Hole In The Head? Help!

[Jackiee]

My fish recently got over an infection, and all has been well since her antibiotic treatment has stopped.
After the infections went away, she had a tiny, tiny hole in her head that looked like it could just be a sore from the infection that was healing, and it wasn't getting any bigger so I didn't think it was hole in the head.

But now, Ive just got home to find the hole larger. It's a white hole. right above her right eye. Now I think she does have hole in the head.

I know it can be caused from not eating, but she's been eating very well. And I also know it can be from bad water. And having high ammonia/nitrite levels for a prolonged period of time.

I have nitrites in my water..
They've been 1.0 ppm for about a week, no matter how many water changes I do.
Because my tap water has 1.0 ppm nitrites as well.

I've been dechlorinating my tap water for the water changes with Amquel plus which removes chlorine and chloramines, and reduces nitrite, nitrate and ammonia.. but it's still not taking it out of my tap water

I've also been dosing the tank as a whole with the Amquel Plus and it's STILL not reducing nitrite at all. Not even gradually!
I have almost ZERO nitrate, so my biological filter isn't turning the nitrite into nitrate by itself either.

I don't know what to do? I think this is why the hole has gotten larger.

And I also just recently added a big, beautiful Sailfin Leopard Pleco to the tank and I don't want him to become harmed by the nitrites.
Or the hole in the head.. is it contagious?

 

[Jackiee]

Anyone? please

 

[markandhisfish]

ive not heard of nitrites in tap water before , not really sure what to suggest there , but from what your saying about having 0 nitrates , im wondering if your tank was properly cycled before you added fish. how long has the tank been running? can you give a full set of water stats? how did you cycle your tank? also a pic of the affected fish would be usefull too if possible.

 

[Jackiee]

I filled up a cup of water straight out of my sink and tested it. No nitrates in it, but 1.0 ppm of nitrites was in it. and a p.h. of 7.4.. hardness was very hard. and my tank has been cycled and running for years. about 3 or 4 years now.
never had problems with nitrites when i did water changes with distilled water, but when my fish got sick a couple weeks ago, with so frequent water changes having to be done, I had to start using tap water with a tap water conditioner, because it was becoming a huge hassel and expensive to keep buying that much distilled water from the grocery store.

Nitrates are next to nothing, 5 ppm.
Nitrites are in the stress zone, 1.0 ppm
P.h. is 7.4
Ammonia is unknown because I don't have a test for my ammonia right now, I have to go buy a new kit.


I've tried to get a picture of her but when I put the camera to the tank she gets curious and excited and swims all around.

It looks exactly as if somebody took the tip of an ink pin and poked her in the forehead with it. The hole itself and the skin around it is white. It's not very big, but seems to gradually be getting bigger little by little.

 

[markandhisfish]

a couple of questions pop into my head . what sort of fish is it? altho other species can get hith it is mostly cichlids that are more prone to it .

also you say in your original post that after treating the infection there was a small pinprick like hole . it could be that you didnt fully knock the infection out and it is causing this lesion.

can you post a photo?

 

[Jackiee]

She's a parrot fish, and i looked up other hole in the head pictures and it looks very close to what she has. This lesion isn't moldy or fungus or anything of that sort, i did try to take some pictures hopefully it's clear enough to identify.


Here:

You can't see the actual hole in these pictures because everytime i tried getting a shot at her head from above, she followed the camera. So all you see is the white skin around the hole.

 

[markandhisfish]

it may look different in person , but from the pics it looks like it cold maybe just be an injury. possibly caused by that cave she is next to .

also i have just re-read your original post and you say it was a small hole not getting bigger .

but ten you say that youd just come home and found it bigger . if im interpreting this right you mean you went out and the hole was small , then you came back home and the hole was suddenly that big?

seachem prime may be a good choice of dechlorinator if you have nitrites in your tap water , as used at slightly higher doses it detoxifies nitrite

http/www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html

 

[Jackiee]

The hole was there for about a week but it was very very tiny, so i wasn't sure if it was just something that was healing. then over a period of two days the whole got a little larger, to where it was clear it was a hole the size of an ink pen tip. now it's staying the same again size again for about 3 or 4 days but it might get bigger if the nitrites stay there. hmmm

 

[markandhisfish]

i think the 1st thing you need to do is sort this nitrite problem . not sure what to suggest about it being in the tap water . but if your filter isnt processing it either maybe the meds have knocked your filter bacteria back??

