Ouch..... Always A First Time......

[Ludwig Venter]

In 40 years of fishkeeping I have been confronted by numerous challenges and some I got right, others I did not....... I suspect that I have a brand new situation here, which falls into the category of "others"...

I've heard of "hole in the head", and if I look at the symptoms of my Angelfish..... I'm afraid that is what she has..... Is there anything I can do, and is it contageous......

 

[matt_storey]

taken from another forum, hope it helps

Treatment and control:
The best way of treating hole-in-the-head disease is with medicated food. Unfortunately, affected fish often stop feeding and it is difficult to mix medicated food on a small scale. Fortunately, there are a few drugs which may be added to the water of the tank. Among these are dimetridazole and metronnidazole, both of which are available only with a veterinary prescription in certain countries. A local veterinarian should be able to assist you in the use and application of these drugs, and it is likely that several repeat treatments will be needed for a successful outcome.

For long-term control, it is important to quarantine all new stock, give appropriate preventative treatment and eliminate the factors which bring on the disease. Usually, HLLE can be successfully treated by offering fresh vegetable matter in the diet and removing activated carbon filteration and any protein skimming.

 

[fishchick]

great advice..also yes it can be contagious as it is spread through infected fish waste..best to clean all gravel and filters, along with a 30-50% water change to help prevent it from spreading and/or coming back..

 

[Davo86]

Ludwig can you purchase waterlife products over there? waterlife octozin AFAIK is one of the only available treatments that doesn't need to be prescribed by a vet

You can also feed multi vitamins to them to improve this condition as it is often caused when the fish isn't getting enough of a particular vitamin or mineral