HOLE IN THE HEAD + THIAMINASE - What you need to know!!!!!!

squint

Peacock Bass
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Oct 14, 2007
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I had HITH problems for about a decade. I tried just about everything. Nitrates were always low due to low stocking, not overfeeding, and large water changes. I treated for hexamita many times. Every once in awhile I would do a search of HITH discussions to see if there were any new ideas. I then read that it was perhaps the result of a calcium deficiency. I've always used RO water with baking soda to stabilize the pH. I also used Kent RO Right but not on a regular basis. I started using it regularly but didn't really see any results. Then I did more research and discovered that RO Right doesn't really have much calcium. I then started using Barr GH booster which definitely has calcium and magnesium and that did the trick. This also seemed to resolve the bloating problem some of my loaches had as well as sudden deaths after fighting.

So, look into calcium levels if you have soft water or water with low levels of calcium.
 

everlastace

Jack Dempsey
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Oct 15, 2011
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I know this is an old thread, but I have a question about the thiaminase. One thing I feed to my fish quite often is chunks of tilapia. I cut up a couple filets, then freeze the chunks and soak them in warm water before feeding them to my oscars, bichirs, and datnoid. The bichirs eat only the tilapia, the oscars eat tilapia and hikari gold, and the datnoid eats tipapia and live giant danios. Do any of these seem problematic?
 

RD.

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everlast ......... when fed exclusively, all frozen/fresh foods should be supplemented with vitamins such as Boyd Vitachem.


HITH is not just caused from poor water quality, or diet deficiencies. Many researchers have also associated it with hexamita/spironucleus.

While Miles posted about Hexamita being associated with HITH, some of his info is now outdated.

2) Hexamita

The internal form of Hexamita are flagellated protozoans found in the gastrointestinal tract of a wide variety of fishes. It is believed that malabsorption of minerals and vitamins from the intestine due to heavy concentrations the Hexamita parasite makes the fish become nutrient deficient. Important Vitamins such as Vitamin B1, Vitamin K, and Vitamin C will all be absorbed by internal parasites before the fish can properly use and distribute them. This leads to severe malnutrition.
That's partially correct, but when hexamita (typically Spironucleus vortens) become systemic they cause far greater damage than just malnourishment, and can eventually cause death in severe cases. Spiro is an intestinal flagellate, which is why Metronidazole is often recommended for treatment. Before you use metro, or any form of LFS medication, here's a MUCH safer, much cheaper, and IME much more effective non medicated approach to clearing up intestinal protozoa.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?339362-Treating-Hexamita-aka-Spironucleus


From the angelfish study linked to in the hex/spiro topic linked to above, near the end of the quote below the author states: The infected fishes showed reddening of the skin, and haemorrhages and ulcerations in the region of the head (Molnár, 1974).


In freshwater fish, Spironucleus sp. has been reported in cichlids, including angelfish, and cyprinids. Spironucleus elegans has been found causing disease in angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) in Europe (Kulda and Lom, 1964b), while Spironucleus vortens has been also reported from the intestinal lumen of angelfish bred in Florida (Poynton et al., 1995). They can be found in the intestinal tracts of healthy fish and they may invade the body of the host and are capable of causing severe parasitemia under stress conditions (Molnár, 1974).

Hexamita are considered commensal organisms but can be pathogenic under various stressful conditions such as nutritional inadequacies, suboptimal water quality, crowding, poor sanitation and infections from other pathogens or parasites (Specht et al., 1989; Uzmann et al., 1965)

Although Hexamita and Spironucleus cause disease in several economically important fish species in many regions of the world, their pathogenicity is not well known (Woo and Poynton, 1995). It has been believed that the effects and the severity of diplomonad infection are dependent on fish size, tissue site infested, environmental conditions, stocking density, season and stress factors (Allison, 1963; Buchmann and Uldal, 1996; Mo et al., 1990; Uldal and Buchmann, 1996). Fish infected with Hexamita salmonis exhibited clinical signs correlated to their body length and weight (Uldal and Buchmann, 1996). This supports the study of Allison (1963) that large trout, more than 3 or 4 inches long, showed a smaller effect from Hexamita infection than smaller trout.

It is believed that the organisms invade the intestinal epithelium and disseminate to other tissues when the host’s resistance has been suppressed (Woo and Poynton, 1995). It has been suggested that only Spironucleus spp. cause systemic infection because they can invade intestinal mucosa and disseminate to other tissues (Siddall et al., 1992). Evidence of systemic spironucleosis was reported in cyprinids and aquarium fishes (Molnár, 1974), and in salmonids (Mo et al., 1990; Poppe et al., 1992; Sterud et al., 1997).

It has been suggested that only Spironucleus spp. cause systemic infection because they can invade intestinal mucosa and disseminate to other tissues (Siddall et al., 1992). Evidence of systemic spironucleosis was reported in cyprinids and aquarium fishes (Molnár, 1974), and in salmonids (Mo et al., 1990; Poppe et al., 1992; Sterud et al., 1997). In cyprinids, many Spironucleus sp. were found in the gut where they caused reddening of the mucous membrane, brownish-gray discoloration and necrosis of liver, and haemorrhagic enteritis. In aquarium fishes, the parasite has been reported to cause losses in angelfish stock of up to 50% of the population. The infected fishes showed reddening of the skin, and haemorrhages and ulcerations in the region of the head (Molnár, 1974). The parasites were found in the gut, gallbladder and visceral organs. Spironucleus sp. were also found in large numbers in the blood and the muscle of infected fish."

Yes, water quality, especially in SA species can be a stress trigger, excessive stress leads to a lowered immune system which opens the door for protozoa to proliferate to excessive numbers. That's how HITH starts, no matter the trigger.

Having said that, water quality is not always the trigger, as an example read the following past discussion - and that fish (like many others here on MFK) was cured using the info that I supplied in the link above. (3% epsom salt solution)

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?486147-Hoga-With-HITH


HTH
 

kpax

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 6, 2013
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kelowna
I feed my tigerfish worms and I do 20 percent water change every other week is hole in the head something I need to worry about
 

tarrin8

Feeder Fish
Feb 14, 2015
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Canada
i am currently fighting hole in head with one of my parrots hopefully i can cure it , im trying with just water temp raised to 86 , think it could be from low nutrition in food , so how can i add more thiaminase to my fish diet?
 

kno4te

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Hole in the head needs meds and clean water/qt. Didnt see u mention that. Not sure if that's how ur treating it. May want to post it In another sub forum like freshwater disease section. The other thing is get vitachem and add to ur fish food by soaking.
 

tarrin8

Feeder Fish
Feb 14, 2015
3
0
6
Canada
am i going to have to quarantine the fish or would just adding vitachem to tank and food work ? i feel adding my parrot to a 10 gallon (my only spare tank) will probly stress it out and be worse for it
 
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