Fish in hypo. How long before they stop scratching?

[sfsalty]

Hi,
I have my racoon with powder blue in quarantine due to ick. It has been about 10 days (1.009) and they still scratch, especially the racoon. The white spots are gone.

The racoon looks like it has two white areas (irregular shape, 1-2 mm one on each side) where he has slowly stripped away some scales due to scratching, I believe. These spots are in the black area near his gills. He is still eating well, but I am very concerned as now he has a whitish blotch on the clear part of his tail as well. What is this? Could the scratching be due to some other ailment? Gill flukes? And what should I do? Formalin dips if gill flukes? Wait?

Thanks,
Larry

[Terry B]

Larry.
There are several possibilities here. First, if your hydrometer isn't accurate (most are not) then the salinity may not be low enough. The blotchiness on the tail could indicate a secondary bacterial infection which is very common with parasitic infections. I would just make a water change and keep an eye on it. If it seems to be getting worse you will probably need to add an antibiotic. It is highly likely that the fish also have gill flukes. THis would explain why the fish strike at objects with thier gills. A series of three formalin dips is the best treatment for gill flukes. Please be careful how you use formalin, it is dangerous to you and your fish. It usually takes a week or ten days in hyposalinity for the spots to disapear. You will know the salinity is too high if the spots come back.
Terry B

[sfsalty]

i have a refractometer, so i am pretty sure it is accurate. as far as the formalin dips, i have done them before with great success. my question is do i need to dip the tang as well, since he is in the same quarantine tank? and is formalin ok, even though the racoon has scraped some of his scales off.

thanks,
larry