Scratching Niger

[azeritis]

I just noticed today my niger scratching against a rock. I recently (2 weeks) added a panther grouper (2 inches) who was in qt for a couple of weeks. He has no signs of ich, and he only scratched a few times.
I moved him him to the qt just a while ago.
The questions now....
Is there a chance that the fish is scratching without having ich?
Is there a chance that the other fish in the display tank will not get infected with ich?
Should I move all my fish in the qt? I thing it is too small to accomodate all of them for the period needed to perform hyposalinity.
Thanks....

 

[beth]

Lets see what develops. Keep a close eye out. If it is ich, yes, all fish will need to be treated. What type of tank do you have?

 

[azeritis]

Don't understand exactly what you mean by type of tank....I have plenty of live rock, some mushrooms, a Cauliflower coral, I recently discovered 2 crabs... Hyposalinity in the display tank is going to harm the LR, isn't that right? How do I treat all of them if it is ich?

 

[azeritis]

Water Params: Am 0 Nit 0 Nitrate 20-30 ppm pH 8.2 temp 26 C Sg 1.024
Niger's behavior was normal (breathing, swiming, eating), and no other fish show any signs of spots, scratching etc.
He scratched against a rock once (at least that was what I saw) 2 days ago, and once yesterday.
The first time he scratched only one side once, while yesterday he did it a few times each side.
I watch the tank for several minutes if not hours each day. The tank is in my computer room where I spend a lot of time.
Since I put him in qt he has been acting nornally, no scratching, hard breathing, swiming normaly, eating ok.

 

[azeritis]

The fish eat fresh squid, kalamari, shrimp, as well as a variety of prepared foods like dried krill, pellets, etc. I usually soak the died food in garlic that I make myself, since I cannot find any ready extracts in the lfs in Greece.
I have had these fish for a few months.

 

[beth]

Keep him in the QT to see what develops. Or you could go ahead a perform a hyposalinity treatment on him. However, if it is ich, all the fish should be treated, as ich is highly contagious. Keep up the garlic soaked food feedings.