LMB Scrapes its Sides on the Sand - Need Help ASAP

[euphoria]

My Lawnmower Blenny sometimes turns to its side while swimming and scrapes its body on the sand. As far as I recall this is a sign of ICH, yet when I look at it, there are no white spots on it related to ich. It doesn't eat the food I give it, but does eat stuff off of the rocks and glass.
My question is, should I assume this is the beginning of an ich attack on the LMB and do a freshwater dip as soon as possible? My other fish are doing fine.
Plz help ASAP.
Thanks

 

[mary]

Might mean a problem is at hand. Water changed recently, measurements need adjustments? Check salinity also. Water evaporates quickly in my home and salinity can rise. Water needs to be at the right temp also. Not too warm in summer. 75-80 degrees. Nitrates may be too high. I feed less in the summer months as a precautionary measure. Keep a bottle of Garlic Extreme handy. Real garlic, not the chemical mixture. It fights off many irritants. In your tank, 5-6 drops in the morning and soak dry food for several minutes. Someone in one of these forums gives finely chopped garlic to their fish and apparently they love it and it is a good natural medicine. Will not harm corals or anything.

 

[euphoria]

I did a water change 8 days ago and all my levels are very good. I checked them today. Everything is good. I feed only once a day and not too much, and I do soak the food in garlic extreme every day.
But if it's ich, then all the above have nothing to do w/ it

 

[steven the fish]

I dont think its ich, i may be wrong though, i have seen a few fish do that...scraping its side in the sand, and all my fish that have done that never died, so i think it MIGHT...be normal, hope it dose well though.

 

[mary]

Check the disease forum, just for future reference. I thought I knew all about ich from many articles and from listening to experts talk on the subject but have found out through these forums that in fact some of the well intentioned info I had been told or read was misinformation. It is just a good idea to listen to some of the staff who answers the questions on illness of our fishes. Your fish is probably ok but keep an eye out for spots. Any new animals put in in the last few days? By the way, I have cured ich on my clown and Regal tang in the past with Garlic extreme. It is my standby even though we haven't had problems in a very long time. There is however a method for getting the parasite out of your tank for good but it can be explained in the disease forum.

 

[euphoria]

I actually ended up doing the FW dip today, and after that the fish never scraped itself on the sand, at least during the periods I sat and watched it. It wasn't doing too good in the FW, it just sat there barely breathing and moving, but once I moved it back to the SW tank, it started acting as usual. Hopefully I did end up curing something, cuz it was a big hastle cathing the fish amongs all the LR in the tank.

 

[belothsurf]

Back off......let him relax. Be patient. Of course the fish is acting different, you just put him in a completely different atmosphere.FW dips are wrong, and completly uneeded in my opinion. Just give the little fella some time. Fresh water dips are useless, cept if you want to stress him out more.......

 

[mary]

No it is not useless. Euphoria, believe me I know how difficult it is to catch a fish. They are really stressed after being caught and you wonder if they won't get ich just from that, let alone dipping it is in fresh water. It still may. The dip has been successful for many, and not for others. I panic I have to admit and immediately add garlic. That is my tanks salvation. Doesn't work for everyone. I am panicking now because I have not seen my very healthy mandarin. Have so many pods and live stuff he can't have starved. Did a major cleaning of the tank and every time that is completed, fish disappear. Often show up two three days later. He has never been intimidated by that. Now I am going searching. Only five years old, could not have died. Leave your little fish alone now, and he should recupe.. Everyone on these forums has healed fish and lost fish. It is part of the learning experiance in this hobby. Did you check the disease forum? It is very helpful.

 

[euphoria]

Well today I looked at my fish again, and darn it, I noticed that my LMB has started to scratch its body on the sand again. It didn't do it for that whole day I did the FW dip, and only started doing it again while I watched it tonight. I'm so mad and disappointed AND very frustrated. I thought I did something good, but I guess it was useless.
I also noticed my pink anthias do it a few times, too. Damn it, am I gonna get my 2nd ich attack? I think tomorrow I"ll start feeding them not just w/ garlic extract, but also w/ metro. I have great water parameters, great filtration, and a UV sterilizer, yet can't seem to keep my fish ich free. I really hope they fight it off, cuz if this time I get my 2nd ich outbreak and lose my fish, I'm through w/ this hobby

 

[mary]

Please check out the disease forum and ask about uv sterilizers. The water in the ocean does not have a sterilizer. How do you keep the good bacteria in your tank that fish need for their skin ? they also need to rub coral slime on their bodies from time to time. You did not establish whether you have live rock? Of course. sterilizers would defeat the reason one uses live rock, for all the good bacteria. I can not help you with a tank useing one, Just don't have the expertise. Sorry. Ask Beth by the way, on the disease forum. And let let know what you have in the tank. From rock to fish. Ok?

 

[euphoria]

I do have LR and LS, bunch of corals, 6 fish, and inverts, including a sandsifter star that I think wiped out my pod population. Before that I had lots of pods even when I was running the UV sterilizer.

 

[mary]

Wow, what kind of sandsifter star? I thought aquarium stars only ate micro algeas. Shows what I don't know.