Angel fish with Hole in cheek

[jonall]

I was just wondering if anyone can recognise this problem and if anyone has any personal experience in dealing with or treating this

I have just returned from a 2 week holiday and noticed an angel fish which seemed to have a bubble like skin over its mouth, its mouth is also slightly squinted and it is breathing much faster than normal. To go along with this it has a hole in its cheek just below the mouth and in front of its gills.

My initial thought was hole in the head but after reading a little about this Hole in the head seems to be higher up in the head, so now im thinking its bacterial and the bacteria has rotted through the cheek. Saying this there is no real scaring or fungus around the wound and no other fish seems to have any problem. There was also some evidence after i returned of some bullying from a pair of larger Angels that i believe maybe recently paired off, I dont know if it is possible they could cause that kind of damage.

The fins are intact and are not clamped at all and there is no problems with its swimming/balance.

As soon as i spotted the problem 2 days ago I moved the Angel to a seperate tank and am currently treating with anti-bacterial fungal medicines , In general it seems to be fine with no other problems or reaction to the treatment, I would say the bubble has pretty much gone but the hole is still there, But I have seen little sign of eating or wanting to eat.

I guess my question is is there any chance the Angel can survive and the hole heal up or is keeping it alive just going to make it suffer in the long run

 

[WILDER]

Best thing to do keep up with water changes and carry on with anti internal bacteria med, add some melafix to the tank, hope this does the trick.

 

[blue_ram]

Hole in the head (HITH) primarily affects cichlids and anabantoids. The hole doesn't ncessarily isn't on the head. It could also be around gills as well. The hole pretty much spreads everywhere except the undersides. If you see the hole spreading to other parts of the body, and getting larger, then it's definitely HITH. Here's a local link to some information on the HITH.

I've had cases of HITH several times, and none of the fish (all of them were angels) survived the disease. It seems to me that HITH kills most angels and oscars that contracts them. I've tried various medications without any sucess. Funny thing is, other fish including the mollies, and barbs seems to be completely unaffected.