Hello everyone, I am reaching out for help because I am at a standstill with my Firemouth's Hole in the Head. This condition has existed for a couple years and has got steadily worse with time. I could not do much with treating him as I was not home that often. He used to accept multiple foods, but really only eats the Hikari Carnivore pellets. To my knowledge, the 75g he was in for years had 0 ammonia, but recently discovered ammonia was .25. I remember randomly testing the 75g's water throughout the years, and there was no ammonia. Nevertheless, there was no NO2 or excessively high NO3. I believe NO3 was around 40-60ppm. I am aware NO3 should be 20ppm or less ideally and I do feel bad about that. I feel comfortable in saying that the PH was 7.4-7.6. I have tried medications throughout the years and nothing has helped. It was just until recently I put the Firemouth in my 20g hospital tank again with the following water parameters: 0 NH3, 0 NO2, 20 N03, 7.4 PH. The lesions that were once holes have only got worse and new holes have developed. I did three treatments of API General Cure with no luck. I also did one or two treatments of API Furan 2 with no luck. I did two treatments of API Tetracyline possibly three or four months ago with no luck. Currently, I have taken him off the antibiotics and am combining API Melafix with Pimafix. I threw API Stress Coat in as well throughout any treatment. I have an airstone going and the temperature is at 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I will try to get some pictures soon. He has not eaten in two weeks and I understand getting Metro into the GI Tract is more effective than Metro being in the water. I did test the GH and am not remembering the specific number, but the result was higher than the middle number for that scale. He will only eat in the 75g and I am thinking about putting him back temporarily to get some nutrients into his system and starting treatment again in the 20g hospital tank.
Firemouth: Prolonged Hole In The Head
- Thread starter jeep07
- Start date
If the fish is still eating try some new life spectrum hex shield. It's has metronidazole in it.
Or buy some.metroplex from seachem and put it on his existing food and feed that.
Metro is what you want. Also needs to be fed. But unless conditions improve he will also be under stress which means a weak immune system and no real chance for long term good health.
Or buy some.metroplex from seachem and put it on his existing food and feed that.
Metro is what you want. Also needs to be fed. But unless conditions improve he will also be under stress which means a weak immune system and no real chance for long term good health.
Thank you for your reply. I will say his top fin is straight up and has been since going in the hospital tank. The past few days he has been coming out of his cave, but sticking to the corners of the tank, and then returning to his cave. I noticed his respiration rate has increased since being put in the hospital tank. I increased the flow rate of my filter to accomplish a 6x turnover and increased aeration from my air pump. I am on the fence about putting him back in the 75g. However, any medication I try or food I try giving him right now will be useless if he does not survive due to cessation of eating. As I have said, this fish has not eaten in two weeks.
I would try metro in the water then. It might be enough to get him eating. Otherwise force feed the meds is another way to go.
Also, 150mg of Praziquantel in the water as these two ingredients make API General Cure...250mg of metro and 75mg of praziquantel in each packet.
If this has been ongoing for 2 years, I doubt that metronidazole is going to help. If tetracycline didn't do the trick, it could be due to a strain of bacteria that is resistant to that medication - it's quite common in aquaculture, and tetracycline is one of the worst meds for this due to many years of misuse within the ornamental fish trade. With your pH, I would try Kanamycin. (Seachem Kanaplex) IMO Melafix/Pimafix are not going to do anything, but I do think that you are approaching this in the best way possible - eradicate the bacteria, then allow healing via clean water and a quality diet.
I put the Firemouth back in the 75g to entice him to eat anything since he has not eaten in two weeks and will only eat in the 75g. I plan on dropping some Vitachem on his foods along with Metroplex and Focus a little bit farther down the road. My main priority is to get the Firemouth eating just a small meal for the time being. If I did one or two treatments of Tetracycline and had little to no effect, is the bacteria resistant or possibly I just did not use enough treatments?
