hole in head disease

[Star_Rider]

if you ask me.. HITH/HLLE is the 'pimple' of the fish world.



as I have mentioned before.. i have had a Single angel in a tank of angels exhibit the Sx of HITH and it not affect any other fish in the tank.
leading me to believe that some fish are simply less resistant to it.

btw another read

which may support reptile guy if you read the conclusion(in particular multi causal)

this is a study that was done
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/spironucleus.php

 

[reptileguy2727]

Did you treat that angel?
What was the end result?

Yes, as with just about anything there is variation between individuals in their susceptibility. In parasitic cases individuals can have differing resistance. In dietary cases each individual can breakdown and absorb certain nutrients better than other individuals. In water quality cases each individual can have a different tolerance level of certain aspects of water quality.

 

[tetralina]

Hi there,

That is a photo of my fish that you have shown with the advanced pitting. I am having trouble with my photobucket account and needed the picture so I googled it and found your link. lol

Just wanted to clear up a few things. The oscars pitting healed completely. I know it looks terrible but it finally healed full with just a few slightly lower depressions left over.

The "dead fish" lying on the bottom is a very alive jewel cichlid. It lies on the bottom because it lost its swimbladder function over two years ago. Don't feel bad for it . . . it still swims about (using body force to propel it), fights for the lady jewels (by going in circles until it falls to the side) and eats very, very well.

Just didn't want you to feel bad for those two fish unnecessarily because actually they are two success stories.

t

 

[VivaLaVics]

When I first got my tank one of the fish had HITH. I performed regualer water changes (25% weekly) and varied the diet. Pellets in the morning, frozen cubes at night... either bloodworms (only SOMETIMES as they have no nutritional value), brine shrimp, veggie diet, krill, and ocean plankton and he healed right up! Don't know what caused it but I figured it was stress and health as the water changes and varied food took care of the issue within a week.

 

[Mokomon]

As freshwater aquarists, we will mainly encounter HITH through Oscars and other cichlids. It is very unsightly and detrimental to the fishes health. Here's some good info about that was just posted recently on MFK: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167891
Here's an example of it (not my fish). Very sad indeed:

*cries*

That is sad

 

[tetralina]

I have to say again . . . it is a destructive disease but those are my fish and they healed fully! Don't cry. Save the tears for pitting that does not heal and leads to the death of the oscar which is not the case here because the oscar recovered.

 

[cguarino30]

I have personally had a lot of success preventing/arresting the situation with dietary change. In my experience, the vast majority of fish suffering from the disease (not all, just the majority) come from underfiltered/overcrowded tanks, but more importantly, they generally consist of fish that have been fed a diet consisting exclusively of feeder goldfish, or some other feeder fish. I suggest avoiding feeders altogether if possible, especially for Oscars, who eat everything from plants, rodents, frogs, and crustaceans in the wild, and in the aquarium can eat spinach, shrimp, or any number of pellet or flake foods. In short, even if it is not the definite cause, diet variety is key to the health of any animal.

 

[reptileguy2727]

What species have you worked with?

 

[DrNo]

I have personally had a lot of success preventing/arresting the situation with dietary change. In my experience, the vast majority of fish suffering from the disease (not all, just the majority) come from underfiltered/overcrowded tanks, but more importantly, they generally consist of fish that have been fed a diet consisting exclusively of feeder goldfish, or some other feeder fish. I suggest avoiding feeders altogether if possible, especially for Oscars, who eat everything from plants, rodents, frogs, and crustaceans in the wild, and in the aquarium can eat spinach, shrimp, or any number of pellet or flake foods. In short, even if it is not the definite cause, diet variety is key to the health of any animal.

Nice post. Varied diet always a good thing regardless of disease etiology.