For 3 weeks my fish flash/scratch on the ornaments/subtrate/plants. :-( I was recommended to do daily water changes of 20%. It seems to get worse with water changes and then calms down a bit but still scratching but less often. I went to pets at home. they told me to add live plants,so i have done, but said its a mystery. Been to local aquarium place. They seem to think its because my ammonia has raised to 0.25 and nitrates to 5.0. No matter how many water changes i do, the levels dont drop.
My readings are: ammonia 0.25
nitrite 0 (it had spiked to a dark purple colour on chart - forget which
level but has now dropped)
nitrate 5.0
My tank is 10 gallons. It has been set up just over 6 months. Tank cycled when set it up. Ammonia and other levels were all reading 0 until a week after fish started scratching.
How do i sort this problem. People have suggested it could be flukes or parasites but i dont want to just dump chemicals into tank and do more harm than good.
Had white spot in tank but that has all cleared up. Been clear for around 3 months. all fish are eating well and there are no signs of illness or spots or marks on them. :-?
My local shop have given me some stuff to put into tank to lower ammonia, which was yesterday, have said wait a week... no feeding fish..... and test tank levels again.
I have not lost any fish yet since scratching began.
Local shop also told me im doing too many water changes. They have told me to only do one water change a month. I've always been advised with small tanks like mine, 10 gallons, small water change of 10% every week was healthy for the fish. and i've only ever vacuumed the gravel once every 2 to 3 weeks, as not to stress the fish too much.
I am at a loss of what to do. Any help or suggestions would be very much apprechiated.
Thanks
My readings are: ammonia 0.25
nitrite 0 (it had spiked to a dark purple colour on chart - forget which
level but has now dropped)
nitrate 5.0
My tank is 10 gallons. It has been set up just over 6 months. Tank cycled when set it up. Ammonia and other levels were all reading 0 until a week after fish started scratching.
How do i sort this problem. People have suggested it could be flukes or parasites but i dont want to just dump chemicals into tank and do more harm than good.
Had white spot in tank but that has all cleared up. Been clear for around 3 months. all fish are eating well and there are no signs of illness or spots or marks on them. :-?
My local shop have given me some stuff to put into tank to lower ammonia, which was yesterday, have said wait a week... no feeding fish..... and test tank levels again.
I have not lost any fish yet since scratching began.
Local shop also told me im doing too many water changes. They have told me to only do one water change a month. I've always been advised with small tanks like mine, 10 gallons, small water change of 10% every week was healthy for the fish. and i've only ever vacuumed the gravel once every 2 to 3 weeks, as not to stress the fish too much.
I am at a loss of what to do. Any help or suggestions would be very much apprechiated.
Thanks