Is This Hole In The Head?

[redSG]

Hi All,
A little less than a week ago, we noticed on one of our larger discus that he has a sore near his temple. At first, I thought it was an injury (he and another discus are narky with each other sometimes), and we treated with a bit of melafix. It seemed to halt/possibly heal, but my husband believes it's now getting more noticeable. I'm worried that it may be HITH. Any opinions? (Apologies for the blurriness, he's hard to get sitting still)

Tank factors are:
Tank size: 125L
pH: 6.4
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0mg/L
nitrate: b/w 0-10 mg/L
kH: 0
gH: <3
tank temp: 81F

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): The ulcer is whitish/flesh coloured with no redness. No noticeable behaviour problems, he has a healthy appetite and seems alert.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: once a week/25% (last change was over the weekend)

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: King British Safe Guard, Tetra easy balance, Fluval 4Plus filter with poly and carbon inserts

Tank inhabitants: 4 Discus (2 x 1.5", 2 x 3"), 5 black widow tetras, 3 dwarf neon rainbowfish, 3 cories (1 Sterbai, 2 Schwartzi), 1 bristlenose plec, 1 aluminum cat, 1 albino red finned shark

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): a small discus was added at the weekend

Exposure to chemicals: none

Diet: We rotate between a variety of frozen food (bloodworm, discus quintet, and mussels), also feeding Hikari discus pellets, Tetra Prima pellets, Aquarian Trop Fish Flake, Tetra variety and pleco wafers, and spirulina catfish pellets

As always, any advice/info is greatly appreciated.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

looks like the start of it.

i successfully cured it in my oscar, there's a post in the medical journals section which gives full details which may help you.

two main things. keep the water spotless, i was doing 40% changes every day while treating

get to the vet. they'll be able to prescribe some meds for it (can't remember the name but it's in the other post) and you give the fish a bath in medicated water every day for a few weeks.

it's not too difficult to treat though, harder work than curing fin rot or something like that but it is definately treatable if you act quickly.

 

[Colin_T]

not sure if it is the picture or is the fish skinny and can I see its back bone? The sore looks more like an ulcer than HITH. HITH or head and lateral line disease looks like tiny white worms that appear along the lateral line and around the head of fishes, mainly cichlids and marine angels and tangs. You also end up with small pits a bit like acne scars around the fish's head. It is usually brought about by poor water quality. We used to use flagyl (metronidazole) which is used to treat internal upsets in people. Not sure if you can get it without a vet. And it wipes out your filter bacteria.

If it is an ulcer then it is generally brought about by flesh eating bacteria that take over when the fish's immune system is run down. Ulcers are a common sign of fish tuberculosis.
Make sure the fish are fed a varied diet and are free of worms and gill flukes. Keep the temperature high and water clean and see how things go.

 

[redSG]

Thanks for the opinions. This couldn't have happened at a worse time--I'm 3 days overdue pregnant, and am fairly restricted in how much running about I can do tracking down remedies or even just doing tank maintenance! Luckily, we were able to do a partial water change tonight and will continue to do so and track what happens.
It's so frustrating, as this Discus is the liveliest and best looking one in the tank (the pic I posted doesn't do him justice). I hate to think of him getting ill. Fingers crossed!

 

[Colin_T]

Get your other half to do the work on the tank. Afterall, it's his fault your pregnant