Is It Ok To Add A Med 'just To Be On The Safe Side'?

[Spishkey]

for a fair few months my platys mollys and tetras have been throwing themselves about in the sand and plants as if they were itching themselves. ive looked daily for signs of white spot or other disease but have seen nothing in the three months they've been doing this.
today i saw my largest plec and two zebra danios do it, but yet again no signs of disease.

im worried incase i get up one day and everyones dead in there! so im wondering whether to use a ich treatment although there are no spots visable? do any other diseases have flicking and rubbing as a symptom?

water stats are all normal for my tank ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 5
temp around 25-27

i just cant understand why they do this?? they seem perfectly healthy apart from occasional launching into the sand!

 

[drobbyb]

They have an itch. Humans scratch themselves so why not fish. If it is happening alot then it could be any of a number of things. I wouldn't use a medicine unless I know what I am treating. Over medication weakens the immune system of fish so in essence you would be making them MORE susceptible to disease. Also some medications cannot be used in a tank that contains scaleless fish (catfish, loaches, etc) and some fish can only tolerate half of a normal dose.

It's just better to not medicate until you know exactly what is causing the problem.

 

[Colin_T]

If the fish have been rubbing for a couple of months then it isn't ich (whitespot). It could be a chemical in the water that is irritating their skin, or a skin parasite like costia, trichodina or chilodonella. These parasites usually cause the fish to develop a greyish film on their body, particularly on the back. It will also cause the fish to rub against things in the tank.

You could try increasing the temperature to 30C for a week, then slowly lowering it back down. This would help to kill off the parasites without the use of medications. Make sure you increase the surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.
You should also do a couple of 50% water changes and gravel clean the tank before you raise the temp. And clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last month. Most diseases are caused by excess gunk in the gravel and filter. Cleaning the tank conditions up will help reduce the number of disease organisms and the warmer water will hopefully kill off any remaining ones.

 

[Spishkey]

i do daily substrate (sand) cleaning as my group of plecos make such a mess, and the white filter wool in the filters is changed weekly. i do about 5 - 10% daily water changes (can't help doing it due to the sand cleaning) and they get about 25% done every two weeks.

will try increasing the temp to 30 and see what happens.

 

[pippoodle]

i do daily substrate (sand) cleaning as my group of plecos make such a mess, and the white filter wool in the filters is changed weekly. i do about 5 - 10% daily water changes (can't help doing it due to the sand cleaning) and they get about 25% done every two weeks.

will try increasing the temp to 30 and see what happens.

also i was told to decrease lighting and raise the temp with itchy fish

good luck xxxx

 

[cor2008]

Hi Spishkey did you have any success with the iching. I have a similar problem with some corys, they have been itching for a few weeks but I cant work out what it is..

 

[Spishkey]

nope no improvement, but its no worse. i am baffled.
they are not sick but flash and throw themselves in the sand/against leaves/bogwood.
if it was just one or two i wouldnt be so worried but its around a quarter of the fish that do it!!!