Hole in the head?

[Adellefrost]

Hi, is this hole in the head disease? I noticed it today in my angelfish and I’m worried. He lives in a 60g planted tank so I am not excited to do treatment…is salt baths effective?

 

[Colin_T]

No it is not hole in the head disease (HITH). HITH is characterised by small pimple like bumps around the head and face. After a few days these open and look like small white worms (they are not worms). A few days after that the worm part disappears and there is a small hole/ pit where it used to be.

HITH is caused by a parasite called Hexamita and they thrive in a dirty environment. To prevent HITH disease, do big regular water changes, gravel clean the substrate every time you do a water change, clean the filter at least once a month.

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The fish has an oval shaped area with excess mucous around it. This could be from a minor injury (scratched on something in the tank) or the start of something else (maybe an ulcer). The tail and dorsal (top) fins also appear a bit damaged.

How long has the tank been set up?
How long have you had the fish for?
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?

What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the aquarium water?
What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

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FIRST AID FOR FISH
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until the problem is identified. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Monitor the fish over the next few days and see how it goes. If it changes or looks worse, post new pictures immediately.

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Salt baths don't do anything except stress the fish. You chase the fish then stick it in salt water, which might kill off somethings on the fish, but then you put it back in the tank where it picked up the disease and it will get reinfected.

If you want to add salt directly to the main tank, that is fine.

SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water (2 litres or 1/2 gallon) and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

 

[GaryE]

The fish appears as if it has been beaten up. How many angels are in the tank?

It looks young, and usually the peaceful days of youth with angels end abruptly when sexual maturity hits. That's when a lot of people end up with either a dead fish or two, or a new tank.

I would do water changes religiously, identify the aggressor, and then check my bank balance. Once it starts, there is no stopping it. The fish can't swim away. If the aggressor isn't an angel, then you face a similar issue with space.

 

[Adellefrost]

No it is not hole in the head disease (HITH). HITH is characterised by small pimple like bumps around the head and face. After a few days these open and look like small white worms (they are not worms). A few days after that the worm part disappears and there is a small hole/ pit where it used to be.

HITH is caused by a parasite called Hexamita and they thrive in a dirty environment. To prevent HITH disease, do big regular water changes, gravel clean the substrate every time you do a water change, clean the filter at least once a month.

----------------------

The fish has an oval shaped area with excess mucous around it. This could be from a minor injury (scratched on something in the tank) or the start of something else (maybe an ulcer). The tail and dorsal (top) fins also appear a bit damaged.

How long has the tank been set up?
How long have you had the fish for?
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?

What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the aquarium water?
What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

----------------------

FIRST AID FOR FISH
Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until the problem is identified. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Monitor the fish over the next few days and see how it goes. If it changes or looks worse, post new pictures immediately.

----------------------

Salt baths don't do anything except stress the fish. You chase the fish then stick it in salt water, which might kill off somethings on the fish, but then you put it back in the tank where it picked up the disease and it will get reinfected.

If you want to add salt directly to the main tank, that is fine.

SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water (2 litres or 1/2 gallon) and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

Thank you for your in depth response! To answer your questions, this tank is 5 years old, and I have had this particular angelfish for 2 years. It has a penguin 75g filter I think? But I added a 20g filter running concurrently because I wanted it to establish bacteria so I could use it on a different tank. I took it out after a couple weeks, so that is the only thing that was changed recently. I do water changes once a week at 25%, I do clean the gravel and add stress coat with the new water. I don’t clean the filter much at all…I’ve done it a couple times on your advice I will do that now.

The ammonia and nitrite are 0, the nitrate is 40ppm. Which I know is high, so I will do the water changes. Unfortunately my regular tap water reads 20ppm so I know I won’t be able to get that down to 0. I’m just praying this isn’t an illness and with the nitrate down and a clean filter it’ll be the end of it.

 

[Adellefrost]

The fish appears as if it has been beaten up. How many angels are in the tank?

It looks young, and usually the peaceful days of youth with angels end abruptly when sexual maturity hits. That's when a lot of people end up with either a dead fish or two, or a new tank.

I would do water changes religiously, identify the aggressor, and then check my bank balance. Once it starts, there is no stopping it. The fish can't swim away. If the aggressor isn't an angel, then you face a similar issue with space.

Hi! He’s actually not that young, I’ve had him for 2 years but he was an adult already when I got him. There’s one other angelfish who definitely does nip at him, as well as a couple opaline gouramis. They haven’t actually caused harm before in the past though.gonna try and do a lot of water changes!

 

[Colin_T]

Just clean the filter and do daily water changes and gravel cleans for a week and see how it goes. Hopefully it clears up without any issues.

There's not really any diseases that look like that so there's a good chance it's just a minor sore that should heal up over a few days.