HITH Treatment/Cure . . .

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M

MTN PIKE

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 11, 2006
1,160
6
0
Colorado
www.americancichlids.net
Just got this info from a very reputable source, his friend claims to have cured HITH on some Pikes!

1st factor ~ low nitrates & clean water

2nd factor ~ Food - use any MultiVitamin to enrich food. Stay away from 'carp-like' fishes/barbs (i.e. goldfish) - they have a chemical thats blocks intake of Vitamin D in predators. suggested~ feed once a week with large shrimp/fish injected with a human MultiVitamin.

My comments: we always keep up with the H2O changes - will check nitrate levels more often. We've ALWAYS fed our Pikes feeder goldfish (about once a week) ~ will change that! We've had success using 100% Metro to stabilize HITH and clear it up somewhat. Will start with the MultiVitamin treatment and see what happens!
Would like to hear back if anyone starts having good results, hopefully this could be the cure for HITH ~ the curse of Pikes & other SA Cichlids.
 
Its funny I read alot of threads about HITH and its strange because in about 15 years of fishkeeping I have only seen about 2 cases in my fish. I have kept SA/CA Cichlids for about 10 years now and its very rare. After the initial sight of my fish eating feeders I tapered off and vary their diet as much as I can. I try to stay very consistant with my WC's and I havent had many probs.

Rally by the way I saw that thread and that Oscar looks amazing. Great comeback.
 
Thank you:)
 
suprisingly, my rescued oscar had horrid water quality and never developed HITH at all. not even a mild case. i think diet must have a bigger role in it then water quality does.
 
I personally think the feeders are really really bad for fish. The conditions they are kept in are so terrible it just destroys our fish.
 
I tend to think it has much more to do with stress than it does water quality or food quality.

I've seen fish in horrendous conditions never have a problem with HITH. I've seen fish in fantastic water quality with HITH. I've seen fish in the same tank develop HITH while others don't.

Also, when is the last time you saw an African cichlid with HITH? It seems that the only fish that are susceptible to HITH are soft water fish; Symphosodon, Astronotus, Crenicichla, etc. Is it that softwater fish stress more easily in the presence of excessive minerals? The minerals irritate the soft water fish's skin? The soft water fish have a more difficult time with osmoregulation?

Oddly enough, fish that are more dominant seem to develop HITH first. I had an acqaintance observe that the fish trying the hardest to assert themselves and maintain dominance in the tank are the most likely to develop HITH. I can verify this with fish I have kept. Even if everybody in the tank develops HITH, it is the dominant fish that first exhibit HITH. The stress of maintaining your social ranking is extremely high as it is the dominant fish that gets to breed and produce progeny.

Poor diet and poor quality can both be stressors so I can see why fish develop HITH under these conditions but I think they are a contributor rather than the cause.
 
good info/insight MTN & Scat

hope I never see it...
 
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