Does this look like HITH to you?

[jeffries]

Is this the fish you just recently got? If it is, let us know as that's handy info to have & it means that your fish-keeping practices aren't the cause of his problem. There's a HITH theory for every person on every forum. I've read tons and tons about it as it's probably the main thing about fish-keeping that really interests me a LOT. Plus I have 6 Oscars and they're prone to it. From everything I've been able to come up with my vote is HITH comes about from a fish living in water too high in nitrates, as in over 20-25 ppm long term. Not all fish are suseptable but a good share of the SA's are and that's where your fish is from. It sure looks like HITH. You could easily up your water changes to 60-70% a week. Heck, if you've already got the hose out you may as well do a big water change. Let your nitrates be your guide. When they hit 20 ppm do a 60-70% water change. Also feed a varied diet with 'greens'. Spirulina tablets, zucchini to snack on, that sort of stuff. Shrimp sometimes, earthworms, bugs, you get the picture. That's my advice although you're not obligated in any way to take it

Yes, you are correct in that I recently got this fish. Well, I say recently but it has been about 5-6 months now that I have had him. So, not too long.

I have only recently discovered exactly what HITH is, so I don't have any idea if he had it when I first got him. It's possible that he might have but I would have probably just thought they were natural pits in his skin. Of course, I have a feeling that it has gotten worse since I first aquired him, even if he did have if beforehand.

It's funny that you mention diet because I was recently thinking that I really should include more greens in his diet. My train of thought recently was that he has a lot of protein in his diet but limited amount of vegetable matter which I am sure is not a good thing ultimately. The flakes that I do feed look to be mostly protein based even though there is some Spirulina in it. I was thinking about ordering some flakes from Ken at kensfish.com. I have heard really good things about his flakes in the past. I was thinking of getting his Premium Vegetable Flakes because the ingredient list looks pretty impressive. I think I am also going to switch back to NLS foods as that is what I used to use all the time with the fish in my avatar (that I no longer have). They have a sinking pellet which is what I am looking for because he doesn't do well with things that float at the top of the tank.

Do you think my 25% water changes every other day will be good enough?

Also, what is the benefit of using reverse osmosis water and should I be using that instead in light of my fish's problems?

 

[TwistedPenguin]

You're right that they do need veggies in their diet. They're omnivores and get their 'greens' in the wild by eating crayfish (who are herbivores and filled with plant material) and sifting through the plant material wherever they live. I try to make 25% of my Oscar's diet veggies but that isn't always easy when they decide they don't want it. My S.leucosticta loves zuchinni & those sprirulina livebearer flakes. Freeze the zuchinni 1st and then rubberband a big wedge of it to a rock and drop it in. It gives all the fish something to snack on that's good for them and doesn't mess with your water quality near as bad as protein foods. There's also these soft algae crumbles at PetsMart that my cichlids really like a lot. I did look at Ken's and while I like his variety I couldn't really find any veggie foods that didn't have spirulina way way down on the list. It's harder than you think to find food with spirulina or algae in the top 3 ingredients. That's why fresh veggies work best. You can freeze squash & cucumber the same as the zuchinni and it softens it once it's thawed. Anyway, probably too much info but it might help you.
I figured it up once and 25% water changes every other day didn't do as much good as 2 40% water changes a week. Because bigger water changes put a bigger dent in the nitrates. And I honestly believe nitrates too high for too long is the biggest reason for HITH. But like I said-everyone has different ideas about it. I sure wouldn't use RO water. That's nuts because fish need the minerals in tap water & RO water has no minerals whatsoever.

 

[jeffries]

Now that you mention it, you are exactly right about the Spirulina. It normally isn't very high in the ingredients list. In fact, now that I think about it, I am pretty sure those sinking vegetable pellets that a number of companies make have fish as one of their first ingredients. (lol) I did put some parsley in the tank for him last night and he sampled it but wasn't interested. I will still keep my eye out for something that I can give him that has a decent amount of Spirulina in it.

Perhaps I will switch to larger water changes twice a week then. As I said before, I think my biggest challenge is the fact that I can't use a Python vacuum on the gravel because the adapters won't work with the kind of faucets I have in my apartment.

 

[TwistedPenguin]

Oh yea, I forgot about the adapter problem. You've got to bucket the water? I really feel for you, that would totally suck. Lots of people get adapters that screw into where the shower head screws on. If yours is the kind that just screws off it'd be easy to find an adapter for it as they're normallly universal. They unscrew the shower head and take it off and screw the hose on there.

 

[jeffries]

The only problem with that is the shower is upstairs and the tank is downstairs. (lol) Our sink faucets don't have anything that can be taken off or unscrewed unfortunately.

 

[jeffries]

Oh! I forgot to mention that I went to Pet Supplies Plus and I found some sinking Veggie Rounds from Omega One. The first two ingredients... Whole kelp and spirulina. He loves them too.

I also picked up a cleaning brush kit and I am gonna work over my filter to make sure it is really clean.

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

What sort of water change schedule would you recommmend? I think I read that I should be doing a 25% water change every other day. Does that sound right?

I should also point out that I removed the carbon filter because the medicine for Ich told me to do so.

I did read on the forum here that any sort of "remedy" that a LFS sells for HITH is bogus and not to waste your money on it. Any thoughts on this?

I've used metro for HITH, if I wasted my money, oops on my part. The fish did improve though, can't say it was due to that or the other factors (water changes, etc.)

 

[TwistedPenguin]

Oh! I forgot to mention that I went to Pet Supplies Plus and I found some sinking Veggie Rounds from Omega One. The first two ingredients... Whole kelp and spirulina. He loves them too.

No kidding?? You did better than me, I've looked everywhere for something with the top ingredients like that! I've got a Plec tank, I'm going to grab 2 or 3 bags of that, thank you.
As far as metronidazole/flagyl being used for HITH.....many years ago they used to think HITH was caused by hexamite which is treated with metro/flagyl. They've since found out that hexamite just happens to show up in HITH lesions, but doesn't cause it. But fish stores still falsely sell metro as a "cure for HITH". Most people get busy and start upping their water changes at the same time they use metro and it's the water changes that resolves the HITH. Like I said-this is just all stuff I've found through researching it all over the place. I don't want to start a debate on what causes it.

 

[navygirl76]

it looks like HITH to me.. but sounds like you are on the right track. what i do is i slice up longways zucchini, yellow squash, cauliflower and cucumbers and freeze them. i pour some liquid garlic on them right before i freeze them. i then rubberband a few pieces to a small rock and sink them in the tanks..

everyone from my eartheaters to oscars and little tetras enjoy it. i also feed spirulina crumbles, krill and a good quality (Omega one) pellets.. along with 50 percent waterchanges. i keep my nitrates under 10ppm on the tanks..

youre doing good-but like others have said add those veggies and give him time --and plenty of waterchanges and he will heal.