Pike Cichlid Hole in the Head?

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A

AaronKWolfe

Polypterus
MFK Member
Oct 24, 2019
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Have you tested your water?
No
If yes, what is your ammonia?
0 ppm
If yes, what is your nitrite?
0 ppm
If yes, what is your nitrate?
5-10 ppm
If I did not test my water...
  1. ...I recognize that I will likely be asked to do a test, and that water tests are critical for solving freshwater health problems.
Do you do water changes?
Yes
What percentage of water do you change?
21-30%
How frequently do you change your water?
Every week
If I do not change my water...
  1. ...I recognize that I will likely be recommended to do a water change, and water changes are critical for preventing future freshwater health problems.
I have a pike cichlid (I believe it is a saxatilis of some sort) and I've been noticing something weird on his head. It's near impossible to get a good picture of it, but it almost looks like needle holes in his head towards his eyes. They are very small in diameter, they are clean (not jagged, rough, no rotting tissue around it), and they appear to be deep and not just simple scratches. I noticed this about a month ago and tested my water and found my nitrates were a little on the higher end (between 20-40 ppm), so I decided to up my water change amount from 10 gallons every week to 20 gallons (I have him in a 75 gallon by himself). I thought perhaps he could be hitting some of the decorations, so I removed some of the rocks and driftwood, but nothing has changed. His behavior is perfectly normal. I'm not sure if I should just keep up the water changes and see how things continue to go or if I should try giving him some medication. It's really hard to get a decent picture of the holes, I don't really want to try and net him or anything to get pictures because that could just result in him getting scratched, damage to his slime coat, etc. but I could try tomorrow morning to see if I can get some pictures if necessary.

Edit: I did test my water, I just hit that I did not test it because I was in a rush and I can't change it.
 
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One thing to consider, depending of which variant of pike saxitillis you have,
is the water parameters of your tap water.
What are your tap water pH and hardness levels?
Many pike cichlids in S America, come from rivers that are highly acidic (low pH) and very soft water, and inundated with tannins (black water).

It may be that your tap water is hard, and high pH, and not suitable for the variant you are trying to keep, and may be causing the HITH even though your nitrate are relatively low. And if so, you may need to do double or triple normal water changes to make up for aberrant water parameter conditions.

I (much like AaronKWolfe) consider a 20-30% water change for rheophillic pristine water species such as S American Crenicichla, a quite wimpy water changes schedule.
For my wild caught cichlids, I try to do a 30% to 40% water change every other day or so.

A little water quality research below.
What is the optimal amount of nitrate in a watershed?
1. Nitrates in river water often ranges from 0.01-3.0 mg/L.
2. A nitrate-nitrogen reading that is less than 1.0 mg/L is considered excellent.
3. A nitrate-nitrogen reading that is 1.1-3.0 mg/L is considered good.
4. A nitrate-nitrogen reading that is 3.1-5.0 mg/L is considered fair.
5. A nitrate-nitrogen reading that is greater than 5.0 mg/L is considered poor and unsafe for drinking water. Some sewage treatment plants may have levels in excess of 20 mg/L.
6. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations that exceed 10.0 mg/L (44 mg/L nitrogen) may cause methemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome) in bottle-fed infants. Nitrite affects the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen.
 
Unfortunately I'm not sure where exactly my pike cichlid is from. That definitely does make sense as where I live does have hard and alkaline water. I've heard people use vinegar to lower the pH, but I'm not sure how exactly good of an idea that is because the pH is lower, but there's other things in the water associated with the higher pH. I have tried to soak peat moss in water and squeeze the coffee-colored water out to try and add in some tannins. Is there anything I can do to try and soften the water aside from use RODI water? I saw API has a water softener pillow, but I'm kind of skeptical about just dumping stuff into my aquariums.
 
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