Urgent help with White substance oozing out of holes on Datnoids face

[Essaf Victor]

Hello,

so I have had my 5-6 inch indo dat for about 2 and a half years he recently developed a few holes that ooze a white substance on his face

water quality is good he’s in a 600 gallon tank with a drip system

he is currently still eating and acting normally

all other tank mates are okay no signs of anything

really don’t wanna loose him it’s seems like lateral line disease/hole in the head which too my knowledge are kinda untreatable/very hard to treat

hes in a 600 gallon tank so pretty hard to treat the whole tank specially that it has rays in it

so don’t know what to doif and how to treat for this or ride it out with good water quality and patience

regards,
Essaf

 

[Midwater]

What temperature is your water? What do you feed your dat? Is he stressed, what other tank mates are there?

 

[deeda]

Have you tested your tank water, if so please post the test results as it may be related.

 

[tiger15]

Your fish has hole in the head disease. The white substance oozing out is leakage of cranial fluid from openings. There is debate on what caused and how to cure HITH disease which becomes obvious when the fish grows large.

 

[kno4te]

Looks like the beginnings of datnoid disease. Treated the past with salt, water, changes, and pimafix/melafix. Can separate and quarantine for now. Treat with salt and water changes. If not better then consider ancriflavin and ParaGaurd. Make sure it’s eating and water quality is pristine. Best of luck!

 

[Essaf Victor]

Temp is at 28 degrees c
The parameters haven’t tested them but will send a sample to the store to check

don’t really test because this is an established system that has been running for 6+ years

fish is currently eating and acting fine no stress what so ever no bullies he’s the boss of the tank

but I have seen how HITH works slowly kills the fish so I don’t think ima ride it out with good water quality this time as this never worked in the past with bass and flowerhorns

so I think I will go the medication route with salt pimafix and melafix only issue with that is it’s addition stress on the fish but I hope he handles it

also what’s the recommended salt dosage in this case

and as for diet this is what I personally think is the primary suspect for HITH in captive fish

I used to feed primarily market prawns/shrimp but phased that out about a year ago because of the high thiamine content which I suspected was the cause of HITH in my previous pair if peacock bass and a couple of bichirs after years of living a healthy life

after that I switched to primarily a diet of tilapia filets which would be a closer diet to what most of these fish eat in the wild ie freshwater cichlids and that went on great up until now

Hekari pellets are offered almost daily for the rays but the datnoids never eats them

and super worms occasionally for the Arowana and the datnoid ate some of those today too

but that’s the first time he does it so before that his diet consisted of almost 100% tilapia filets this past year and an mix of shrimp and tilapia before that

 

[Midwater]

I used to feed primarily market prawns/shrimp but phased that out about a year ago because of the high thiamine content which I suspected was the cause of HITH in my previous pair if peacock bass and a couple of bichirs after years of living a healthy life

after that I switched to primarily a diet of tilapia filets which would be a closer diet to what most of these fish eat in the wild ie freshwater cichlids and that went on great up until now

I feed mine on ghost shrimp and tilapia fry. I know shrimp is relatively high in thiaminase, but it is a natural food of dats. Tilapia maybe low in thiaminase, but come from a completely different continent. What is natural for dats is to get a variety in their diet. And I think live food is important too.

What your dat has may look like HITH, but I am not sure. Dats are not cichlids.

Looks like the beginnings of datnoid disease.

Yes, dats have their own diseases.

I would go careful on the salt. Dats come from freshwater only. I would keep doing lots of small water changes. Is there any driftwood or similar that he can blend in with? Being in the open can stress dats.

 

[kno4te]

Salt, 1 tsp per g. If concerns for tolerance then add in portions till total is filled per tank size.

 

[Caveden]

Salt, 1 tsp per g. If concerns for tolerance then add in portions till total is filled per tank size.

Datnoids appreciate and tolerate a higher amount of salt concentration, I’m thinking 2tsp per gallon would be better? Just my thinking.

 

[Chosoni1]

Were you able to notice if it started with white pimples? I recently got through this myself. My NTT started with pimples that ended up having lesions similar to the ones in your photo. The fish eventually lost his appetite. I treated with salt, Para Guard and was able to save the fish. Lesions and pimples are gone and the fish is eating well again. It was a long treatment of 3 weeks. Good luck!