i believe that hith is brought on be poor water conditions. i do weekly water changes and that along with a good diet i've never had the desease in any of my tanks, knock on wood. i too have heard of the carbon theory but i've used them for years and still do. Cardon packs for my tanks are expensive so if i could get away with not using them i'd really like that. stay on top of your water changes and make sure the fish is in the proper tank size.
Hole In The Head
- Thread starter jlandrum
- Start date
After about three water changes though you practically remove all meds. 
. South American cichlids are especially prone to it. The soft, acidic water seems to make it easier for them to get it. When i kept my SA in hard, alkaline water it was much easier to keep them from gettin HITH cuz the water was able to buffer more stuff. Main thing is keep the tankz CLEAN and keep up with water changes. I have 4 Hoplarchus psittacus...which are SUPER prone to HITH and pitting, so i have to be VERY faithful on my water changes.
. South American cichlids are especially prone to it. The soft, acidic water seems to make it easier for them to get it. When i kept my SA in hard, alkaline water it was much easier to keep them from gettin HITH cuz the water was able to buffer more stuff. Main thing is keep the tankz CLEAN and keep up with water changes. I have 4 Hoplarchus psittacus...which are SUPER prone to HITH and pitting, so i have to be VERY faithful on my water changes.
my opinoin on the subject is this if you are housing oscar 's you must do two weekly waterchanges 25% add stress coat . as there are very messy and can bust out a good size one too if you follow me !!..mine are 9''/4'' er I've owned them since they were 1.5 estimated '' aquired them at different times as to size differnce in the fish my larger one started to develop hith mind you this is an somewhat albinotiger (greenish marking's & edging) so I did'nt pick it up rite away but needless to say it's under control for the most part now what I did to control and heal so far 1. medicate fish brought temp to 85 degree's for a week added aquarium salt (made stress tonic) as temp change could stress the fish weakin it alittle . 2. two weekly 25% water changes with the addition of stress coat to help the holes close and add aquarium salt again bi-weekly messure for your tank! 3. varied diet ex: alge waffer's (vegitable) feeder's (as treat only and seldom givin unless you rasied them yourself) beefheart(help's there urge for blood) nitecrawler/earth worm's (protein rich feed worm's corn meal the fish will nail them after time seldom hit the bottom!) cricket's (most fish eat insect's feed them vegitable's add calcium powder! ) and various shrimp too ( brine,missy's,krill and if you can affrod it shrimp from the fish market(you both can enjoy them 
feed the fish's plane no sauce plz!) I've even feed them table scrapes chicken, steak(chew it a little first) pork 
, raw bacon cooked even (my tsn loves this), hot dog's ( only once in awhile prone to rasie nitrate level and a greasey sheen my appear on the surfus of the water)good pellet food as well(I mix hikari cichlid gold with cichlid staple they love it )flakes if you wish (omega one is my choice african cichlid brand high seafood content) and of course time but mostly water changes are key in the control of this and lateral line errosion common in oscar's to ..... some my disagree but this work's for me ! best of luck to you.. 
As far as the carbon theory, I have only heard this in conjunction with saltwater fish. Personally I don't think it makes much sense, as I've taken in several yellow tangs with severe HLLE , all of which fully recovered in my tanks (with carbon). Additionally, my work has taken in a couple of severums and oscars with bad hole in head, only to have them recover ( we use quite a bit of carbon, keeps water nice and clear). Two things to really work on--environment (water quality, stress, etc.), and diet. I cant say enough about what a difference a good diet (varied, mainly frozen) can make in a fish.
I've heard that oranges can help with hole in the head. I don't know if it's true and I have no personal experience with it but it might be worth looking into.
Oranges? Like...how? Just let an orange sit in the tank? I guess the acidicty of the orange might lower the pH.....but I dunno how that will help...hmm...interesting.
Del...i hear yaz bro......happens all to often...lol....
Del...i hear yaz bro......happens all to often...lol....
it's kinda like goin to a halloween party with no costume on!!!DeLgAdO said:i hate it when their is no reply from the dude who makes the thread
