hith in cichlids only on well water?

[dmopar74]

in all my tanks there are no problems at all FW&SW except for my 8 blood parrots all have hith, but have never had it till we moved to our house on a well serving 300 people. i have anything from small inverts to my monster of a 20" pleco, the BPs are the only cichlids and are in my 180 with 0,0,15 perams and i also have a slight algea problem despite the pleco, which is odd because in the 3-4 years ive owned him ive never had this problem.

could high phosphates be causing the hith? it has to be something in the water, because ive already treated for hex and this has gone on for months now.

 

[12 Volt Man]

no, the exact cause of HITH is not known.

its likely just coincidence. chances are your parrots would have got it if you never moved.

there are a million theories out there as to what causes it, from diet, to water conditions to use of carbon, to mineral defeciency to genetic causes etc.

none have been conclusively validated.

despite what many books/sources say, its not as simple as a just an infection with hexamita bacteria.

there is a lot more to HITH than this and this is why nothing conclusive has been proven to be effective at curing or preventing it.


some fish are very prone to it (geophagus, oscars for example) others never get it.

I have been keeping cichlids for over 20 years and I have yet to find something that actually cures it once it starts.

and I have kept fish in prestine water conditions, with varied diet, tried treating with metro etc etc etc.

nothing works.

its just part of keeping south american cichlids. they get it sometimes.

 

[dmopar74]

i just find it odd that all of them got it at the same time, the same time i moved and went to well, despite some of them being a year old some 3 years old. i mean shure a small spot or two has came and gone over time but these guys have some big ol craters and canals in their faces.

perhaps its just time to move away from cichlids.

 

[Tom LoFaro]

Fortunately, I've never had a run in with HIT, but I've read that adding a little salt will help kill some harmful bacteria. Something might have gotten into the tank while you were moving it.. Also, since HITH's cause and cure are unknown, don't always look for what people think the cause is, because it might be something totally different that you're just over looking. Anyway, good luck! Hope you get rid of the HITH asap!