 

[CrustyOnEastCoast]

I'm real new at this, so take what I say with a grain of salt ...

Since you were usually using distilled water for your water changes, and recently changed over to tap water ... maybe your biological filter is not prepared to handle the shock of the additional load of 1.0ppm nitrite .. coming out of nowhere ... and not gradually appearing like what you might expect when adding fish.

Don't the nitrospira, nitrobacter (whatever bacteria that eat up the nitrites) take a long time to reproduce?

Maybe try adding half and half ... half distilled water (+ whatever minerals you were adding) .. and half tap water .. that will immediately lighten the load on your biological filter ... Then gradually work up to your goal (next step after some days/weeks?: 75% tap water, 25% distilled water) .. then finally (100% tap water).

This subject interests me, because I too have bad tap water (> 1ppm ammonia!) and I use RO water + minerals. But my tank is only 5 gallons so not too expensive for me.

 

[Tolak]

If you are seeing nitrate you bio filtration is working. Much the same as the chemicals in dechlorinator neutralize, not remove ammonia, the same is done with nitrite with a good dechlorinator such as Prime. Depending on the test, the nitrate may still show a reading, even though it has been rendered harmless.

HITH is related to diet, water quality, and has been indirectly linked to running carbon in the filter. I would continue with the large water changes, double dosing with Prime. Get a good cichlid pellet & soak them in children's liquid vitamins; feed only this. If you are running carbon remove it.

 

[Jackiee]

That is true, CrustyOnEastCoast, I was doing my water changes with 100% distilled water every time. When she got sick, I had to switch to doing 100% tap water changes everytime. But, I got some advice from someone and I did a 50% water change 2 days ago with half spring water (someone told me it's better than distilled because it still contains minerals like your tap water, but has no chlorine) and half tap water. Her color changed drastically with doing this and she's now a bright brilliant solid orange, but the white hole is still in her head. hasn't gotten any larger though. and the medicine and antibiotics that I used to treat her a few weeks ago were safe for my biological filter. I used Pimafix and E.m. Erythromycin.

And Tolak, it is nitrites that I'm seeing on the tests, hardly any nitrate. I had my carbon out for a couple weeks while I was dosing her with the antibiotics and what not, and that is when she developed it, and the directions told me to put my carbon filter back in after treatment was done, so I did. Should I take it back out again? My large pleco produces alot of waste and I feel like my water isn't getting cleaned if the filter cartidge isn't in.

The filters that I have are a Penquin Bio-wheel 170 (with carbon filter cartridges that you insert), and a Marineland H.O.T. Magnum biological filter that has no carbon in it, but a bio-rock, and a sponge cover around the biorock container to catch large particles from the water. And lastly, an undergravel filter, which I've come to hear from many people on here that they aren't a very meaningful filter and that I should just take it out.

I have been feeding her TetraMin tropical flakes, Tetra brand BabyShrimp sun dried gammarus, occasionally San Fransisco Bay brand frozen premium Brine Shrimp, and I just recently bought Wardley brand algae disks for my large Pleco, but my parrot has been picking on them like crazy every night I drop them in the tank, they push and shove each other away while they both try to eat it, until the pleco gets ahold of it then he goes to town. So I usually drop 2 in.

I did see Hikari brand cichlid gold pellets at the store that I heard were good for cichlids, and I was tempted to buy them for her, I should probably go back and purchase them to feed her.

 

[Jackiee]

I think I may have found the culprit to my parrot fish's hole in her head..
I was watching my parrot fish last night and she was trying to get an algae wafer from my
large pleco, he began to chase her off and she kept trying to get his food. then my parrot began
to try to bump him out of the way with her head and the pleco turned sideways and stuck her in the
head with the sharp point of his pectoral fins.

Now she has yet another small hole in her head.
The old one still hasn't even gone away.. it's no larger, but it doesnt seem to be healing.
Maybe a tiny bit. like a skinny film of skin has regrown over it if anything, but not much..

Why is my Pleco acting aggressively like this? Usually they're very peaceful and ignore all
the other fish for the most part.

I even feed my parrot before I feed the Pleco. Then my Pleco will come up and suck the wafer out of
my fingers at the top of the water, and he takes it down to the bottom and sucks on it, where the
parrot tries eating on it also, almost to the point that she tries taking it out of his mouth.

Of course, I don't blame him, seems like she could get annoying to him at times with always
swimming around him and trying to tank his food, bump him, etc.