Help?

[DB2593]

Hi, i have a 142 litre fish tank, it has been running for nearly a year now and i have the correct set up (eg big enough filters and heaters and an air pump)
My tank set up contains of 4 male mollies, 7 female mollies, 3 male guppies, 6 female guppies, 2 dwarf gouramis and 2 opaline gouramis so its kind of at its limit as of the amount of fish i have in it.
i have noticed that most of the female guppies and most of the mollies have been itching their selfs on my filter and sand, i have tried anti white spot disease treatment but that has not worked, can anyone suggest anything?
All of my fish are very healthy and always have been (except the itching), i have done a water test with my home testing kit and it is all fine.
I am under the understanding it could be high amonia levels, if so how do i treat that? i have also been told it could be parasites and for me to take one of my fish in to be looked at under a microscope (i am hoping it is not parasites).
There is no visible signs of white spot or and sores on the fish so i am looking for advice on what to do, i have been performing a 20% water change every 3 days and still there is no change to the fish???

 

[CezzaXV]

You say you're of the understanding that it could be high ammonia levels, but have you tested to confirm this? You say you've tested and everything is fine, but still mention the possibility of high ammonia levels.

 

[MegaZerino]

i think they like slightly brackish water, maybe you could try adding some salt (i think thats how you make it). I know its a very unlikley reason but its worth a shot wether its the solution or not

 

[CezzaXV]

A Google search reveals that opaline gouramis might benefit from brackish water (though I know little to nothing about gouramis myself), but it's the guppies and mollies which are flicking, and these are freshwater fish.

 

[OldMan47]

Do a large water change and see if your "itching" action, we call it flashing, is relieved. If it is, you just need to step up your water change frequency to keep the water in better condition. Quite often flashing indicates a water quality problem, such as ammonia would be, but it can also indicate a parasite like ich is present. Have you replaced any of the filter pads and so forth in your filter recently? If you have, you may have lost a large part of your cycle. In that case, you will be doing lots of large water changes until the cycle is re-established.

 

[DB2593]

Thank you for your help, i did a 50% water change and stopped using the anti white spot treatment and the mollies and guppies have stopped itching and now the gouramis are itching on the odd occasion and i did a test for amonia levels and they are fine and when i do change my filter pads i do it in alternation so there is always good bactaria in the water. It could of been the general hardness of the water because i live in an area where the water is quite hard. And also i would add salt to the water but i have neons in there and apparently the salt is harmful to them.