Wild itching

I have one Cherry Barb in particular that has gone on a rampant itching craze. I see no fuzz, no spots, no sores. He does not gasp, he is very active, sparring with the other male barb, chasing the women.. eating normal.. he has a slightly ragged dorsal fin. I consider my tank to be clean and healthy. Ammonia is always a stable 0, nitrite is always a stable 0, nitrates average 20.. rarely exceeding 30.. I do 50% water changes with vacuuming once a week, with an ocassional 20% mid week. Once in a great while, one of the other barbs will itch, but that is a random occurance. My PH hangs between 7 and 8, and I have relatively hard water. My loaches have never displayed itching at any time.

My barbs have randomly itched since I acquired them 9 months ago. And currently this one specific young male has gone nuts. He has always been a litte pistol, challenging the dominant male, sparring, and dancing, with a tail chase. He turns so red, he is nearly black when he gets wild wth his manhood.

His fins are never clamped, and otherwise appears to be a normal bratty little boy, even though he has his itching spells.

Does this normally happen straight after a water change? this type of itching and flicking after a water change can be either too much dechlorinator or not enough. Too much can irritate the fish, too little can allow the chlorine to remove some of the protective stress coat, it affects some fish more than others.

Hmmm, odd :S A lot of the time itching and flashing can be down to ammonia.
Have you changed your water conditioner at all recently? Or any signs of external parasites?

I see no external parasites, and have used Kordon NovAqua for a year, now.

Sounds silly check the dosage amount just in case its now stronger or weaker than the ones you have used before.

Today, I haven't seen him itch at all.. I did that big water change yesterday, and by late evening the itching was less with him. I wonder if the high nitrates irritate him to a point..

Nitrates are only harmful in high quantities 20ppm is considered "safe" but some fish are affected by it, my fliers in particular must have a tank with 0 ammonia, nitrite and nitrate else they are gasping at the surface with as little as 10ppm nitrate!.

Is he actually "bouncing" off decor and the bottom, or is he more "flashing" it might be breeding behaviour, I would have to look that up though as its been a few years since I had cherry barbs.

I don't consider it bouncing.. rarely did he do it on the gravel. Mostly the power chord to the heater, the pick up tube to the filter, the terra cotta cave I made... sometimes on the mopani log... its usually only when he is sparring the other male in his breeding colors, and chasing the women around the tank.

hmmmm it might be something to do with breeding dispay, I will have a think and a google see what I can come up with

I've read that it can occasionally be down to displaying, although flukes and parasites are more likely.
Although if they all appear healthy then I guess it is him showing off?

How's he doing now Lady?

He went a whole day Saturday, no flashing, Sunday he flashed a few times.. he is always showing off to the other male. Fin and tail is still tattered, but he is never clamped.. always showing off and chasing the women. As soon as I walk up to the tank, he greets me, and stops flashing. None of the other Barbs display flashing. My loaches never itch. He has done this every since I got him home, I would think if he has health issues, the whole tank would have been wiped out by now. I have had him for 8 months, I would say. I think I worry too much. It almost looks like he is marking territory. He is a young fish, but has grown quite a bit since I got him. He is a little trouble maker. Seems happy go lucky in life. Maybe I can shoot a video of him. My cell phone has issues uploading videos, but with persistance maybe I can get one done.

If he has been doing it that long then I doubt its something serious, maybe he just likes doing it??? fish are strange creatures lol