SCRATCHING

[rsmo]

:?: HAVE A 120 GAL FULL OF ABOUT 55 MALAWI ASSORTED. FISH CONTINUALLY SCRATCHING. NO SIGNS OF ICK OR VISABLE PARASITES. TREATED WITH COPPER AND MARACYN AND TANK BUDDIES. FOR ABOUT 3 WEEKS AND FISH STILL SCRATCHING. PH 7.8 NO AMMONIA, NITRITES OR NITRATES. KH ABOUT 7 GH ABOUT 10.
HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!
THANKS

[Rudy]

How much do they scratch?
Cichlids do scratch without anything being wrong with them.

If you treated your tank for that long for parasites if they did have any I doubt they do now.

[SGypsyMermaid]

i agree with rudy--any parasites should be dead. if they are scratching excessively, maybe you have a bacteria problem--how often do you change your water and how much(percentage); what kind of substrate/how deep do you have?

[CichlidPete]

AND how long has the tank been running?

[Hongi]

Fish can scratch for reasons other than parasites. Stress, temperature (at least IMO) and Ph can all cause scratching. Also it is normal for Cichlids to scratch occasionally. I recently had one scratching last week so I tried raising the temperature a few degrees and she hasnt been scratching since.

[rsmo]

THE FISH REALLY SEEM TO SCRATCH ALOT AND ITS NOT JUST ONE BUT MANY. THE TANK TEMP IS 78 DEGREES. THE PH IS 7.8. DO 50% WATER CHANGES ABOUT 7-10 DAYS APART. THE SUBSTRATE IS AN AFRICAN CICHLID MIX I BOUGHT FROM THE LOCAL PET STORE. ABOUT 3" DEEP.
AND THE TANK HAS BEEN RUNNING FOR ABOUT 6 TO 7 WEEKS. THE THE NEW SUBSRTRATE WAS CULTURED IN MY OLD TANK FOR A SMOOTHER START. NITRATES ARE RUNNING AROUND 5 TO 10 FOR THE LAST WEEK. GONNA TRY SALT TONIGHT TO SEE IF IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

[SGypsyMermaid]

adding salt can't hurt--might help. hongi's suggestion of raising the temp(to about 80 degrees) is a good one, too.