HITH? - Geophagus Tapajos Red Head
- Thread starter freshwatertanks
- Start date
hi there. sorry for my late response but i can finally give some positive news. a few months after my first geo had hith, others started to get them too and i must say that i was really frustrated and almost gave up on them. so last december i bought a return osmosis system and discus minerals from preis and slowly reduced the water hardness. TDS before was 390 before (tap water) and i've reduced it to 160-170 now. the other parameters at the moment are gh 4, kh 3, ph 6.6-6.8 and since then i've not seen any new holes anymore. some of my geos do have now scars but it looks so much better. i'm just kind of sad that i've not started to soften the water much earlier. so the reason for hith were my water parameters.
Sorry you had go through that experience. Yes the hardness of the water and Nitrates caused the HITH. Great to hear the Geo's are recovering.
thanks a lot. ? nitrates were never an issue, as i was doing so many water changes. now a water change takes more time but my fish are healthy again.
Interesting, thanks for the update. I can only state from personal experience with this species that neither water hardness, nor higher pH values, were ever an issue. I'm not exactly sure why it would be an issue with your group of fish, always so difficult to state much in the way of certainty when viewing these issues from afar. Good luck, and again glad to hear that your fish seem to be getting better.
I have kept four species of Geophagus before (Jurupari, Surinamensis, red hump and Iporangensis) . The first two developed HITH, and the last two were fine. Geophagus is a large genera fish that came from black water to hard water habitats. My tap water has GH 4 - 6, KH 4 - 5, TDS 130 - 190, and pH 7.2 - 7.6. Apparently, the black water species did not fair well in my slightly hard water.
I have never kept Topajos, so don't know how they will do in my water. But I have witnessed HITH in Topajos, surprisingly in a Florida fish farm breeding facility. The fish farm did not amend RO water for the Topajos, so apparently minor HITH does not affect their growth or procreation. My Surinamensis, dispite HITH, grew to 10 inch fish. He was the dominant fish in the tank in which I changed 75% weekly, so stress and poor water quality can be ruled out as the cause for HITH. If the OP is successful to reverse HITH with RO amendment, then water chemistry must have something to do with HITH.
I have never kept Topajos, so don't know how they will do in my water. But I have witnessed HITH in Topajos, surprisingly in a Florida fish farm breeding facility. The fish farm did not amend RO water for the Topajos, so apparently minor HITH does not affect their growth or procreation. My Surinamensis, dispite HITH, grew to 10 inch fish. He was the dominant fish in the tank in which I changed 75% weekly, so stress and poor water quality can be ruled out as the cause for HITH. If the OP is successful to reverse HITH with RO amendment, then water chemistry must have something to do with HITH.
