I have a red pike cichlid about 6" with hole in the head. I don't know what to do. He and my other fish came down with ich, and I started doing 20% water changes every two days, using the recomended amount of jungle products ich guard, and 1 tablespoon/ 5 gal. of aquarium salt. It took about a week for the ich to clear but it did. My pike with a fairly bad case of hole in the head, started showing miraculus signs of recovery. Once the ich was gone, I quit using the ich guard, and simply went to doing a 20% water change every two days with the salt. The sores haven't gotten any worse (thank god), but they haven't gotten any better since either. Do I start using the ich guard again? I had tried melafix for about a month and it didn't do anything except keep it from getting worse. Oh! The other thing I did do was change their diet from strictly krill and feeder fish, to cichlid sticks and earth worms, because some web site said that lack of vitamins caused it, and that was about the time I did notice a change, so I've stuck with it. I'm really not sure what to do now. If I can get this to clear up, I'm expecting some significant scaring, but I don't care as long as my little buddy is strong healthy and happy. Thanks for the help guys.
Hole in the head!!! HELP
- Thread starter stevebussard
- Start date
You should probably get him a QT tank, and find a medication that is for the Hexamita. Although poor water quality and lack of nutrition can cause the Hex virus to become worse, and manifest itself, you will have to treat the virus itself.. It's very common in fish that eat other fish, as well as common for those fish that don't get a balanced diet.. Even Preds need their veggies..
I recently had a pike with hole in the head.. I got some 'Anti-Parasite' pellets that they sell at PetSmart, which specifically treat Hexamita (Hex meds can be hard to find these days).. I put him in a 10g QT tank with a PVC tube for shelter, with a sponge filter and daily 50% water changes.. I didn't let him eat for a few days, so he was nice and hungry, then he was ready to accept the medicated pellets. He cleared up in a few weeks. You could also try soaking your food in a garlic based medication (Garlic Guard/Garlic Xtreme/Garlic Extract), as it is a natural remedy for internal parasites and diseases.. I am not sure how effective it will be against the Hex itself, but the garlic can prevent against other things... It is also used as a hunger enticer, which will make it easier for you to get the pike to eat a variety of things, including medicated pellets.
Hope that helps!
Miles
I recently had a pike with hole in the head.. I got some 'Anti-Parasite' pellets that they sell at PetSmart, which specifically treat Hexamita (Hex meds can be hard to find these days).. I put him in a 10g QT tank with a PVC tube for shelter, with a sponge filter and daily 50% water changes.. I didn't let him eat for a few days, so he was nice and hungry, then he was ready to accept the medicated pellets. He cleared up in a few weeks. You could also try soaking your food in a garlic based medication (Garlic Guard/Garlic Xtreme/Garlic Extract), as it is a natural remedy for internal parasites and diseases.. I am not sure how effective it will be against the Hex itself, but the garlic can prevent against other things... It is also used as a hunger enticer, which will make it easier for you to get the pike to eat a variety of things, including medicated pellets.
Hope that helps!
Miles
I agree with the earlier advice. The best thing I've found for hole-in-the-head is a more varied diet and frequent water changes until it clears up. I've rotated frozen peas, crickets, bloodworms, and cichlid pellets with oscars in this condition, and had them recover very well. (It's also fun to see just how many frozen peas they can stuff in their mouths.) 
Keep in mind that your fish will most likely have the scars forever, though. A good antibacterial medicine would be beneficial as well.
Keep in mind that your fish will most likely have the scars forever, though. A good antibacterial medicine would be beneficial as well.Thanks a lot, I didn't think about basically starving him to get him to eat the medicated pellets. That was the biggest problem I've been having with switching his diet. The other fish love the new food, but all he will eat are the worms, I'll have to try puting him in the 10 gallon and try getting him nice and hungry. Eventually he has to eat... rite???
hole in the head is generally caused by a unicellular parisite called hexaminta (a or ia whatever).
the best drug for it is metronidazole, flagyl, which you can put in the water,
dosing antibiotics is best done in feed though. the reason you have to starve the fish to get them to eat the jungle labs product is that it tastes like crap
I'm thinking about mixing up a batch to have on hand metronnidazole is avialable at the pet store, get the powdered form and sprinkele it over some beef heart that's been flattened out/ this is a girly thing but none of my fish get blackworms anymore since i found leaches in the worms. oh well but if you feed blackworms youcould soak them in it until tey soak it up
Apparently, this parasite is present in 99% of fish normally and outbreaks are seen during stress
the best drug for it is metronidazole, flagyl, which you can put in the water,
dosing antibiotics is best done in feed though. the reason you have to starve the fish to get them to eat the jungle labs product is that it tastes like crap
I'm thinking about mixing up a batch to have on hand metronnidazole is avialable at the pet store, get the powdered form and sprinkele it over some beef heart that's been flattened out/ this is a girly thing but none of my fish get blackworms anymore since i found leaches in the worms. oh well but if you feed blackworms youcould soak them in it until tey soak it up
Apparently, this parasite is present in 99% of fish normally and outbreaks are seen during stress
oh i forgot there are some awesome books on fish health and disease avialable throughamazon.com they might be around $50 though
Wowie DW..
Thanks for the more thorough information, I will remember all that!
Didn't even think about Metro, but yeah, it does kill most internal parasites.. I have been making a 'Metro Paste' and injecting worms with a syringe.. The pike should eat that up, no problem..
Thanks for the more thorough information, I will remember all that!
Didn't even think about Metro, but yeah, it does kill most internal parasites.. I have been making a 'Metro Paste' and injecting worms with a syringe.. The pike should eat that up, no problem..
Thanks a lot for the help. Good information doing searches on the internet is so varried from site to site that I wasn't sure what to believe. I knew more than likely it was a malnutrition problem since I was doing a water change every few days to begin with, but vitamin k is what does it huh? I read somewhere vitamin c, and another said vitamin b, I figured get whatever I could with a bunch of different vitamins in it, lol. Unfortunatly my local pet store is fairly useless for getting any kind of medications, since I kind of live in the boonies. It'll be a week or so probably before I'll even get a chance to go to a decent pet store, but I'm sure he'll be fine until then if I just keep doing what I'm doing. I've found medacine tablets on ebay that was metronidazole. Should I try getting that? I contacted the person selling it and he said he guarantees that it will clear it up, with significant scaring of course.
Well, I haven't been able to get anything yet, but he is doing incredibly well. I had to leave town for a couple days for a funeral, and I had my buddy come feed the fish. When I got home his face was almost completely closed up. I know he didn't turn the lights on, and he didn't have any problems getting him to eat the healthier food. I was thinking it was the food for sure, but is it possible it was a lack of light that helped as well?
