does my blue hippo have ich or a parasite

[fishman830]

he scratches against stuff, ive had him since the 27th adn got him from swf.com

 

[bullshark]

All fish in nature carry some forms of parasites. Like you and I. We and most healthy fish are able to keep them in check with our immune system. When a fish gets caught in the wild, placed in a sandwich baggie sized container, shipped on a plane, delivered across the planet, put into a storage facility with other fish from somewhere, shipped to you, placed into your tank with other fish(or even alone), there is a chance for stress to affect the fish. What we mostly see is the parasites mulitply or infest(whichever the case may be) the fish, in which the immune system has been lowered. This is what we see in our tanks. Not always does the problem arise from the place you purchased from.
By the way, to answer your question: Ich is a parasite. Please do a search on the disease forum for 'ich' and you will see lots and lots of opinions on how to treat. I suggest the least invasive way first, maybe the garlic soaked food. You can get the garlic soak from your local fish store or here at swf.com
Good Luck, I am sure the fish is beautiful. I love blue hippos.

 

[beth]

Fish, give some details of what you are actually seeing. Just the scratching or do you see ich [which looks like the fish has been spinkled with salt]?