# Gold Severum scrape face with decor till scale coming off



## kmthw2 (Feb 27, 2013)

Hello,

I have an oscar (3.5"), a texas(3"), a jack dempsey(2.5"), and a gold severum(<1.5") in 75gal tank with sand mixing with fine gravel substrate. My tank was sucessfully cycled by using fishless cycle for 2 weeks (using old filter media from my community tank) and has been running for about 2 months since then (so all my fishes are in this tank for 2 months now). Here are the parameters of my tank.
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
<10 nitrate
8-8.2 pH
I don't have water hardness test kit but I am sure that it is very hard.
temp 80F

I do 25% PWC every week or sometimes 2 times a week and I use Seachem Prime every time. I alternately feed them with Hikari Cichlid gold and excel, Freeze dried blood worm and brine shrimp, and also frozen bloodworm and brine shrimp. I feed them twice a day.

Since last week, I have noticed that gold severum scrape its face with substrate and decor (rocks, caves, flower pots) and today I found that a scale on its face coming off and its gill looks pretty red. I also notice that the other fishes start doing the same thing (scrape their face with decor).

There is no white spot on them and I don't see any parasite by bare eyes.

Oscar, Texas, and Jack Dempsey are very active and eating very well. However, Gold Severum likes to hide a lot and seems to be less active than the other but it comes out to eat every time.

Gold Severum never get bullied at all which I found myself very lucky. So I don't think it is under stress.

I really have no idea what is wrong with my Gold Severum. I have Seachem Paraguard, API Melafix, Pimafix, and also aquarium Salt in hand right now but not sure which one I should use or should I go get some other medication? Could you please help me?


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

gold severum does not belong with those fish. u may not see him being bullied, but its happening. the marks are from the others or from banging into thing while running away from others. the gold sevs i've had have always been very peaceful. i have also had the others u have listed and they are usually pretty nasty


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

While you are sorting out your stocking: keep the water quality up with more frequent partial water changes. Ideally you want to remove the severum while he heals, (so he can heal), as he is at risk of infection or disease. If you can't remove him/make stocking changes right away then give him some cover. One thing I've found helpful is to hang a large fake plant from the top. (MarineLand sells them). It provides a place to hide and also a visual barrier between the aggressed and the aggressor. 
Robin


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## kmthw2 (Feb 27, 2013)

Thank you for your suggestions.

I have a 5gal tank for quarantine and I can separate my Sev right away. However, my concern is, right now, not only Sev that scraping its face with decor, but also all other fishes. Should I do something about this? or should I just separate Sev to quarantine tank?

Thanks for your helps.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Fish scrape and rub and twitch--it's normal unless they are doing it excessively. Excessive is to the point of rubbing off scales, injury and if it's like every time you look in there they are doing it. You might also notice fish hanging in front of a strong current such as the filter spill. 
Try having a really close look at your fish. Take a flash light and aim it up/down at them from different angles to see if you can see any kind of film on them. Velvet is a parasite that appears like a talc-like coating on the the fish and maybe red, orangish or gray. It's not always easy to see. I remember someone here on the forum couldn't see the film until he took flash pictures of his fish--then it showed up quite well. 
Parasites wouldn't be the only thing iritating them. If the water is off in some way that will cause them to react. Even though your water tests good you might try doing daily or twice daily partial water changes of 30-40% --using a good quality dechlorinator for the next several days just to see if there's any improvement. It sounds like you did everything right in setting up the tank but newly set up tanks can be unstable and test kits aren't always accurate. After you do a few water changes watch to see if there's any improvement in your fish.

It still might be aggression--please get back to us with more info when you have it. And yes, since the severum seems the worst I would move him to the spare tank.

Robin


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## kmthw2 (Feb 27, 2013)

Thank you, Robin.

I will do as you suggested and will let you know any update.


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