Hole on the head

[ehh]

How high did your nitrates get at one time and were they there for a long time? Like said, all you need to do at this point is keep nitrates as low as possible. As long as they don't get much over 20ppm on day 7, this should clear up. The lower the better of course.

At their highest I measured them around 80 ppm. They were like that for probably 5 or 6ish months. In November is started to ramp the amount of water I was changing because I caught the nitrates super high like that but prior to that I hadn't tested the water since June or July. I've been doing water changes daily since Monday.
Even though I know I've messed up I'm happy I caught it "early".

 

[ehh]

The Hex Shield might be overkill, but better safe than sorry. It will remove any possible Hexamita/Spironucleus pathogens, and will assist the fish in a quick recovery. (feed twice a day for 3-5 days, no other food) The problem with nitrates is that dirty water equates to elevated levels of bacteria, which in this case was most likely the stress trigger that caused the HITH pits to develop. Lots of clean fresh water will be key in the recovery.

Thanks. I'll be banging out water changes for the next couple weeks. Hopefully I get this under control quickly.

 

[ehh]

Got my nitrates somewhere between 5 and 10 ppm. The hex shield should come in today. Hopefully I'm able to knock this out quickly.

 

[Frank Castle]

I still put a fair amount of blame on myself. Only thing different I've been doing is feeding him more krill. Thanks though lol.
He's a big ass fish in a little tank. Wishing I could upgrade him now more than ever.

Do you still have him in the 75g? I remember you saying you were getting ready to buy him a new tank maybe 6 months ago or so......there's a lot of good deals going on right now - Petsmart still offering 30% off on the 125g set-up afaik. Could also check Craig's list or stuff like that. Have you considered a DIY build-your-own?

Also, what's the filtration you're using for him?

 

[ehh]

I bought ick shield on accident. Then when I re ordered the hex shield, and received it today, I realized I accidentally ordered the 1mm pellets. Fml.
It's gonna have to do. The holes haven't grown and I haven't noticed new holes. So I guess that a good sign.

He's still in the 75. I've been talking about upgrading him for a long time. However, it's not going to happen until I graduate and move. I don't want to set up a 125 here and I don't want to have to move it for some time. I have a mega hook up at one of the lfs. It's not a money thing. I just don't want to set up a big tank like that when I know I will be moving it sooner than later. He has a 4 stage filstar.

 

[ehh]

Solution to my 1mm pellet problem: hold a pinch of pellets in the water for about thirty seconds and release. They clump together nicely.

 

[FreshyFresh]

It's going to take some time in low nitrate water for those pits to totally go away. Probably a few months.

 

[ehh]

Thanks. I was going to ask eventually. I was hoping for about 4 weeks but if it takes longer than that then so be it.
As long as the pits don't grow in size or number I know I'm on the right track.

 

[ehh]

It's been a couple months now and thought I'd post an update.

So those holes beneath his nostrils are still there. They never got smaller or bigger. I've seen fish with scars from hole in the head and they don't look like that. They still look like a second pair of nostrils.

Maybe it was nothing? I did make me clean the s*** out of his water for a while though lol.

 

[MrsE88]

I think what you are seeing are his sensory pits. Are they equally spaced like his nostrils are? If so then that should put your mind at ease.
Looking at the picture I don't see anything that looks like hith, to me anyway.