Scratching Fish

[steve...c]

its been well over 3months since ive added any thing to my tank and everything has been going great from the start, its been up and running for 6months, with no deaths and the plants growing well, now the last few days ive noticed a few fish scratching off the substrate and bog would, why and what is this please?

 

[Athena]

Have you checked your water stats to make sure there hasn't been an ammonia/nitrite spike? Even though your tank has been running well, spikes can still occur accidentally e.g. warmer temp + overfeeding can increase ammonia levels enough to affect some sensitive fish. Not saying that's exactly what's happened but just an example.

Flicking or scratching is usually a sign that the fish is suffering irritation of some sort - whether that be from water quality or parasitic causes (e.g. Ich, Flukes etc).

Any further symptoms since your last post?

Athena