Help please, Upset and frustrated! HITH, thought we beat it...

[RD.]

I'm not a vet, Phillip, so what is right or wrong is not for me to decide. That's your call.

I have had success (twice) feeding NLS Hex-Shield, but I don't know how much your fish consumed (you also questioned that) over the period that you were feeding. I fed twice a day, and fed the hex formula exclusively over the duration of treatment. Most aquatic experts in this field, including Edward Noga, recommend the use of metronidazole to treat HITH, which is one of the primary ingredients in that NLS formula. Having said that, even if the initial cause has been eliminated in the gut/organs/blood/etc, those pits in the head aren't going to heal overnight, and they may need some additional meds to stop the necrosis. In that case, yes, I would personally try spot treating, or a dip/bath, in meth blue as was recommended by Dieselhybrid. There are other options, but that is a good place to start. Most fish will bounce back with just clean water, but your fish might not fall under the category of most.

 

[Aqua Nut]

We beat it with metroplex neoplex and kanaplex. We tried a few things with no results but this worked. Most of the holes filled back in and the fish is healthy now. If you are having this problem over again you need to find out whats causing it. i would look at your mineral levels. There is some debate over the causes but i can tell you my tanks get serious water changes every 3 days so it sure wasn't from dirty water.... Your main causes are nutrition, dirty water and lack of minerals. I have never used nls hexshield but this worked for me. I found the info on oscar fish. It was a fully documented treatment and it saved my fish. As you can see from the picture my girl was not looking good at all. The other picture was from a month later. Her light is off now but she still is improving 5 months later. It takes a while for them holes to close up. Hope it helps man, i know how it feels to be out of answers.

 

[RD.]

A fully documented treatment of antibiotics. Yeah, that's what myself and others just suggested. The "holes" are getting bigger/deeper due to bacteria.

Lack of minerals does not cause HITH, if it did, most of the fish in the Pacific mainland in Canada would have it as their water is pretty much void of mineral content. Also, with todays quality of commercial food, getting HITH due to a poor diet would be a very rare event.

I posted the following a couple of years ago, I suspect Phillip has read this, but just in case.

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/hith-revisited.650466/


As I said previously, HITH is not a one size fits all type of illness. No one can say with certainty what the initial trigger is, and sometimes it may just be the result of that individual fish having a weak or compromised immune system. Some species have definitely been proven over decades of keeping them in captivity, to be more prone to this disease. Generally one will find Spironucleus vortens at the site of the infection, which is why "Hexamita" is typically associated with HITH. It's not exactly the cause (maybe in some cases) but it's part of the process, as is clean water (lowers the bacteria count) as is treating the wounds themselves with antibiotics.

The "why" part will never be answered with certainty as each fish is an individual, and each case can be slightly different.

 

[Aqua Nut]

Not going to argue with you. Look it up you will find information stating what i just said. Tons of information on it. Just need to look.

 

[Aqua Nut]

Here is a good read for you http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2008/02/hole-in-head.html

 

[RD.]

I'm quite familiar with that site, and while there is "some" good info to be gleaned from his site, there is a lot of BS as well. Just cause he says so, don't make it so.

Comments such as

Please note, many fish foods process out vitamins due to the amount of heat used, which is why a dehydrated crumble food is better such as Clay Neighbor's AAP Custom Fish Food.

Really, you mean the food that Carl now sells? LOL IMO, that food is low quality, I wouldn't feed it to my fish if I was given a lifetime supply for free.
Do a search on this site and you'll see why I refer to it as low quality feed. Then add to that the guy selling the low mineral story, also sells *wonder shells* to resolve everyone's mineral issues. What a farce.

With no facts or data to support most of what he rambles on about on his site it's easy to see why some people would get sucked in by his comments. Yes, of course there is some vitamin loss during the manufacture of flakes & pellets, doh, which is why all reputable commercial fish food manufacturers use a vitamin pre-mix in ALL of their formulas. How again does that make Clay's mega high fiber food better? I would love to see how the post production level of vitamins in Clay's food stacks up against the various other commercial formulas on the market. That would probably be a bit of an eye opener for folks like yourself.

 

[Aqua Nut]

I'm quite familiar with that site, and while there is "some" good info to be gleaned from his site, there is a lot of BS as well. Just cause he says so, don't make it so.

Comments such as

Really, you mean the food that Carl now sells? LOL IMO, that food is low quality, I wouldn't feed it to my fish if I was given a lifetime supply for free.
Do a search on this site and you'll see why I refer to it as low quality feed. Then add to that the guy selling the low mineral story, also sells *wonder shells* to resolve everyone's mineral issues. What a farce.

With no facts or data to support most of what he rambles on about on his site it's easy to see why some people would get sucked in by his comments. Yes, of course there is some vitamin loss during the manufacture of flakes & pellets, doh, which is why all reputable commercial fish food manufacturers use a vitamin pre-mix in ALL of their formulas. How again does that make Clay's mega high fiber food better? I would love to see how the post production level of vitamins in Clay's food stacks up against the various other commercial formulas on the market. That would probably be a bit of an eye opener for folks like yourself.

We aren't trying to endorse or sell a food. If you don't agree with their food then don't use it, i don't. I was talking about lack of minerals and Redox in relation to possible issues with hole in the head. This was also confirmed by Conway Stevens AKA the fish doctor. I do trust his opinion very much. So whether you agree with the source or not that i referenced, their are other reputable people who say the same thing. Again I am just sharing my personal experience with the issue, not trying to start a debate.

 

[Grinch]

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/what-is-this.687035/page-4#post-7744822

 

[RD.]

I don't agree with what Carl says, period. I thought that my comment was pretty clear in that regards. I mentioned the food as his comment was posted on the page that you linked to, in relation to HITH. That seems pretty relative to me. Personal opinions are just that, so unless these eggspurts have some hard data to support their claims, its just some guys talking out of their arse. If you want to refer to experts, spend some time reading opinions from real experts, such as Dr. Edward J. Noga. Not some wannabe on youtube.

 

[Grinch]

What's a "Carl"?