PLEASE HELP! Suspected HITH and something else?

[HornBee]

Hi guys,

I've had my Oscar for ~5yrs, and until now he has had a pretty trouble-free existence. That is of course until I renovated my apartment over the Xmas period. During the renovation my tank was almost entirely inaccessible other than a little bit of room to drop his food in through the top. As a result, his water didn't get changed for probably 5 weeks (thereabouts). I would usually perform a 50% water change every couple of weeks (and have done for years), so in an effort to reduce the amount of waste build-up in his tank I reduced his feeding to one small serving of pellets every couple of days.

Everything seemed to be going fine until I gained proper access to the tank again. It was at this time I noticed some strange stripy white lines of fuzz over his tail and dorsal fin, and the very beginnings of what appeared to be hole in the head disease. In my rush to correct the tank I didn't take preliminary water parameter readings. I did an ~80% water change, used a water de-chlorinator, dosed the tank with Melafix and crossed my fingers. I gave it a few days and noticed that there was only minimal improvement, and that I had foolishly forgotten to remove the activated charcoal from the filter (face palm) which had probably neutralized any medication in the water.

That weekend I performed another large water change, removed the charcoal in the filter and dosed the tank with Melafix, Pimafix and the water de-chlorinator. The water parameters before I did this water change were as follows:

Ammonia - 0MG/L
PH - 7.6
Nitrite - 0MG/L
Nitrate - 10MG/L

The furry tiger stripes seemed to get a fair bit better over the next couple of days, but the HITH seemed to be getting worse!? To make things worse, the furry stripes came back with a vengeance a day or two after that too!? So, I did the only thing I knew to do: I performed another large water change, and dosed the tank with Melafix, Pimafix and the water de-chlorinator. water parameters before I did this water change were as follows:

Ammonia - 0MG/L
PH - 7.8
Nitrite - 0MG/L
Nitrate - ~20MG/L (the colour in the tube was somewhere between the 10MG/L and 20MG/L markers on the test card)

Since then the white stripes seem to be getting better, then getting worse in a weird cycle, and the HITH seems to be slowly getting worse. I seriously have no idea what to do? I read that adding some aquarium salt to the water may help, but I'm not sure how much difference it will make?

Tank details are as follows:

Dimensions: 120(W)x50(H)x42(D)
Water Capacity - ~250L
Filtration - built in biological wet/dry filter with power head
Water change schedule - normally 50% every couple of weeks
Tank mates - two goldfish (the one and only time I tried using goldfish as feeders, and he ended up keeping them as friends!?)

I am truly at a loss for what I should do now??

Here are some pics of the damage from a of weeks ago when I started treatment:

drive.google.com/file/d/1GCUoag2hNTLyRfc...VUA/view?usp=sharing

drive.google.com/file/d/18XqNcuidRflYqe3...VbA/view?usp=sharing

And some pics from yesterday:

drive.google.com/file/d/19fbSRlqs0RPTUT_...DPA/view?usp=sharing

drive.google.com/file/d/189oVVTCBf7uMCaA...F9w/view?usp=sharing

EDIT: I should probably mention that I've been running this tank and filter set up since I upgraded from a 90cm tank over 18 months ago without an issue.

 

[Skalper666]

The hole in the head will go away with lots of water changes in time. Main worry is the fungus. Try a different medication to treat fungus besides melafix/pimafix since that isn't working for ya.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

melafix and pimafix are not even worth your time. Treat with Paraguard or methylene blue. mela and pima are just all natural oils that, while they may have some antifungal and bacterial properties, are not effective at all.

as already stated, keep up water changes, perfect params at all times, and the HITH will go away.

 

[Skalper666]

I know a lot of members swear by melafix/pimafix, but when I have tried them over the years, I had no luck with them. Seems like hippy juice to me lol.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

I know a lot of members swear by melafix/pimafix, but when I have tried them over the years, I had no luck with them. Seems like hippy juice to me lol.

exactly what it is, garbage.

 

[pops]

melifix and pimafix, will cure nothing, they are preventative. use before a problem, like your fish hurts himself. of no use after the fact.

pristine water as stated is the cure for HITH, it takes a long time exposure to get and takes quite some time to cure. But is plenty curable.
On a side note with MB, if you choose to use it, use it in a bath, do not add to your tank, it can wipe out your bio filter. i have not heard of it being effective against HITH.

 

[RD.]

Laboratory Evaluation of Safety and Efficacy for Melafix (Melaleuca cajuputi Extract)

http://www.exoticpetmedicine.com/article/S1557-5063(15)00026-9/abstract

Until some in vivo studies prove otherwise, I'm going to have to agree with the others - pretty much a waste of money. If your O is still eating, feed it Epsom soaked pellets. See my sticky on Spironucleus vortens. Make sure to treat for the fungus as well. Good luck.

 

[RD.]

You might also want to read this:

http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/hith-revisited.650466/

 

[xraycer]

Seems like hippy juice to me

I'm gonna start using this one LOL

 

[HornBee]

Thanks to everyone for the help. After a series of water changes it looks like the tank parameters are back to where they should be. I have added salt to the water (which is replenished as required during the water changes) and changed the medication to treat the fungus. I will report back with the progress.