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I was adding a plant to my aquarium and one of my fish started smacking the gravel with his side Why2007-11-24 23:36:53

The fish is a black tetra. He did it about three times.

Answers:

Usually when a fish does that it is referred to as 'glancing', which basically means scratching. It can be caused by irritation, poor water, or parasites. But some fish do it occassionally without there being any problems. If it continues, check your water parameters.

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marking his territory, usually you are to add any new fish or plants at night when the lights are off to give the pecking order a chance to relocate. fish are very territorial

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I have many different fish and when we would add the plants to their aquarium, they would freak out alittle to. They just are trying to adapt to new stuff and more space taken away what he is trying to do is get rid of it but within time he will notice that its good for him and eventually leave it alone.

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I had a similar experience with female Betta fish. I put my arm in the tank ( I washed my arm first) to insert the new fake plants I just got into the gravel to make the tank look nice as well as to give hiding spots for the fish. 2 of them attacked me. they swam really fast at my arm while it was in the tank and side swiped their body's against my arm a few times. I was startled at first and was not sure what they were doing. but I continued. then they bombarded my hand & arm. I felt a kinf off wierd tickling on my arm. when I looked, those stupid fish were trying to bite the hairs of my arm while they still attempted to body slam me with the side of thier body as they raced up and hit me. I was so started by this action I called the pet store owner and asked him why they were doing that. he laughed then told me it was a territoral thing.

at least it was the gravel and not your arm. lol

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Most likely stressed them out a bit with you being in there. Keep an eye on them for the next 24/48 hours to see if they settle down. If not - you may need to remove the plant.

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When firh start scrapeing there sides against things in your tank it's usually the first sign that they are infected with a parasite IE. Ich . They do this to try and remove the parasite off of there body.