Needing some HITH help

Hi all. I'm having a problem right now with HITH in a 5-6 inch Synodontis eupterus. The tank he is in is around 6 months old (90 gallons), with no previous health issues (for tank or catfish).

I couldn't tell you how he got it. Nitrates have always been notably low, ammonia is always 0, I perform weekly water changes of 25%-50% possibly 75% at times. The tank is understocked and has sand, so whatever is there I clean. It has two AC 110s running but I want to switch to a canister. He is fed a mixed diet of NLS, Hikari carnivore, Hikari algae, and frozen food of a zillion varieties (brine shrimp/cyclops/mysis shrimp/plankton/bloodworms/some veggies/etc). Temp is at 81, raised it temporarily.

So what I did for treatment. I dosed Metro in the water with metro food, and have stopped the Metro food, now giving him NLS Thera+A because of the garlic. I do not see any white on his poo. He is acting normal and eating voraciously. I also have Vitachem. I had carbon in, and I took it out. Cleaning the filters will be next but I'm giving the tank a little bit of a break, because I've been doing WCs and obviously the metro for a bit.

Is there anything else I can do? The holes aren't actually growing anymore I don't think but they're not really showing signs of healing either. I have an arsenal of fish meds because I stocked up due to this winter being so bad, so if you suggest something for bacterial infections or secondary infections - I probably have it, and it's probably not open (thankfully).

But should I dose, and with what? Should I give him the metro food again? I don't want to put him on meds he doesn't need. I did metro because I noticed one case of white on his poop, but that has since ended by the looks of it.


I wish I could tell you why I think this happened, because the bottom of my tank is stocked with good foods (takes up 1/4 of my stand), my freezer has an entire shelf dedicated to fish food, I use Prime conditioner, water changes are better than my sleep schedule, etc.

Is there anything else I should do? Should I use VitaChem more often now? How often? Should I try a stronger med for the holes in case they're parasites?

Thanks in advance.

https://imageshack.com/i/ey9JEDbVj

In other words the holes will always be there or just scars? I just want to prevent secondary infection. That photo just about sums it up. Thanks for answering.

There's little pinhole dots around his eye. it's just above his eye in the form of a white little pimple and to the side.

They're hard to see but yes they are pitted and a bit like craters. The most noticeable in that picture is just above his eye. Tried to get a better one but I really don't want to stress him.

Will try to get you another if you'd like. Thanks again man, I love this fish.

I'm curious though what could have done it? The only possible causes I can think of are temp changes from a wc or carbon.

Aquanero said:

There are a number of things that could have triggered it. The key is prevention, regular water changes, gravel vacuuming, filter maintenance all combine to create a healthy environment. Another important factor is providing a low stress environment and a well balanced diet. If you want to post a clearer picture I'll take a closer look.

Click to expand...

Yup, see first post. Hence why I asked, because I am doing all of those.

Sure, will try to get one now.