external parasites

[misterEman]

My fish, probably about 7 of the 15, keep scratching themselves against the plants and the rocks. This sounds like ich, but the fish have no white spots, nor do they look unhealthy. They all eat fine, and look real good. They just keep scratching themselves, and it's gots me kind of worried. I have a 29 gallon tank and have 7 swordtails, 6 guppies, a pleco, and a rainbow shark. Water conditions are fine. When I got the 7 of the fish last Friday, I treated the tank with Quick Cure for 3 days. I then put back the filter back in for 2 days. Now the filters are back out and I am treating the tank again. Does this seem normal? Is there any other meds I can try? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[black angel]

could you tell us how big your tank is,what kind of fish, your ammonia,nitrite,nitrate and ph are. but from what youve said it could be gill flukes.

 

[babyfish]

If I'm reading your post right, you are taking the filter out of the tank to treat the fish?

If the filter isn't in the tank constantly the bacteria in it will die, causing your tank to cycle again.

The flicking of the fish may be caused by toxins building up in the water.

Can you test your water for

nitrite

nitrate

ammonia

 

[wuvmybetta]

It's good to examine all possibilities before treating. You don't want to treat for a parasite if in fact it's something as simple as the water being too chilly, for example.
Also,how long has the tank been set up? And what temperature is it at?

 

[misterEman]

My tank has been set up for a month and half now. I do have the Penguin Bio-wheel 400 filter system. The temp is at 80 degrees. My ammonia level according to these test strips is .25, which says its safe on the bottle. It has been like that for the last three weeks. It has always read the same thing. I know it is supposed to be 0, but I don't understand how it can always be zero when you are constantly adding food into the water and the fish are constantly pooing. There has to be some ammonia may it be minimal, like mine is. Anyway, Nitritres are 0, Nitrates are, it looks like 10-25 ppm. Ph is 6.8, and I don't understand the total hardness that's on this test strip. I don't know what is normal, but it looks like >14degrees ppm. I don't know, it's hard to read. Thanks for some of your feed back already.

 

[black angel]

dont keep taking the filter out, only the carbon. your ammonia though it says its okay still sounds a bit high. Water changes take the ammonia out . How often do you do water changes

 

[misterEman]

I do water changes once a week and do about 15-20% at a time. When I first got the fish I was doing about a 10% water change a day to keep the ammonia down for the first four days. As far a the ammonia readings, I would like to get a better test kit, any recommendations??? I think these test strips are inaccurate to a degree. As for the filter, these Penguin Bio-wheel filters are a combination of the filter material and carbon. There is no way to keep just the filter in without the carbon. I have the filters sitting in a bucket with the water that I did a water change.