# One of my Cariba rubbing all the time...



## jdk79 (Feb 22, 2003)

Hi, I just got 10 Cariba last week, im down to 9 now. One just died??? No bites or anything. Must of been sick. That was like the day after getting them and now its been 5 days. No more deathes but one of them is itching constantly rubbing his side against the bottom. I added salt and it really didn't help him at all it seems. It did help the other ones fins that were nipped up alittle. I was wondering if this could possibly be ich? There are no marks on him at all like white spots. There was little white dots on before and maybe three others but the salt got all that off. So I guess the salt cleared this up. Also I added 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons. Should I repeat this or is the one time all I should do?
Thanks for the help!
Jake


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

There are a number of reasons why fishes scratch... parasites, something that irritates their body/gills (ammonia, pH fluctuations), or simply just an "itch". Without getting readings of your water parameters, everything is just a guess... Has your tank been cycled? Gill irritation from high ammonia/nitrites can cause a fish to flash and scrape aggressively.

If the salt got rid of the white spots on your fish, it quite possibly could be ich (but there are other parasites that are similar in appearance to ich). Fortunately most of them are sensitive to salt. Leave the salt in your tank for two weeks to make sure that you have killed all the parasites and its life cycle. Elevating your temperature to around 82 degrees F will speed up it's cycle.

As far as adding more salt... I wouldn't. Salt does not evaporate, so what you put in stays in the water. When you decided to do a water change, just add as much salt to bring the new water back up to your current dosage. Subsequent water changes after treatment will get rid of the salt from your tank.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

what he said - it was a very good response - and I would suggest you do a water change now assuming your tank is fully cycled.


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

maybe he just needs to scrath his ass 
actually im doin that right now


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## SnowCichlid (Jan 10, 2003)

Death in # said:


> maybe he just needs to scrath his ass
> actually im doin that right now


 wow, isn't that just the thing I wanted to hear








...abyways... occasioanla scratching is OK, just watch it for a little bit it may be water parameters or possibly something along the lines of an internal parasite


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## rong666 (Mar 5, 2003)

my natts do it from time to time. usualy after a feeding. if problem is persistant check your nitrates and other water parameters.


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## icepick36m (Feb 19, 2003)

I would keep an eye on them and make sure that it isn't the start of ick.Good luck.


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