Fish rubbing on rocks - possible indigestion?

Question
Greetings Karen,

You helped me last week with an Ich question (mine was the aquarium with the crayfish).... Several of my fish were rubbing on rocks - only one fish has a white spot on his tail. I did treat for ich (used No-Ich by Fish Vet last week - saw no change) and ordered Ich Attack and Ich Prevent from Kordons/Novalek. No other fish developed white spots - but the tinfoil barb still has his spot (after more than two weeks). I have decided the tinfoil's spot is not Ich (it should have dropped off by now if it was). I am using the Ich Prevent now just as a precaution (just gave one dose yesterday).

I have decided after more reading and several searches that the fish that were rubbing on rocks may have had indigestion. They were all "greedy eaters" (as one site called it). The rubbing on rocks also coincided with the introduction of frozen fish foods (which they LOVE!). I have not fed them any frozen foods for four days and the rubbing on rocks has stopped. I do intend to use up the frozen foods - and will watch to see if the rock rubbing starts up again.

Thanks again for your help.

Judy

Answer
Hi Judy,
It would seem rather odd for your tinfoil barb to still have the spot if it truly was ich. So possibly it is not ich.

Fish usually go crazy over frozen foods. One thought just occurred to me. If they improved after not having frozen foods for four days it could be either the indigestion that you mentioned or possibly the frozen foods caused some water quality issue to occur since the water can get really dirty quickly from frozen foods. It sort of goes everywhere whenever I feed frozen foods and it will usually cloud the water with particles. I just thought it might be a possibility that it causes the water to be dirtier and could be causing them to rub. You could test your water for ammonia, nitrites or nitrates just in case. Of course it could be that they just eat so much that it is causing them some discomfort. See what happens when you start feeding them again.
Best of luck,
Karen