fish scratching himself on rocks?
- Thread starter flobup
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Well if it is ich on your fish causing them to scratch it wont help to simple start the new fish in QT you need to remove the current fish and QT them as well for 6 week to give your DT time to kill the parasite and QT all future fish and treat with low dose copper to insure you dont get ich in your tank as well at least in my opinion everyone struggles at times with there tank all we can do is try to make the tank as stable as possible
Mariette
Valuable Member
Okay take a deep breath because this isn’t gonna be pretty.
Saltwater tanks are very different than freshwater. Typically, you have to research every animal you get in advance of your first purchase to ensure they’re all compatible.
That fish is already too big for your tank and is quickly going to get bigger. According to liveaquaria, they grow to 10 inches and require a min tank size of 180 gallons.
I’ve been in the hobby for 2 years. I have a 55 gallon too. You’re research is going to lead you all over the place and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. You’ve come to the right place.
Saltwater tanks are very different than freshwater. Typically, you have to research every animal you get in advance of your first purchase to ensure they’re all compatible.
That fish is already too big for your tank and is quickly going to get bigger. According to liveaquaria, they grow to 10 inches and require a min tank size of 180 gallons.
I’ve been in the hobby for 2 years. I have a 55 gallon too. You’re research is going to lead you all over the place and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. You’ve come to the right place.
Oh really? My LFS said he wouldn’t get but maybe an inch bigger (they’re idiots) and I’ve been watching them the past 2 days, havnt seen him do it at all nor any of the other fish BUT I woke up like 3 days ago and my elbi angel was jsut randomly dead but I checked my ammonia then and it was up to .25
AquaLifeStudio
Well-Known Member
Your equipment seems right.
Your fish selection needs to improve and this is best done with a lot of research. You should return the triggerfish to the store that you got em from. It's an aggressive fish that isnt entirely reef safe and its adult size is far too large for your setup.
If you are going to move the fish to QT, I would suggest you leave fish out of your main display for more than 76 days.
As for what to do while in QT, check out a few threads on that subject on this site.
Your fish selection needs to improve and this is best done with a lot of research. You should return the triggerfish to the store that you got em from. It's an aggressive fish that isnt entirely reef safe and its adult size is far too large for your setup.
If you are going to move the fish to QT, I would suggest you leave fish out of your main display for more than 76 days.
As for what to do while in QT, check out a few threads on that subject on this site.
vetteguy53081
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Typical with wrasses and clowns. Salinity plays a role also. Assure between 1.024-1.026
ccombs
Valuable Member
Welcome to R2R. You will quickly find a lot of small intricacies about saltwater that you can get lost in. Don't worry about the fact that you are in over your head, just focus on the main things of reefing, let me break it down for you.
Main Components of Reefing:
Proper Flow
Proper Water Quality
Stable Parameters
Proper Lighting
Proper Feeding
Proper Tank Size/Stocking Choice
For now focus on the things above, those are the basics. Once you get the things above mastered, you can look into the following, but not until you get the list above taken care of.
Minor Components of Reefing:
Automation
Dosing
Advanced Equipment (Dosers, Skimmers, Reactors, Etc.)
Brand Wars (which brand of salt is best, what type of carbon to use, etc.)
Advanced Chemisty (ULN, High Nutrient Systems, Triton Method, etc.)
Use these two lists to prioritize what you need to study up on first.
I would highly recommend going to the store and seeing if you can return the fish for store credit. The Picasso Trigger is a beautiful fish, but you are not in a good place to keep it.
A Trigger is a predator fish, basically meaning that it needs a specialized diet of fresh seafood from the market or live shrimp added to the tank. These fish don't do well with what most beginners feed like pellets.
When it comes to potentially doing a QT, look at threads by @Humblefish and follow advice by @ngoodermuth , @4FordFamily , @Frtdrmrose7 and others. They are super helpful and always steer you in the right direction all around in saltwater, but especially in disease and treatment.
Right now, your main goal will be to watch the fish for signs of disease. You will also need to start looking for a new home for it, unfortunately. Finally, read as much as you can until your brain hurts about keeping fish, there is a lot of info out there. Once your brain hurts, you have only cracked the surface on the amount of reading you need to do haha.
Carefully read in to what information you find. Look for people on this site that have tanks to back up their info. Watch out for facts vs. opinions. Don't get too caught up in opinions right now on how to do things, stick mainly to the basic facts. Like I said above, don't get into anything advanced just yet, focus on the basics.
Finally, there are no dumb questions. R2R is a friendly community that wants you to have success. As you have already seen, you have a lot of work in regards to your tank, but everyone so far has been nice and helpful, so pleases continue to ask questions.
Best of luck!
EDIT- I would like to add that you haven't necessarily done anything wrong, you were just working on some bad info from the LFS that lead to some bad decisions. Now that you know better, it is now your responsibility to make necessary adjustments to correct the situation. I am just saying not to feel bad for being in your current situation, just make it right for yourself and the inhabitants.
Main Components of Reefing:
Proper Flow
Proper Water Quality
Stable Parameters
Proper Lighting
Proper Feeding
Proper Tank Size/Stocking Choice
For now focus on the things above, those are the basics. Once you get the things above mastered, you can look into the following, but not until you get the list above taken care of.
Minor Components of Reefing:
Automation
Dosing
Advanced Equipment (Dosers, Skimmers, Reactors, Etc.)
Brand Wars (which brand of salt is best, what type of carbon to use, etc.)
Advanced Chemisty (ULN, High Nutrient Systems, Triton Method, etc.)
Use these two lists to prioritize what you need to study up on first.
I would highly recommend going to the store and seeing if you can return the fish for store credit. The Picasso Trigger is a beautiful fish, but you are not in a good place to keep it.
