My 3 y/o Discus has hole in the head, please help her!

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Today I found out my favorite fish "Jackie" ( I would like to think
she is a girl) has hole in the head.
She has not lost her appetite & is behaving normally except for
sometimes trying to scratch herself on the driftwood.
I read somewhere on the net that earthworms fed to the fish by itself
will cure it without a need to use medication, I will also perform
50% water change twice a week until she cures herself & then go back to
my maintenance schedule of a 50% water change every other week.
I would like to stick to the earthworm method because I never liked
the Idea of using medication on my tank, and my former quarantine tanks
1 is full of guppy fry and the other, a 30 gallon tank is empty & has
no filter, so If i were to use medication it would have to be in the
main tank.
My x girlfriend added the rams, the gouramis & a female guppy without
placing them in quarantine before introducing them to the tank. But
maybe that is not part of the problem, or perhaps I am wrong.
If anyone has an advice Jackie & I will be very grateful. And if anyone
thinks different I encourage them to post their advice anything that
can be useful.

Thanks in advance.

55 gallon Tank
Emperor 400 Power Filter
ph 6.8-7.0
Temp 82-84
ammonia nitrites & nitrates 0
5 Aponogeton plants from Wal-Mart

1 6" Discus
2 4" Clown Loaches
8 Cardinal Tetras
5 Fancy Guppies
5 Ottos
5 Amano Shrimp
2 Dwarf Gouramis
3 Zebra Danios
2 German Blue Rams

[maria]

My discus health book says that hole-in the-head is most often a
dietary disease. which shows up when discus are lacking calcium,
phosphorus, or vitamin D. However, the deficiency itself can be caused
by an intestinal flagellate infestation that makes it difficult to
absorb nutrients. Try feeding vitamin enriched food, good flakes or
pellets (just look at the ingredients label). I like new Life Spectrum
Discus Formula. If that doesn't help you can try treating for
parasites. Try medicated food instead of treating the whole tank,
either pre-made, or regular food soaked in medicine (you should look up
the correct procedure for this). I hope this helps.

[Frank]

DelfinT wrote,
>Today I found out my favorite fish "Jackie" ( I would like to think
>she is a girl) has hole in the head.
>She has not lost her appetite & is behaving normally except for
>sometimes trying to scratch herself on the driftwood....

If that is the only symptom - what makes you so sure it's hole in the
head disease? I suspect your seeing pin-sized holes near nostrils, gill
plates, or near eyes and/or thin white threads trailing from the pitted
depigmention lateral line.

>I read somewhere on the net that earthworms fed to the fish by itself
>will cure it without a need to use medication.....

One suspected cause for hole-in-the-head is high organic levels - poor
water quality! ... Not just any earthworm, red earthworms have better
nutrition and more vitamin "D". But, like 'maria' pointed out,
hole-in-the-head is most likely due to Hexamita, not just a mineral
and/or vitamin "D" imbalance. Easy treated with Tetra's medicated food
called Metronidazole, if you can find it. If not, you may be able to
find Metronidazole in the store as Hex-A-mit. 250mg capsules - 1 cap
emptyed into 10 gals. every other day for 5 days. I would also open 1
cap. and mix it in a tablespoon of shrimp or fish oil, then mix it into
20z. of a good flake food or 1/4 pound of frozen brine shrimp and feed
it twice a day for 10 days - works better than to just dump it into the
tank...

>then go back to my maintenance schedule
>of a 50% water change every other week...

A 20% weekly water change leaves about 30 days of accumulated DOC
(dissolved organic compounds) pollutants in the tank. You can get away
with less water changes with the other fish you listed, but discus need
much cleaner water. When I was really into the breeding, my discus
breeder tank got an 80% water change every day, otherwise they wouldn't
breed! I'm not saying you need to go that far, but I do think you need
to be doing at least 4 or mabe 5, 20% weekly water changes, just to
keep the DOC level down. A lot more live plants would also help, as
would bio-wheel filtering............... Frank

[Frank]

DelfinT wrote,
>Today I found out my favorite fish "Jackie" ( I would like to think
>she is a girl) has hole in the head.
>She has not lost her appetite & is behaving normally except for
>sometimes trying to scratch herself on the driftwood....

If that's the only symptom, it doesn't sound as if it could be
hole-in-the-head (HITH) to me. For it to be HITH, it would have to have
pin sized holes near nostrils and/or gill plates and/or near eyes. Mabe
thin white threads trailing from these areas.

> I read somewhere on the net that earthworms fed to the fish by itself
>will cure it without a need to use medication...

Not just any earth worm, red earthworms have better nutrition - more
vitamin "D" from what I understand. As 'maria' pointed out, HITH is
most likely due to Hexamita, which could be due to poor water quality.
Treat with Metronidazole treated food - Tetra makes a medicated food
with Metronidazole, if you can find it. Otherwise see if your pet shop
has Hex-A-mit capsules. Their treatment is 1, 250mg capsule emptyed
into 10 gals. every other day for 5 days - repeat full treatment (if
necessary) in 3 days. It will be necessary unless you open one of the
capsules, mix it in a tablespoon of fish or shrimp oil and mix that
into 2 oz. of a good flake food, or into 1/4 lb. frozen brine shrimp
and feed twice a day for 10 days (or more).

>I will also perform
>50% water change twice a week until she cures herself & then go back to
>my maintenance schedule of a 50% water change every other week...

Discus need *much* cleaned water than the rest of the fish on your
list. A 20% *weekly* water change leaves about 30 days of accumulated
DOC (dissolved organic compounds) pollutants in the tank. For the
discus, you need to do almost daily 20% water changes - they also could
use humic acids in their water, more so than the other 'soft water'
fish. I would put a piece of driftwood in the tank, or some peat moss
in the filter........... Frank

[Frank]

Well - It didn't show up the first time!

[Koi-Lo]

She is loosing her marbles all over the place. Too many hours spent
being paranoid in her never ending scenerio on evading folks she
thinks are out to do her bodily harm.........too many hours spent
entertaiing her motor cycle gang friends, and three two many
husbands. WOW, what looser..............
Koi-Lo....
Frugal ponding since 1982.
Aquariums since 1956.
Some assholes Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
*Note: There are several *Koi-Lo's* on rec.ponds.
But, I am the one and only original Koi-Lo.
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>