HITH... is it dead?

[tiger15]

I don’t know why Tapajos are less sensitive to HITH even though other Geos from Amazon Basin are, just like why some Oscar don’t get HITH and others do, being kept in the same tap water. But less sensitive does not mean unsusceptible, just less susceptible. African and CAs are immune to HITH, even though the same pathogens can cause bloat. I have no experience with adult Tapajos because the last group of Tapajos juvies I raised died young, probably from bloat, and they were too small to manifest HITH even if they had it. I much prefer my fish to die quickly from diseases than to carry disfiguring HITH that can’t be cured and don’t kill them.

 

[RD.]

No one said that Tapajos cant get HITH, obviously they can, but in the OP's local tap water, which is exactly the same as mine, it's rare to see. Is that better?

 

[Justin Holland]

Are you sure your Red Head has HITH. IME, only fish from soft water region of Amazon basin can get HITH. Red Head came from CA with neutral to hard water and aren't suceptable to HITH. Could the holes be physical injury as Red Head are skittish and could bang its head on rock. If the fish stop eating, it could be more serious bacterial infection as fish suffering from HITH will continue to eat.

Not true at all. I've treated and cured HITH in my Jack Dempsey and my Jaguar, which are both Centrals. They had both stopped eating the medicated food, so my only option was to pipette straight Metronidazole down to the gut, in a 3% Epsom solution.

 

[Justin Holland]

Hey guys,

A few weeks ago I posted a picture of my Redheads with minor HITH. Ive been treating them with meds (metronidazole). Ive been treating them for the recommended time on the packaging, but I want to be sure that the parasite is gone. I was treating them by medicating the aquarium water. I didn't treat their food as it tended to disintegrate and the fish wouldn't eat it. Does anyone know if three weeks in metroplex treated water is enough to kill the parasites?

-Matt

Do you have photos of this fish.

 

[RD.]

monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/tapajos-pockmarks.657836/

 

[tiger15]

Not true at all. I've treated and cured HITH in my Jack Dempsey and my Jaguar, which are both Centrals. They had both stopped eating the medicated food, so my only option was to pipette straight Metronidazole down to the gut, in a 3% Epsom solution.

I doubt that your fish had HITH. Fish affected by HITH will continue to eat and grow. If the affected fish stop eating, it is not HITH but likely other more serious infection. HITH is a disfiguring disease that affects the fish appearance, not the health or appetite. I had a senior 10" GT that abruptly stop eating and craters developed in the head region with white oozes leaking out. Within a week, he was dead. It is an acute form of bacterial infection. GT is SA from west of Andes so they are not soft water Amazon fish.

Interesting that you cured your fish by force feeding Metro to the gut. Not sure if it works with bloat since sick fish stop eating.

 

[Justin Holland]

I doubt that your fish had HITH. Fish affected by HITH will continue to eat and grow. If the affected fish stop eating, it is not HITH but likely other more serious infection. HITH is a disfiguring disease that affects the fish appearance, not the health or appetite. I had a senior 10" GT that abruptly stop eating and craters developed in the head region with white oozes leaking out. Within a week, he was dead. It is an acute form of bacterial infection. GT is SA from west of Andes so they are not soft water Amazon fish.

Interesting that you cured your fish by force feeding Metro to the gut. Not sure if it works with bloat since sick fish stop eating.

I think my Dempsey and jag just didn't find the medicated food very tasty, is why I think they stopped eating it. They would snatch it and spit it after the second or third day.
I had no choice but to pipette them. I'll see if I can find a few photosto see if you still have the same opinion about whether or not it was actually HITH.

 

[Justin Holland]

the jag

 

[Justin Holland]

the dempsey

 

[Malte81]

I just read a interesting story from some Discus experts in Germany.
They treat HITH with a emulsion against human skin fungus.
The emulsion is called Nystatin Salbe and you can get it in every pharma store.
They catch the fish and put the emulsion into the holes .
Then they put the fish back in the tank and thats it.
Clean water, good food do the rest to cure it completly.
I think its worth a try.
Its a great thing that you dont need to treat the hole tank with medicine.
Here is the write down in german.
Maybe somebody wants to translate it via google.

Salbenbehandlung, z.B. bei der Lochkrankheit
Behandlungsempfehlung: Nystatin Salbe
Die Experten sind sich nach über 30 Jahren Debatte immer noch
nicht einig wodurch die Lochkrankheit ausgelöst wird. Die meisten
sagen, dass ein Mineralmangel der Auslöser ist.
Wir haben durch jahrelange Versuche festgestellt, dass in ca.
90 % der Fälle eine rezeptfreie Salbe gegen Hautpilz sehr
schnelle und sichere Erfolge bringt. Diese Salbe heißt Nystatin
Salbe, kommt von der Fa. Lederle und lässt sich problemlos in
jeder Apotheke rezeptfrei kaufen.
Symptome: Am Anfang haben die Fische im Kopfbereich Akne
artige Pickel, die dann später aufplatzen. Nach dem Aufplatzen
und Auslaufen bilden sich zum Teil sehr tiefe Krater in der Haut.
Behandlung:
Den betroffenen Fisch aus dem Aquarium fangen, auf ein feuchtes
Tuch legen, die Löcher z.B. mit Küchenrolle trocken tupfen und die
Salbe mit den Finger in die Löcher streichen. Anschließend den
Fisch wieder in das Aquarium setzen.
Mit etwas Übung dauert so eine Behandlung 30-60 Sekunden. Ein
Fisch kann aber problemlos 3-5 Minuten außerhalb des Wassers
verbringen. Bei kleinen Löchern reicht in der Regel eine einmalige
Behandlung. Bei Löchern die größer als 5 Millimeter sind sollte
man die Behandlung nach einer Woche wiederholen.