HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HITH ATTACK!!!!!!!

[yama]

Greeting pike cichlid keepers. I am having an issue i have never encountered before. I just purchased a pike cichlid frm a LFS and he was clean in the store. I let him stay there for a week. Now I have had him for about two weeks and he has developed these little white nodes on his head. I checked this morning and now they are pits. I did a 50% water change and removed carbon from my sump. What else can I do???? None of my other fish are having this issue....

 

[yama]

Also a true I.D. would be nice. Man do I miss Fresh Water Lion Fish J'Won!!!!

 

[maxxxx]

Sorry to hear about your typhoid Martin. I got lazy and didnt quarantine a fish my LFS sold me and he same thing happened.

It sucks but caught early you can more than likely cure him:

1). Hard to positively ID Hith (lateral fin disease) w/o better pics.
2). You can put your Carbon back in, any causal relation has been debunked.
3). The actual cause is a nasty little protozoan parasite that exists in low levels in the digestive track of most perciform fish.
4). It's a parasite and you need to medicate accordingly.
5). The correct remedy is metronidazole, administered via medicated food or added to water or both.
6). You can safely ignore all the anecdotal advice and holistic remedies out there with one notable exception: water quality. There is strong correlation between the parasites spread through the rest of the organism and bad water quality and/or poor nutrition. The caveat being that correlation is not causation.

Hope that helps

Please forgive any sloppy language or typos; it's late- Lousy week & i'm burnt but I wanted to get you some useful info ASAP

 

[Rocksor]

Sorry to hear about your typhoid Martin. I got lazy and didnt quarantine a fish my LFS sold me and he same thing happened.

It sucks but caught early you can more than likely cure him:

1). Hard to positively ID Hith (lateral fin disease) w/o better pics.
2). You can put your Carbon back in, any causal relation has been debunked.
3). The actual cause is a nasty little protozoan parasite that exists in low levels in the digestive track of most perciform fish.
4). It's a parasite and you need to medicate accordingly.
5). The correct remedy is metronidazole, administered via medicated food or added to water or both.
6). You can safely ignore all the anecdotal advice and holistic remedies out there with one notable exception: water quality. There is strong correlation between the parasites spread through the rest of the organism and bad water quality and/or poor nutrition. The caveat being that correlation is not causation.

Hope that helps

Please forgive any sloppy language or typos; it's late- Lousy week & i'm burnt but I wanted to get you some useful info ASAP

First thing to do is make sure your nitrates are below 20ppm.

An epsom salt solution is more effective and not damaging to the fish like metro. It can be given by soaking the solution into the food or directly into the fish's mouth using a soft plastic pipette. (3/4 teaspoon of epsom salt and 1/2 cup of distilled water)

Epsom salt is not a holistic remedy and has been scientifically proven to kill the intestinal flagellates per the link below

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...879-Treating-quot-Bloat-quot-aka-Spironucleus

In fish, an excessive use of metronidazole can damage kidneys and other internal organs.(Bassleer, 1983)

Hoga with pristine water conditions, and cured of HITH using epsom salt solution

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?486147-Hoga-With-HITH

 

[yama]

Thank you both for responding. I will try them both. I found after looking through my fish med cabinet that I have both metro and epsom salt on hand. So I woll try both. What do you guys suggest as far as the external pits??? How do a remedy this??? I feel i have caught it early. Will these small pits go away??

 

[yama]

@maxxx Martin????

 

[albyoscar]

Some pikes are prone to HITH, we are talking about hole in the head disease right? From my experience its mainly caused from water quality. Make sure you keep the nitrates in check "under 20" do plenty of water changes using a good conditioner and add aquarium salt to reduce the stress level. I had an atabapoII with HITH and took care of it pretty quickly with a good to great W/C schedule

 

[maxxxx]

First thing to do is make sure your nitrates are below 20ppm.

+1

An epsom salt solution is more effective and not damaging to the fish like metro. It can be given by soaking the solution into the food or directly into the fish's mouth using a soft plastic pipette. (3/4 teaspoon of epsom salt and 1/2 cup of distilled water)

1/2 Administering salt as described can be done- just take care not to stress out the fish.
1/2 Metro is not harmful to fish when administered correctly. It also is the most effective clinical treatment.

Epsom salt is not a holistic remedy and has been scientifically proven to kill the intestinal flagellates per the link below

+ 1 numerous scientific studies have shown correlation & I think causal relationships between salt as a curative.

 

[maxxxx]

Sorry for the incomplete answer. The pits will heal upon treating the underlying issues.
It's actually the best indicator that the treatment is working.

If you don't have a favourite water conditioner the general consensus among the group is that Prime (or Safe- powdered version of Prime) is the best choice.

If it counts for anything I have found it to work very well.

 

[yama]

Agreed some pikes are more prone to hole in the head. I do major water changes about once a month and small 30% ones after heavy feeds. However I will admit i had become a relaxed about my water changes of late. Prime and API are the water conditioners readily available around here. I think I will begin quarantine protocols since I have a few high end rays and mbu to think about. Thax for all of the advice we will see how it works out.