Help With Hith

[nino]

So I posted earlier this week about how I thought my betta was peeling between his eyes, something that I noticed right before Thanksgiving but while I was away for the holiday it progressed. It was a lighter color though now it is back to his dark red color (he is one of Synirr's babies). I'm pretty sure he has HITH. I've done some research and think it is the kind caused by environmental factors or poor diet. I'm surprised by both those because I try to feed them as varied as I can (pellets, peas, and mosquito larvae when I can get them). He lives in a 2.5 gallon, heated, mini-filtered tank that gets a hundred percent water change atleast once a week, more sometimes.

The reason I don't think it is the other type of HITH (Hexamita) is because he is acting like himself- swimming around, eating everything I give him and flaring at his female neighbor occasionally. Today I noticed a small hole in his head that was definatly not there yesterday.

What should I do? I've varied his diet with different types of betta and fish pellets and given him peas so he can get vitamins. I gave him a 100% water change yesterday and added some slime coat and Melafix. What else can I do? Another water change today? Meds?

He's my favorite betta I want to make him better.

I've also posted this in Betta section... since he's a betta. Hope no one minds too much.

 

[WILDER]

Hole in the head is pitting, like pencil dints if you no what i mean, can you see a parasite in the hole like a stringy thing.

 

[nino]

There's one little pit. There's no oozing, no pus, nothing. That's why I believe it's the environmental type of HITH. All I can do is take out the carbon, more water changes, more good food. Are there any meds that would help though?

 

[WILDER]

http/www.worldcichlids.com/diseases/Adamhith.html

Not the writer of this information below.

Hexamita (a.k.a. Hole-In-The-Head)



Symptoms:

Indications for this disease are small holes in the body, particularly the head. These develop into tubular eruptions. Other symptoms may include yellow strings of mucous, which may trail from the lesions around the head. Sick fish may lose their appetite and become emaciated (sunken belly region). Their colors may fade and pale, stringy feces may also be observed.



Cause:

The flagellate Hexamita. This parasite infects the gallbladder, intestines and blood stream. Fibrosis of the gallbladder may occur as a result of infection. Low-level infestations may exist for quite some time unnoticed. Cichlids and Gourami are the species most commonly afflicted with this disease.



Treatment:

The medication Metronidazole (Flagyl). This infestation is contagious, therefore, all fish in the tank should be treated.

 

[nino]

Thanks but I'm pretty sure he has the other HITH, also called something with "lateral line" in the title.

 

[WILDER]

Not the writer of this information.
Head & Lateral Line Erosion



Symptoms:

This disease is marked by open pitted wounds around a fish's head and along the lateral line, as if something is slowly eroding away the flesh. It is very similar to the freshwater disease Hole-In-The-Head. Head & Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE) is not fatal in the short run, but if the disease continues to progress, the fish will stop eating and become lethargic. Furthermore, the open wounds caused by HLLE make the fish susceptible to other infections which in turn leads to the further deterioration of its health. These secondary infections are usually the cause of death.



Cause:

Unknown cause, although it is thought that there may be several contributing causes including stray voltage in the aquarium, poor water quality and environmental conditions, high nitrate levels, lack of vitamins and poor nutrition, stress, parasitic infestation (the protozoan Octomita necatrix), or using carbon. Some fish, like Tangs and Surgeonfish, seem to be genetically predisposed to this disease.

The lateral line aids fish in detecting small microvoltages emmited by prey or predators during muscle contraction. The induced voltages from any submerged coil device such as a powerhead, heater, and pump can all add voltage to the tank. This stray voltage can irritate a fish's lateral line if it's constantly stimulating it and eventually lead to erosion of the skin overlying this structure.



Treatment:

Medications do not seem to do much for this disease, although the use of medicated food is recommended to prevent bacterial secondary infections. The best intervention, however, seems to be improving the water quality and supplementing the fish's diet with vitamins, particularly vitamins A, B, D, and E as well as iodine. This can be done several ways. Food can be soaked in water with a drop of liquid multivitamins, such as Selcon or Zoe. Alternatively, fish could be fed fresh or frozen vegetables, such as broccoli, zuchinni, and peas.

The importance of good regular aquarium maintenance cannot be stressed enough. Eliminate any stress-inducing factors. It might also be a good idea to add a grounding probe to the aquarium if you suspect that there may be stray voltage in the aquarium.

 

[nino]

Not the writer of this information.
Head & Lateral Line Erosion



Symptoms:

This disease is marked by open pitted wounds around a fish's head and along the lateral line, as if something is slowly eroding away the flesh. It is very similar to the freshwater disease Hole-In-The-Head. Head & Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE) is not fatal in the short run, but if the disease continues to progress, the fish will stop eating and become lethargic. Furthermore, the open wounds caused by HLLE make the fish susceptible to other infections which in turn leads to the further deterioration of its health. These secondary infections are usually the cause of death.



Cause:

Unknown cause, although it is thought that there may be several contributing causes including stray voltage in the aquarium, poor water quality and environmental conditions, high nitrate levels, lack of vitamins and poor nutrition, stress, parasitic infestation (the protozoan Octomita necatrix), or using carbon. Some fish, like Tangs and Surgeonfish, seem to be genetically predisposed to this disease.

The lateral line aids fish in detecting small microvoltages emmited by prey or predators during muscle contraction. The induced voltages from any submerged coil device such as a powerhead, heater, and pump can all add voltage to the tank. This stray voltage can irritate a fish's lateral line if it's constantly stimulating it and eventually lead to erosion of the skin overlying this structure.



Treatment:

Medications do not seem to do much for this disease, although the use of medicated food is recommended to prevent bacterial secondary infections. The best intervention, however, seems to be improving the water quality and supplementing the fish's diet with vitamins, particularly vitamins A, B, D, and E as well as iodine. This can be done several ways. Food can be soaked in water with a drop of liquid multivitamins, such as Selcon or Zoe. Alternatively, fish could be fed fresh or frozen vegetables, such as broccoli, zuchinni, and peas.

The importance of good regular aquarium maintenance cannot be stressed enough. Eliminate any stress-inducing factors. It might also be a good idea to add a grounding probe to the aquarium if you suspect that there may be stray voltage in the aquarium.

Thanks, that's helpful. I've been doing some of that so I guess I'll just have to keep it up. Time will tell.

 

[shiftingsands]

I read somewhere that Earthworm Flake is helpful in curing HITH, you can get it from Kens foods if you are in the US.