Looks like HITH, but with a white *thing* in it...

[David R]

This has plagued my female G. balzanii for a while now, and today I noticed my male looks like he's getting it too. I've tried treating it with metro, they are fed a mix of dry food and bloodworms, and they get a 30-40% water change every 5-7 days, but it still seems to persist

As the pit in the forehead starts to develop there is a small white *thing* that appears to be coming out of the centre of it. The *thing* disappears after a few days but the pit remains. Tonight I caught the female to try to take a photo, but the light was reflecting off her forehead too much and I couldn't get a decent shot. I'll try again tomorrow.

Any ideas what it could be or how to treat it? I'm currently growing out 6 small clown loaches to put in my 160g with the big pack, but I'm now reluctant to risk transferring it to another tank...

 

[Natural_Born_Killer]

any photos?

I would hold off transferring your loaches for now just in case...

 

[bigspizz]

When HITH first starts, it looks like that, in some cases.

 

[David R]

I'll try to get pics tomorrow during the day when the light is better. When i treated the tank with metro it did seem to slow it down, but since then it has come back and now seems to be affecting the male too.

if it is HITH, how contageous is it? I was planning on moving the balzaniis into a 30g by themselves to breed, then planting the 40g for some smaller cichlids and my Nandus, should I strip it down completely and clean everything thoroughly? I've got spare canisters and media so I'm not worried about having to cycle it again.

 

[bluehairman]

If your fish have HITH you need to give them better living conditions. Do 25% water changes every other day, included gravel vacs. Also clean the filter, and if possible, replace any expired carbon media. Start giving your fish a varied diet, and give foods high in vitamins. You can also try soaking some food in liquid baby vitamins if your current food doesn't have a lot of vitamins.

As long as the fish is healthy, it shouldn't get HITH.