discus - possible HITH

[fish lover]

Hi,
I bought 7 discus 2 weeks ago. One of them did not make it. The reset
are fine.

I noticed one of the remaining discus now have tiny holes in the head
area, not really big and they looked more like air bubbbles. I'm worry
this one may have the HITH and will get all other discus in trouble.
The fish is fine otherwise, eating like crazy. They are all about 2.5
in big.

I change 45% of water every 3 days or so. My tank is 125G and has some
plants in it. Other tank mates: 1 cat, 2 plecos. PH is about 6.9 to
7.0, no ammo, temp 85-86 F

What should I do? Any tips?

Thanks in advance!

[Elaine T]

fish lover wrote:
> Hi,
> I bought 7 discus 2 weeks ago. One of them did not make it. The reset
> are fine.
>
> I noticed one of the remaining discus now have tiny holes in the head
> area, not really big and they looked more like air bubbbles. I'm worry
> this one may have the HITH and will get all other discus in trouble.
> The fish is fine otherwise, eating like crazy. They are all about 2.5
> in big.
>
> I change 45% of water every 3 days or so. My tank is 125G and has some
> plants in it. Other tank mates: 1 cat, 2 plecos. PH is about 6.9 to
> 7.0, no ammo, temp 85-86 F
>
> What should I do? Any tips?
>
> Thanks in advance!

Supposedly HITH is caused by nutritional deficiences. It is also
strongly associated with hexamita infections. You can treat without
harming your fish with metronidazole and a vitamin supplement in the
food. Jungle makes an anti-parasitic food with metronidazole,
praziquantel, and levamisole that might work for you - it would have the
advantage of worming them as well since they're new fish. If they
refuse the Jungle food, treat with metronidazole in the water or mixed
into their usual feed. For the vitamins, look for a supplement that
includes vitamins D and C.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[fish lover]

On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 19:51:31 GMT, Elaine T >
wrote:

>fish lover wrote:
>> Hi,
>> I bought 7 discus 2 weeks ago. One of them did not make it. The reset
>> are fine.
>>
>> I noticed one of the remaining discus now have tiny holes in the head
>> area, not really big and they looked more like air bubbbles. I'm worry
>> this one may have the HITH and will get all other discus in trouble.
>> The fish is fine otherwise, eating like crazy. They are all about 2.5
>> in big.
>>
>> I change 45% of water every 3 days or so. My tank is 125G and has some
>> plants in it. Other tank mates: 1 cat, 2 plecos. PH is about 6.9 to
>> 7.0, no ammo, temp 85-86 F
>>
>> What should I do? Any tips?
>>
>> Thanks in advance!
>
>Supposedly HITH is caused by nutritional deficiences. It is also
>strongly associated with hexamita infections. You can treat without
>harming your fish with metronidazole and a vitamin supplement in the
>food. Jungle makes an anti-parasitic food with metronidazole,
>praziquantel, and levamisole that might work for you - it would have the
>advantage of worming them as well since they're new fish. If they
>refuse the Jungle food, treat with metronidazole in the water or mixed
>into their usual feed. For the vitamins, look for a supplement that
>includes vitamins D and C.


Thanks for the advise. I feed my discus with bloobworms that enriched
with vitamines. And some times FishOne flacks. The refuse to eat
anything else.

I tried to feed the Jungle food you talked about and the fish just
would not eat it. I guess I will try the metronidazole then.