A Trigger is a predator fish, basically meaning that it needs a specialized diet of fresh seafood from the market or live shrimp added to the tank. These fish don't do well with what most beginners feed like pellets.
When it comes to potentially doing a QT, look at threads by @Humblefish and follow advice by @ngoodermuth , @4FordFamily , @Frtdrmrose7 and others. They are super helpful and always steer you in the right direction all around in saltwater, but especially in disease and treatment.
Right now, your main goal will be to watch the fish for signs of disease. You will also need to start looking for a new home for it, unfortunately. Finally, read as much as you can until your brain hurts about keeping fish, there is a lot of info out there. Once your brain hurts, you have only cracked the surface on the amount of reading you need to do haha.
Carefully read in to what information you find. Look for people on this site that have tanks to back up their info. Watch out for facts vs. opinions. Don't get too caught up in opinions right now on how to do things, stick mainly to the basic facts. Like I said above, don't get into anything advanced just yet, focus on the basics.
Finally, there are no dumb questions. R2R is a friendly community that wants you to have success. As you have already seen, you have a lot of work in regards to your tank, but everyone so far has been nice and helpful, so pleases continue to ask questions.
Best of luck!
EDIT- I would like to add that you haven't necessarily done anything wrong, you were just working on some bad info from the LFS that lead to some bad decisions. Now that you know better, it is now your responsibility to make necessary adjustments to correct the situation. I am just saying not to feel bad for being in your current situation, just make it right for yourself and the inhabitants.
Last edited:
Welcome to R2R! I’ll echo what many have already said, the trigger while beautiful, is going to need rehoused when you can find him a good home. No shame in that, I still - even with several years experience - sometimes find myself with a fish that is not going to be compatible with my current set-up. As long as you ask questions and make sure a potential buyer has what he needs... no harm, no foul 
Before that though, I would address the scratching. It’s most often (when not accompanied by tiny white dots, like salt or sand stuck to the sides) flukes. Luckily, flukes are easy to check for and relatively easy to treat. If you can catch any one of your fish for a freshwater dip (best of you can get the one scratching, but more often than not if one has them - they all do) will easily be able to tell if the tank has flukes.
Here is a video detailing how to do the dip, and showing you what to look for. It’s important to match temp and heavily aerate the dip for at least 20 mins prior. And add a splash of tank water in right before dipping to help match PH.
If you see flukes, you can treat your tank using PraziPro. It is one of the only truly reef-safe treatments out there. Just need to keep your tank well oxygenated, with lots of movement at the surface. If you have a skimmer, keep it running but remove the cup. Remove any carbon or GFO.
You’d need to do two doses, 5-7 days apart.
If you don’t see flukes in the dip... then maybe just observe your fish a while longer before deciding you have something to worry about
Some symptoms to watch out for:
Swimming directly into the flow of a powerhead
Excessive hiding/ light sensitivity
Heavy/rapid breathing
White-stringy poop
White spots, white/red patches or sores
Insistent scratching on rocks or substrate, primarily targeting the gill area
Good luck, and happy reefing!
Before that though, I would address the scratching. It’s most often (when not accompanied by tiny white dots, like salt or sand stuck to the sides) flukes. Luckily, flukes are easy to check for and relatively easy to treat. If you can catch any one of your fish for a freshwater dip (best of you can get the one scratching, but more often than not if one has them - they all do) will easily be able to tell if the tank has flukes.
Here is a video detailing how to do the dip, and showing you what to look for. It’s important to match temp and heavily aerate the dip for at least 20 mins prior. And add a splash of tank water in right before dipping to help match PH.
If you see flukes, you can treat your tank using PraziPro. It is one of the only truly reef-safe treatments out there. Just need to keep your tank well oxygenated, with lots of movement at the surface. If you have a skimmer, keep it running but remove the cup. Remove any carbon or GFO.
You’d need to do two doses, 5-7 days apart.
If you don’t see flukes in the dip... then maybe just observe your fish a while longer before deciding you have something to worry about
Some symptoms to watch out for:
Swimming directly into the flow of a powerhead
Excessive hiding/ light sensitivity
Heavy/rapid breathing
White-stringy poop
White spots, white/red patches or sores
Insistent scratching on rocks or substrate, primarily targeting the gill area
Good luck, and happy reefing!
If you do decide to QT, now or in the future... these links are very helpful:
How to Quarantine
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...hreads/How-to-Quarantine.189815/&share_type=t
Ammonia Control in a Hospital Tank
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...ntrol-in-a-Hospital-Tank.296119/&share_type=t
How to Quarantine
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...hreads/How-to-Quarantine.189815/&share_type=t
Ammonia Control in a Hospital Tank
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...ntrol-in-a-Hospital-Tank.296119/&share_type=t
If you get a cleaner shrimp he will most likely eat it. I wanted one SO bad and was new and I knew it was a bad idea but did it anyway. He ate my cleaner shrimp and snails.
What medication did you treat with? Do you mean the freshwater dip?
Another piece of advice try to get your temp more stable a 4 degree shift doesnt seem like alot to you I'm sure but that causes stress most likely your getting temp shifted from your lights during the day to fix that get a bigger light for your fug that will fix or help mitigate your temp changes run it at night only if you cant stable your temp any other way I run mine 24 hours a day but my temp doesnt change in my tank temp changes is a large cause in stress that will lead to icy or other diseases not saying the rage you gave is enough for that but best safe then sorry
I used ICH X, I got the trigger out and treated him he seems to be doing better although I have now noticed my flame angel start scratching just a little, I would like to treat the entire tank as I can not catch the flame or the other fish in the tank... the instructions on the bottle says to QT and treat and I also called the 800 number and they recommended me not to treat the entire tank as it would negatively affect the coral..
