Angelfish Hith? (pics)

[nathan3b]

I have a 30g well planted all angel tall tank, currently housing 4 medium sized teens and one large adult. I've had the adult for well over 4 months and he started to show some bad symptoms yesterday morning! The first symptom I saw was that his upper lip has been either rotten away or bitten off and this morning I noticed HITH I think! I do a 50% biweekly water change and my readings are currently at Nitrate (5-10 ppm), Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, PH 7.2, temp currently at 78

Can anyway confirm and tell me what type of sickness he has so I can take the appropriate action ASAP? I need to know if this is contagious! this is my first sickness I’ve ever encountered in my angel tank

 

[WILDER]

How many fish and which type.

Mouth fungus flexibactor columnaris can rot the mouth away, did the mouth have any white fluff like cotton wool on the mouth, bleached out lips, or cotton strands.

Hole in the head will look like pitting on the head region or start of as a spot.

By the pics it does look like hole in the head.

 

[Tolak]

You in the US, UK, or someplace else? This will determine what medications are available.

 

[nathan3b]

im in Canada, and I have a total of 5 angels! 4 young and 1 adult. Can this cause any issues with the other 4 in the tank? Can I treat the tank with all 5 fish?

forgot to mention that he has stopped eating since yesterday night, i feed daily.

 

[WILDER]

All fish in the tank should be treated.
Scroll down to hole in the head.
http/www.fish-disease.net/diseases.htm

 

[WILDER]

The fish with the rotting mouth can it still eat.

Another link to hole in the head.
http/www.fishyfarmacy.com/articles/hexamita.html

 

[nathan3b]

The fish with the rotting mouth can it still eat.

Another link to hole in the head.
[URL="http/www.fishyfarmacy.com/articles/hexamita.html"]http/www.fishyfarmacy.com/articles/hexamita.html[/URL]

it still swims around very activly but it has stopped eating since last night, can the lip grow back? I did not notice any white/cloudy fluff on the mouth when I noticed it the next day. ill go ahead and purchase some Metronidazole tomorrow and follow the intructions on the bottle. Is there anything else I can do to heal his lip? other than clean water? will salt help at all?

 

[WILDER]

No the mouth won't grow back.
If he can't eat it might be best to end his misery.
Can you load a pic up onto the site to see how much of his mouth gone.
You can dab the wound with methylene blue or melafiix, but it really stresses the fish.

 

[Tolak]

HITH is best treated with fresh water & a vitamin enriched diet. I think the bigger issue is what appears to be a bacterial issue, most likely columnaris, by the looks of the marking behind the eye, and the middle of the body. This is also more than likely the problem with the mouth, HITH has to be very severe before it affects the mouth, I'm not seeing that.

I would go with a sulfa based medication, daily 50% water changes & remed. Continue for 14 days, you will need a separate tank for this fish. Do not treat fish with no symptoms.

Feed a small cichlid pellet, or frozen brine shrimp. Pick up a liquid multiple vitamin. Soak the pellets in a few drops of vitamin, or mix it with the thawed brine shrimp.

Salt will not help at all. Fresh water will help with any regrowth that may occur.

If you purchase metro, do not follow the instructions on the bottle, it will not work. Dose at 40mg/gallon, daily 50% water changes, remed daily.

This is a secondary issue to the bacterial problem, and requires turning up the water temperature to the upper 80's/low 90'sF, something that is total opposite to what you want to do treating a bacterial ailment. It is more designed for internal protizoans, which have been linked to HITH, the only symptom of which your fish is showing is the failure to eat. It is not eating because of the mouth issue.