Hi all.. My peacocks have been doing fine but lately my biggest peacock has been scratching itself near its fins/head on the left side a lot. I see it try to rub itself against on the rocks (gravel) around the same area and even on the windows of the tank along with other objects. It doesn't have this behavior all the time but I've seen it atleast 2-3 times (After i feed him) and now I'm concerned something is wrong. I've checked him for Ich but see no such things. Could be something else but I am stumped on what to do. My LFS don't really know much. Anyone have any idea on what I should do? I really like him as he is just beginning to color up and become so nice.
Itchy Peacock! Advice Appreciated!
- Thread starter MtgVo
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
greenmaji
Aquarium Advice Addict
peacock cichlid or bass?
Fishyfanatic
Aquarium Advice Addict
If its the cichlid, mine do that quite often. I can't for the life of me figure out why. I think I read somewhere that it could be a sign of mating. That's not a definate answer though. But I do know what you are talking about and mine do it but are healthy as can be.
talloulou
Aquarium Advice Addict
It could be some kind of parasits. But usually with parasites or any other kind of sickness the fish will have other symptoms like lethargy & loss of appetite. So keep an eye out for any other signs that would indicate a possible problem. If the fish looks good, is active, and has a healthy appetite he's probably just a weirdo 
At first i just thought it was a bad habit! But now i see it start to really go at it. Almost 9/10 times when I look at it, it's trying to itch itself on the same side. Leading me to beleive it could be a parasite of some kind. However it does still ahve a healthy appetite and still appears to be colorful and healthy. How should I diagnos my fish and what should i do to cure it? Thanks
flamingonhot
Aquarium Advice FINatic
i would just leave it alone unless it starts getting really bad then i would treat it for parasites. A lot of fish usually scratch like that but it usually goes away.
Fishyfanatic
Aquarium Advice Addict
Unless their coloration starts to deteriate or you see markings on them or they lose their appetite, I wouldn't worry. Mine do it all the time and at first I was really worried and started the ich treatement. But I never saw any spots and they were happy and healthy. If they are in the process of mating, you could see little baby fry in the future.
Botia4Life
Aquarium Advice Regular
Some fish for no reason just like to scratch themselves against objects. Don't read into it too much, meaning don't worry.
Well before there were no real bad symptoms.. but now there are. The fish is constantly darting around into things to scratch itself.. So much that the fish seems to be doing it nonstop. Now it's barely eating and color is starting to fade. Some people have suggested parasites, how do I know for sure it's parasites and how to cure it? Is my fish gone?
tetrin
Aquarium Advice FINatic
ummm, i'd be worried too by now. i think they are probably coming down with parasites - and the first one that comes to mind - ich.
well, i had a similar problem about 4 weeks ago after i just bought my malawi's. they started to itch. at first few fish started out scratching once in a while. but then things slowly went out of hand.
so i raised the temps slowly to 86F and added 1 tsp kosher salt per 5g over a course of 2 weeks. things went back to normal after that.
but malawi's do itch sometimes due to other reasons -
marking territories \ mating ritual \ high nitrates \ large pwc (immediately after)
well, i had a similar problem about 4 weeks ago after i just bought my malawi's. they started to itch. at first few fish started out scratching once in a while. but then things slowly went out of hand.
so i raised the temps slowly to 86F and added 1 tsp kosher salt per 5g over a course of 2 weeks. things went back to normal after that.
but malawi's do itch sometimes due to other reasons -
marking territories \ mating ritual \ high nitrates \ large pwc (immediately after)
my saes and denisonii were doing that for a few days. at first i thought it was ok, but then i noticed ich on some of the other fish (red phantoms and clown loaches). it doesn't show up on all of my fish. but you might want to look closely at the fish the aren't actually scratching... jmo
hating the heat treatment! ich sucks! sigh...
hating the heat treatment! ich sucks! sigh...
