racoon scratching

[sfsalty]

hi all,
i posted this on the main board but got little response.

i have a racoon in a quarantine tank. it went through hypo for 30 days at 1.009 b/c i saw it scratch and had white spots on it (misdiagnosed as ick but it was too late to go back). as i have raised the salinity over the last few weeks, i have seen it scratch itself against the pvc on its side (both right and left). though i can't recall, i believe it still scratched itself occasionally during the hypo. it is always the gill or mouth area. i can't tell. it does it in spurts. i have seen him scratch 4-5 time spurts three times in the last 24 hour period. i can't tell if i notice more b/c i am watching him more. the fish is eating well and there are no explicit signs of disease other than this scratching.

what makes a fish scratch?

thanks for any help.

[billsreef]

What makes you scratch? It actually can be that simple. However scratching 4-5 times on one occasion several times in a day does make me think there could be more to it. If you want to rule out the possibility of a minor protozoan infection, then either formalin baths or copper usually knock out most ammyloodinium like protozoans.

[sfsalty]

how long of a bath would you recommend for a b/f? are they extra sensitive at all? i will try formallin today. and should i do a series of baths or just one. and should the fish go right back into a already infected q-tank?

thanks.

[Edited by sfsalty on 04-13-2001 at 01:30 AM]

[sfsalty]

hi,
Marty M on the other board said it might be some gill fluke and that copper is the way to go. i have never used copper so i am hesitant and unclear what the treatment plan is. also, i do not see the rapid gilling or shuddering (though i think the fish may have shuddered about a month ago) Marty M said would be a clue. i am not sure what to do. please advise.

thanks.

larry

[billsreef]

Most flukes that I have come across usually can be treated by the same hyposalinity method as used for ick. It is possible that you came across a brackish fluke that is resistant to such methods, but not likely.

In either case the use of formalin or copper would also work.

For formalin a closely monitored 1 hour bath repeated daily for a week will kill most parasites. Do a search on formalin, there are more detailed directions on an earlier thread.

For copper I prefer sea chems cuprimine. Again a search will yield greater detail.

Sorry for the short answers, I'm on the way out the door and running late of course ;)