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What does it mean when ur fish rub against rocks and sand? My dempsey and jewel cichlids do this once and a while and i have never seen any other fish do this. Might there b some kinda sickness in my tank or is this normal?

How would you scratch if you had an itch and no hands? Fish do this occasionally if they have an itch. If it's more frequently/ constantly then there would be something to worry about.

James

Hi highjinx,

Aside from the "itch" thing, a lot of Cichlids do this as territory marking behaviour, so if you are only seeing it occasionally I really wouldn't worry.

If it happens more than you feel comfortable with then try and take a good look and see if you can see any white spots on their fins that could signal an Ich outbreak. Parasites can cause that scratching behaviour, and Ich is the most common one you'll find. High Nitrates can also cause scratching behaviour so you'll want to double check you water params as well....

Good luck!
L.

Check the fish for white spots, tiny trailing white threads,raised blood vessels in the skin and fins, freyed edges to fins or reddened gills and small sores. If none of those are present its probably just an itchy fish

I have over 120 fish that all flick occasionally (probably a couple of times a day each) and most have never had a sick day in their lives. If your fish start flicking many times in an hour something might be up. Dont forget a lot of fish may get peripheral infections of whitespot etc , but never really succumb to it unless tank conditions take a dive or stress or other ailments set it off. A lot of bacteria and parasites are almost omnipresent in most aquaria . As long as the symptoms arent visible and the fish arent flicking often there usually isnt a problem.