Itching A.Borellii

[TuvaM]

Hi guys.
Today I noticed my male Borellii seemed to have an itch. He was rubbing against some plants and his dorsal fin was kind of vibrating. Might this be a disease? I can't see anything that's stuck to him.

 

[gerald]

Yes, the itching could be due to a skin parasite. Keep watch and see if anything further shows up, and watch for any rapid or heavy breathing, which might indicate gill damage. I would not suggest any medications (other than heat) until you have more evidence to make an informed choice.

 

[Mike Wise]

Itching also occurs with poor water quality, too. Do a couple of 25% water change over the next 2 days and see if it helps.

 

[TuvaM]

I just got a new tank as the one I had was leaking, so it's hard to believe that poor water quality - correct me if I'm wrong. I will watch him and see if anything else happens.

 

[gerald]

Depending on the animal vs plant load, yes, new tanks certainly CAN have poor water quality, if there's not enough plants and/or nitrifying bacteria yet to consume the ammonia from fish waste. It's not as common a problem in lightly-stocked tanks with plants and small fish like Apisto's, compared with tanks of bigger fish, but it can happen. Did you move the old substrate and plants from the leaking tank to the new one? That should help.

 

[TuvaM]

I moved the old pump/filter and the plants over to the new one. The filter has been on the whole time, so I can't imagine that the bacteria have died. The substrate was really smelly due to a little crisis during the holiday with an automatic feeder which overfed the fish.. So that I replaced.

 

[HengLee]

If you are sure that it's an Ich which are caused by parasites, you can start treating your tank with Coppersafe by Mardel. But you must remove all inverterbrates before starting the treatment.

It'll be fatal if you don't treat it fast enough. When there are only a few white spots on the fish, you might still be able to save the fish.
But if the white spots increased to too many, it might be too late to save it. And it can spread to other fish very easily.

You can read about Ich here:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

Coppersafe by Mardel:
http://fritzaquatics.com/product/coppersafe/

 

[TuvaM]

It's not white spot. He is just itching. But I think he is fine.