What causes ick? My fish is hitting the sides of the tank.?

It is usually caused by poor water quality. Can you check you water parameters; ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH? The ammonia should be 0, the nitrites should be 0 and the nitrates should be less than 40 ppm and the PH should be around 6.8 to 7.6.

If it is ich, you should see what looks like little granules of salt all over his body. If you do see that he will need treated with a medication from your pet store that is made specifically for treating ich.

If you are not seeing the little white spots on him, the flashing and rubbing are most likely due to high ammonia. To remedy that you do a 50% water change and continue checking water parameters daily and doing 25% water changes daily until they read normal.

Have you tested the water? Often fish rub/flick against objects or the floor because of high Ammonia or Nitrite. It's always best to check the water first :)

If the Ammonia and Nitrite are fine then it could be parasites. Get a remedy from your local pet store. You'll need one that covers 'Higher Form Parasite' which should get rid of any external parasites which causes the itching (Ich/ick)

You can see this site: http://www.jbl.de/onlinehospitaluk/perpicture/inde... they have pictures of fish illnesses, match the pic to what is wrong with your fish (if it has parasites) then by clicking the pic it'll tell you about how to sort it :)

As for the upside down thing, it may have a swim bladder problem, but if it doesn't swim upside down all the time then it may again be some sort of parasite. I don't know much about that though, I only know bit about flicking as my fish have had problems with that in the past.

It will be best to speak to a local pet store, if you have two or three near you check them all for advice, everyone has their own idea about doing things, so it's best to get a few views :) Good luck hope the fish gets better soon ^^

if you see a white spot as big as salt grain all over his body or just a few, then it's ick.

usually a sudden change in temperature from warmer to colder will trigger ick. When they have ick raise the temperature a bit warmer, 79ish. When you change water make sure the water temperature is a tiny bit warmer than the tank water.

ich is caused by introduction of the parasite into the tank (by new fish, rarely plants or inverts)

I don`t know but ether he needs to go to fish rehab or he is dieing sorry