Groupers scraping againist Rocks its not ick what is it?

[Snapper66]

I have a M .Grouper and a small Blueline grouper in a Tank and they keep scraping againist the Rocks and sand Bed.There is no ick in there I Fresh Water Dipped them several Days ago for three minutes but they Are still scraping Againist things in the Tank. I Thought it might be Skin Flukes but I am not sure any Ideas anyone.The Groupers are eating well no problems in that area.

[LisaD]

when you say there is no ich in there, do you mean you can't see any spots on them? there are other parasites that could cause scraping. can you put them in a hospital tank and treat? I doubt if dips will give you anything more than temporary relief. how big are the fish? they may be in distress because of parasites on the gills, which could be early stages of ich or oodinium.

you might want to examine them closely --
skin: http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/fish_dis...disorders.html
gills:
http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/fish_dis...disorders.html

[Snapper66]

No LisaD I dont see any spots they have been scraping againist Rocks for Three weeks now.One Grouper is 5 inches and the other about 4 inches.A fresh water dipped helped for a Few Days I have concern for them Thank you for your help.

[LisaD]

have you tested water parameters to be sure they aren't suffering from ammonia or nitrite in the tank? it is unlikely to cause scratching, but always worth it to look at water quality and make sure it is as good as you can get it.

do you have any inverts or corals in your tank? I hate to treat displays, but if the fish are too big to QT and treat while you let your display lie fallow a few weeks, you could dose with formalin. that is probably going to be the medication most universally effective on parasites. I have done this in my big tank when I felt I had no choice. I actually leave a big hermit in there are my "canary in a coal mine". I have been able to dose the tank with formalin without affecting the hermit (who was collected out of pretty polluted waters, and must be tolerant).

you could also try Paraguard from SeaChem. I don't have a lot of experience with it, but my LFS swears by it and uses it to treat new fish. There's a lot of snake oil and false claims with fish meds, but SeaChem is a pretty good company, IMO.

SeaChem ParaGuard ™ is the only fish and filter safe aldehyde based (10% by weight) parasite control product available. Unlike highly toxic and difficult to use formalin based medications, ParaGuard™ contains no formaldehyde or methanol and will not alter pH. ParaGuard™ employs a proprietary, synergistic blend of aldehydes, malachite green, and fish protective polymers that effectively and efficiently eradicates many ectoparasites (e.g. ich, etc.) and external fungal/bacterial/viral lesions (e.g., fin rot). It is particularly useful in hospital and receiving tanks for new fish and whenever new fish are introduced to a community tank. A 100 mL bottle treats 200 gallons. Marine and freshwater use.

something else I have done with an outbreak of oodinium:

-I treated the tank with Quinine Sulfate (doesn't kill the biofilter)
-Removed sickest fish (most okay) daily for 1 hour formalin bath
-kept up this treatment for two weeks
-no losses - the sickest fish (dogface puffer) was really bad, I'm proud of how well it did after treatment

the formalin gave the fish enough relief to survive while the quinine sulfate took time to work on the tank.