What is this

[RD.]

I also agree very strongly with Kolt, in this hobby one size does NOT always fit all. What might work for one person, could prove to be disaster for the next guy a few cities over. We should all be more careful on how we give out advice, without knowing all of the other members specific details and situation. Especially considering that the membership here spans the globe.

 

[nzafi]

RD. so you're saying that my bb have not had enough time to establish and my wc have caused a mini cycle? What's your advice on dealing with the ammonia? I just did another water test and its there still. Do I just keeping putting safe in the tank to detoxify? Should I stop feeding until the anmonia is gone? Should I do small daily water changes?

For the hith I guess I need to start feeding this guy metro+ or hex stuffed into filet?

At least his fins are healing.

 

[nzafi]

Per the 2016 water report we had .4ppm of chlorine. No mention of chloramine.

 

[RD.]

Just lost a detailed response $@#!, so short & sweet version - start by getting a Seachem Ammonia Alert - cost $10 or less. It monitors free ammonia (NH3). Uber important right now. Many test kits give false readings for NH3 when one is using Prime or Safe.

Keep the water clean, low nitrates, but don't over do it as I assume that your filter is far from being well established. That link I posted pretty much spells out what I know about HITH. The rest is still up to debate. The researchers still don't fully understand Spironucleus aka Hexamita, but when it becomes systemic and travels to organs etc, including the head region (as discussed in various papers) it can be deadly if not corrected. At the very least that fish is going to have some serious scar tissue down the road.

Those pits are being attacked by bacteria now, and you may have to consider a hospital tank, and some form of antibiotics. I would highly recommend watching the following two videos.

Sorry about all of your troubles over this past year!

 

[nzafi]

RD. thanks. I've memorized that article and these vids when I was dealing with my rhom I'm just very disillusioned as I lost the battle that time. I'm going to attempt to get this guy to eat hex directly tomorrow. I'll plan to do every other day water changes but smaller amounts.

 

[Grinch]

I don't think that there is much doubt at this point, based on my understanding of the literature, that hexamita parasites cause the head/body lesions that we call HITH. The real question at this point is what the aetiology of the disease is. In other words, what makes a fish susceptible to HITH and how does the disease progress? Given that so many factors have been positively associated with HITH, I suspect that it's a safe bet that any factor that immuno-compromises a fish might be positively associated with HITH. This includes amorphous "stress" in addition to all the other factors that have been mentioned in this thread and the article I've linked above.

This means that, if you have poor water quality, your tank is a ticking time-bomb for HITH.

To avoid: do your best to keep your fish from becoming immuno-compromised by your fish-keeping methods.

To cure an infection: Improve water quality and treat for parasites. Improving water quality does not necessarily mean frequent large water changes.

 

[RD.]

I suspect that it's a safe bet that any factor that immuno-compromises a fish might be positively associated with HITH

Yes, totally agree. Some form of stress is always the trigger that starts a chain reaction of events, ultimately resulting in HITH. For many years it was believed (and still is by many) that poor water condition is the only reason behind an outbreak of HITH, now we know better.

 

[nzafi]

RD. is the ammonia alert you were thinking of the one that hangs in the tank and continuously monitors ammonia?

 

[RD.]

Yes

http://www.seachem.com/ammonia-alert.php

 

[nzafi]

RD. got it last night. Like all testers the colors are hard to translate but looks like it's safe. I'll just keep an eye on it and add prime if needed.

It's been days since my last water change so I need to test the water for nitrates and see if need to take some out. Will aim for like 20%. Also got my one ac110 up and running.

Aimara is refusing to eat HEX pellets on their own but I got him to take some fillet stuffed with metro+ and 2 pellets. Not sure it's enough but need to start medicating.

He is still small so I'm comfortable handling him, should I take him out of the water and apply something to the skin to prevent some sort of infection. I am running the tank at 80 degrees and have salt in it to help in general.