Does my Oscar have HITH?
- Thread starter wiggywhitetrash
- Start date
It's almost always a water quality issue, usually high DOCs ime. However there was a study on HLLE in marine fish (similar to HITH) and they were able to cause it by adding carbon dust to the water. So it would be a good idea for you to always rinse all carbon very well to remove all the dust as a precaution.
Glad to hear that your O is doing better.
HITH is caused by stress, poor water quality is one trigger of stress, but there are others, such as inadequate nutrition, and yes even carbon dust has been considered a potential cause of stress in certain species.
http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/activated-carbon-hlle-smoking-gun-found
and this;
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?226337-Filter-carbon-causes-Hole-in-the-head
In the study linked to above, and the one performed by Tilghman et-al in 2003, the "premium pelleted diet" that was used and that has been shown to not induce HLLE was NLS. In freshwater tropical fish it also been demonstrated that the "holes" in the head region are directly caused by Spironucleus vortens, so whenever treating a fish for HITH it's a good idea to directly treat for this pathogen as well. (as Steve did in this case)
Eradicate the parasite outbreak, increase water quality, keep stress from tankmates etc low, while feeding a nutritionally complete & balanced diet, and you will almost always win the battle with HITH.
HITH is caused by stress, poor water quality is one trigger of stress, but there are others, such as inadequate nutrition, and yes even carbon dust has been considered a potential cause of stress in certain species.
http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/activated-carbon-hlle-smoking-gun-found
and this;
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?226337-Filter-carbon-causes-Hole-in-the-head
In the study linked to above, and the one performed by Tilghman et-al in 2003, the "premium pelleted diet" that was used and that has been shown to not induce HLLE was NLS. In freshwater tropical fish it also been demonstrated that the "holes" in the head region are directly caused by Spironucleus vortens, so whenever treating a fish for HITH it's a good idea to directly treat for this pathogen as well. (as Steve did in this case)
Eradicate the parasite outbreak, increase water quality, keep stress from tankmates etc low, while feeding a nutritionally complete & balanced diet, and you will almost always win the battle with HITH.
