In need of some help/advice.

[HeWhoWalksBehindTheRows]

I'm new to setting up Aquariums so I'm not sure what's going on here.
I have a 10 gallon tank set up. It has an Aqua-Tech Bio Filter [ 5-15 Model.]
And I also have an Aquarium heater installed that is set to about 78 degrees.
I have the following fish/inverts in the tank....
Two Barbs...One Regular Tin-Foil Barb and One Gold Tin-Foil Barb.
One African Cichilid.
One Small Crayfish.
Two Mystery Snails.

And here is the problem I am having...the tank has been set up for about a month and I believe a few of my fish have some sort of sickness/fungus.
There are spots on their bodies,dull spots that look as if the scales have been rubbed away or something of that nature. This is mostly only true for the Barbs,because I think the Cichilid may not have it or I'm not seeing it on him since he's a lighter color.
But anyways these spots are showing up on both Barbs and also the top fin on the Gold Tin-Foil Barb seems a bit ragged. These are beautiful fish so I really want to do my best to find out what the problem is and get it taken care of. Sometimes they'll rub the sides of their bodies agaist the gravel or one of the snail's shells as if to "scratch" the fungus or spots or whatever they are. I have done some research on ICH and I'm not sure rather or not this is the ailment they have. Any advice what be much appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

[nanaglen2001]

You say you have a crayfish in that tank??

Maybe those dull spots on your fish are some infected injuries, the crayfish inflicted on them, while trying to catch them.

Some crayfish catch fish and eat them of course.

[Lady Hobbs]

It sounds to me as your fish have ick. Check them closely to see if you see tiny salt-like white spots on them. You can generally see it easier on the tail fin pretty easily. If so, you need to treat with meds.

You have an odd combination of fish there. You have community fish mixed in with a cichlid. And a crayfish.

Barbs can be pretty bad as fin nippers and that's where you may be seeing ragged fins on one of your fish.

Ick is common (as well as fungus) on fish that have been used to cycle a tank. Their immune system is down and they have been weakened from going thru the stress of cycling.

[RobbieG]

It's most likely ICH - you will need to be careful picking a med many of the meds available are bad for Inverts and some fish. Make sure you read the package carefully if you choose to use meds. This site also has some good info on it

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[genitor]

Be careful, tinfoil barbs grow to about 14 inches so if you aren't planning on getting a bigger tank you should return them. Also is your tank cycled? What's your water parameters? This info. will help us to be better able to diagnose the problem. A pic of the infected fish might also help. The rubbing is called flashing. Got this info from a website:

Scratching or Flashing-Fish that flash and scratch will do this if they have flukes or most any parasite. They do this to try to remove them from their bodies. Parasites will damage the skin, opening it to infection. The other thing is the fish will do their own damage to the skin when they flash so you need to treat this immediately. Water changes are important because water quality can cause flashing. A large water change can sometimes cause flashing as the fish is adapting to the different pH level. Chlorine or other metals can cause this as well. Using a dechlorinator helps a lot with this.

[puddlekeeper]

African Cichlid? They tend to be fairly agressive towards other fish.

[zackish]

diseases and problems all aside.... that is WAAAAAYYYY!!! to many fish for that tank. Tinfoil barbs shouldn't even be in there let alone several ciclids.

[sergo]

i hate to say this but you really need to take a real close look at what you have in your tank and really need to think about restocking it with fish that are more compatible. check out this link...
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