Fish Scratching on Rock

[DAT_WRASSE]

In my 180 gallon FOWLR, my French Angelfish, emperor Red snapper and Bluehead wrasse all, since the last several weeks been scratching there bodies on the live rock. Since I started noticing this is August, I started treating the tank for ich but the fish are acting normal as usual. I do have a lot of water flow in the tank, I don't know if that is annoying the fish, or is this serious?

 

[Humblefish]

How exactly have you been treating the tank for ich? Display tank or quarantine tank?

 

[saltyhog]

Ich isn't the only thing that would cause that. Flukes would do it too.

 

[KJ]

Marine Ich (parasite)
Marine Velvet (parasite)
Marine Flukes (parasite)

 

[Harse Designs]

one thing for sure, it has one of the above. pay close attention and start a solution right away before its too late

 

[Humblefish]

Marine Ich (parasite)
Marine Velvet (parasite)
Marine Flukes (parasite)

Technically speaking, ich is a parasite but velvet is a dinoflagellate. So ich is an animal, but velvet is a animal/plant hybrid. But you can use copper & Chloroquine phosphate to treat both - so they get lumped into the same category.

Flukes are actually monogenean flatworms. Best treatment for those is praziquantel (Prazipro). Copper/CP doesn't work on them.

 

[DAT_WRASSE]

I know what ich looks like and it is not visible on any of my fish. What do the other parasites look like?

 

[Humblefish]

I know what ich looks like and it is not visible on any of my fish. What do the other parasites look like?

Ich & flukes are not always visible, because sometimes they harbor inside the gills out of sight. Same holds true for velvet, as a fish can die from asphyxiation before visible physical symptoms ever manifest.

If visible symptoms do show on the skin; velvet looks the same as ich, except the fish will usually be completely covered in “dust.” This dust may look gold colored (or sometimes even gray) if viewed at the right angle and under the right spectrum of light. Some people say that velvet makes a fish look like it has been dusted with a fine powder, whereas ich is more like salt grains.

Since flukes live mainly inside the gills, you have to look for behavioral symptoms instead of visible ones. Behavioral symptoms for flukes include yawning, heavy breathing, head twitching, scratching (targeting the gill area) and lethargy.

 

[DAT_WRASSE]

These symptoms have been going on for a two months now and I noticed I have never seen my snowflake moray, two tomato clownfish and staghorn damsel display these behaviors like my other fish