Fish is scratching, should I start treatment?

[jamal-188]

My new yellow tang has been scratching on rocks/substrate but I don't see any spots of ick yet. I can't imagine there is any other reason why he would scratch so I"m assuming I should start my hyposalinty treatment and not wait for the little white dots?

Thanks
Chris

 

[reefrunner69]

so I"m assuming I should start my hyposalinty treatment and not wait for the little white dots?

Yep, IMO, it is best to go ahead and assume the fish has ick, if it is something else, they hypo may help, but probably not and you will see more signs in the future, but velvet can kill quickly and can be very difficult to discern (even in the visible stages) on a yellow tang.

 

[tigger]

I would start treatment too. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way. My yellow tang died last week. He didn't have any visible signs of ich, just scratching. I was already treating the tank for ich, but I guess it was too late. I plan to buy another tang (after leaving the main tank fallow)... he was an awesome fish.

 

[jamal-188]

Guess I better get going My last yellow tang died, wouldn't eat and on the 10th day he died

 

[Terry B]

Scratching can also indicate another type of parasite such as gill flukes.
Terry B

 

[gfishguy56]

sometimes scratching just means you have an itch.

 

[reefrunner69]

sometimes scratching just means you have an itch.

LOL, true Repeated scratching is indicitive of a problem, a single scratching run might not be, good point.