Needing some HITH help

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strangelynormal

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 16, 2015
35
0
6
NYC
Hi all. I'm having a problem right now with HITH in a 5-6 inch Synodontis eupterus. The tank he is in is around 6 months old (90 gallons), with no previous health issues (for tank or catfish).

I couldn't tell you how he got it. Nitrates have always been notably low, ammonia is always 0, I perform weekly water changes of 25%-50% possibly 75% at times. The tank is understocked and has sand, so whatever is there I clean. It has two AC 110s running but I want to switch to a canister. He is fed a mixed diet of NLS, Hikari carnivore, Hikari algae, and frozen food of a zillion varieties (brine shrimp/cyclops/mysis shrimp/plankton/bloodworms/some veggies/etc). Temp is at 81, raised it temporarily.

So what I did for treatment. I dosed Metro in the water with metro food, and have stopped the Metro food, now giving him NLS Thera+A because of the garlic. I do not see any white on his poo. He is acting normal and eating voraciously. I also have Vitachem. I had carbon in, and I took it out. Cleaning the filters will be next but I'm giving the tank a little bit of a break, because I've been doing WCs and obviously the metro for a bit.

Is there anything else I can do? The holes aren't actually growing anymore I don't think but they're not really showing signs of healing either. I have an arsenal of fish meds because I stocked up due to this winter being so bad, so if you suggest something for bacterial infections or secondary infections - I probably have it, and it's probably not open (thankfully).

But should I dose, and with what? Should I give him the metro food again? I don't want to put him on meds he doesn't need. I did metro because I noticed one case of white on his poop, but that has since ended by the looks of it.


I wish I could tell you why I think this happened, because the bottom of my tank is stocked with good foods (takes up 1/4 of my stand), my freezer has an entire shelf dedicated to fish food, I use Prime conditioner, water changes are better than my sleep schedule, etc.

Is there anything else I should do? Should I use VitaChem more often now? How often? Should I try a stronger med for the holes in case they're parasites?

Thanks in advance.
 
The holes don't necessarily go away, they may gpet better the scaring remains. Can you post a picture?
 
There's little pinhole dots around his eye. it's just above his eye in the form of a white little pimple and to the side.
 
They're hard to see but yes they are pitted and a bit like craters. The most noticeable in that picture is just above his eye. Tried to get a better one but I really don't want to stress him.
 
Pics tough to make out but looks like you had it but it's healing. The pits/scars will remain after the HITH is cured kind like chickenpox.
 
Will try to get you another if you'd like. Thanks again man, I love this fish.

I'm curious though what could have done it? The only possible causes I can think of are temp changes from a wc or carbon.
 
There are a number of things that could have triggered it. The key is prevention, regular water changes, gravel vacuuming, filter maintenance all combine to create a healthy environment. Another important factor is providing a low stress environment and a well balanced diet. If you want to post a clearer picture I'll take a closer look.
 
Aquanero said:
There are a number of things that could have triggered it. The key is prevention, regular water changes, gravel vacuuming, filter maintenance all combine to create a healthy environment. Another important factor is providing a low stress environment and a well balanced diet. If you want to post a clearer picture I'll take a closer look.
Click to expand...

Yup, see first post. Hence why I asked, because I am doing all of those.

Sure, will try to get one now.
 
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