Blue Tang

[Toshas79]

Hey

My blue tang is continuously scratching one side of his body to rocks. Now he has nasty scratch marks very close to his left eye and along the body. What can causes this behavior?
And fish eats a lot . don't have ich, and in general looks very healthy.

Thanks

 

[Jerry W]

Scratching behavior is often indicative of parasites. The fish is being irriatated by something. The scratches can also make the fish vulnerable to bacterial infections. Do you have a quarantine tank you can use?

 

[paulamrein]

There could be parasites on a fish without any visual signs. Scratching or flashing is a sure sign of something, if it is done to the extreme you are describing the tang probably has something whether ich or marine velvet or a list of parasites. Jerry W also mentioned secondary infections which will be a real possibility. Tangs in general are very prone to such things and if I were a betting man, your fish has something. The trick is, to properly id once it rears it's ugly head. On a side note, any other fish will have it too, and a full QT of all fish will be needed to eradicate the problem. Treating one fish only to release it back into the DT will just re-infest the fish.