Ok I'm gonna start the frequent water changes today.... Any suggestions on how to get him to eat again? Or will that just come with time and cleaner water?
My red devil has hith... help
- Thread starter Secrets_az2
- Start date
Ok I'm gonna start the frequent water changes today.... Any suggestions on how to get him to eat again? Or will that just come with time and cleaner water?
I just want to thank you for the great advice. I've been doing the water changes. His face has cleared up and he is eating again. Thank you again
Many years ago I used to keep just guppies which turned out to have hexamita, i.e. HITH in large cichlids. At the time I came across an article which said that the the parasite causing HITH/hexamitta comes hand in hand with the one causing white spot/ ich. This never made sense to me even then as ich is still considered a disease fish only get from the fish shop, and at the time I had my guppies for months, no real sign of ich on them ever.
But since then, even though I came across hex once more in another livebearer-my platies, I always wonder if hex is secondary to another parasite/disease. Water changes help in any disease and hex carrying fish show up the signs when water quality goes down but it is still a a parasite issue I am afraid. I know for sure hexamita meds do help "control" it. help with recovery but I am not so sure it completely eradicates the issue.
There is a strange thing I have found about hexamita, which is only a wild guess. Although I have hard water, the fish I've kept that had hexamita are also hard water lovers which at the same time shared space with soft water fish I kept(still alive for years), the latter never ever showing signs of hex despite their roommates having it, being treated for it and getting better with the treatment.
So were my hard water fish missing a mineral that the others didn't need as much? Either way, water changes are always best at replenishing vital minerals for fish and plants, and perhaps some will say water changes didn't help their issue, all dependent on one's water content perhaps?
But since then, even though I came across hex once more in another livebearer-my platies, I always wonder if hex is secondary to another parasite/disease. Water changes help in any disease and hex carrying fish show up the signs when water quality goes down but it is still a a parasite issue I am afraid. I know for sure hexamita meds do help "control" it. help with recovery but I am not so sure it completely eradicates the issue.
There is a strange thing I have found about hexamita, which is only a wild guess. Although I have hard water, the fish I've kept that had hexamita are also hard water lovers which at the same time shared space with soft water fish I kept(still alive for years), the latter never ever showing signs of hex despite their roommates having it, being treated for it and getting better with the treatment.
So were my hard water fish missing a mineral that the others didn't need as much? Either way, water changes are always best at replenishing vital minerals for fish and plants, and perhaps some will say water changes didn't help their issue, all dependent on one's water content perhaps?
I've tried every medicine known to the fish world and nothing helped. I was doing once a week 30% water changes and that didn't help. Gave up all medication and did 50% water changes twice a week and after the third change he started eating and no more white fringes from his sore. I will do these water changes for the rest of his life. I also took the charcoal cartridges out of his fluval and I won't be putting them back in. He is a happy big fish again. P.S. he lives alone on his tank so I am his only friend.
Yes, I agree, you are doing the right thing and you have come up to the right conclusion. Same as my absolute moto: "Water changes are the cure and prevention of all things in regards to fish."
However, all fish in my opinion are natural carriers of many parasites and only fresh water keeps them "healthy". One can keep a fish, with some sort of alignment, alive indefinitely if they keep their water quality up.
In terms of HITH ,most people are spending their energy (unsuccessfully) on advising how to fixi the issue, rather than helping out fixing the issue, and the people having the fish with HITH are being bombarded with water quality/water changing questions.
I used to have my water tested frequently. But with the water changes my water parameters are always good. I have a very happy fish right now. Happy fish, happy mommy.
