't know what my levels are but the guy at the lfs said he had never seen such good water params before. heat's at 87, pH around 6.8 and i'm using an aquaclear with three sponges. i've been using melafix in the water for a stuborn white spot on a cory that won't go away. should i add some salt? the fish isn't doing it that often but i don't figure that it should be doing it at all!

Carol_Roberts
01-04-2003, 06:46 PM
Scratching a couple of times a day is normal - a couple of times an hour isn't. Nice big water changes and cleaning the inside of the tank and filters is always the first line of defense. This is assuming your filters are fully cycled with ammonia and nitrIte at zero. Test kits for ammonia and nitrite are not that expensive. You can get ammonia test kits at Walmart even.

If these are very young discus it might be flukes or a bacterial infection. If old discus you've had a long time probably water quality.

Carol :heart1:

bottle-blonde
01-05-2003, 12:45 AM
no, it's just a couple times a day. usually when i first turn the light on in the morning. i clean out my filter weekly (the filter not the sponges) and the glass is clean and water quality's bang on. this fish is almost 4 inches and shows no signs of illness at all. i think you're right carol, i think it's just a couple times a day and it's probably not a big deal. thanks! :)

arpanlib
01-05-2003, 04:01 AM
hi,
if they are scratching lot of times in an hour, then i would suspect gill flukes or parasites.
first treat with salt and lots of water changes and then maybe you can consider formalin.

hope this helps.

arpanlib

bottle-blonde
01-05-2003, 04:27 AM
thanks! like i said though it's just one fish and it does it a once or twice every few days when i turn the lights on in the morning. i think it's probably fine on second thought after considering that it's completely healthy in every way and it's not frequently scratching.