Fishguy2727
11-30-2006, 02:04 AM
Let me know what you guys think. Ask any questions if you get them.
Hole in the Head:
Hole in the head (HITH), also called head and lateral line erosion depending on the symptoms displayed, is very tricky and not as understood as it should be in my opinion. It is one of the most complex conditions commonly encountered in the aquarium hobby. Whereas most diseases are straightforward (if your fish looks salted, it has ick) and have commonly accepted treatments (for most with ick: use Quick Cure or the like, raise temp, add salt, etc.), HITH is one of the most controversial conditions as far as cause and treatment go. I had been lucky enough to rarely encounter it in my years of fishkeeping, but recently have had a few cases of it threaten a handful of my fish. In order to attempt a treatment on this condition, I started researching as much as I could. During this research I came across many sources and almost all of them had completely different approaches and subscribed to many different lines of thought. From what I have gathered HITH goes something like this:
A protozoan parasite, Hexamita spp., is present in many fish, especially cichlids. Under adverse conditions (low water quality, poor diet, etc.) the fish is under stress, and the Hexamita gets a stronger hold on the animal than usual, allowing it to spread and take over. The observable signs of Hexamita are in the form of Hole in the Head (HITH) or Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE). The holes are eroded tissue away and center around the lateral line system, especially the many pores on the face. Different species will display it in different ways, some only having pits on the face, others having the erosion all along the length of the lateral line system. There are also different forms of the appearance of the holes themselves. The holes can be narrow but deep and may include a stringy discharge from the middle, other times the hole may de shallow but very wide. This article focuses on HITH in freshwater fishes. Prevention is always the best treatment.
For prevention:
A high quality diet including Hikari Cichlid Bio-gold+ is important. I mention Hikari Cichlid Bio-gold+ specifically because it is the only fish food on the market that contains live beneficial bacteria. These beneficial digestive bacteria actually out-compete the Hexamita for its niche in the digestive system. In addition, Hikari Cichlid Bio-gold+ is a very high quality food, helping to prevent the poor diet issue. I would also highly encourage feeding New Life Spectrum (NLS). It is expensive, but worth it. Between the NLS and the Hikari food you should have no issues with diet. Important for the diet are foods that include an assortment of trace/micro nutrients. They should list off a lot of weird sounding names in the ingredients, many times including what the nutrient is with a common name. For example: D-activated animal sterol (vitamin D).
The other half of prevention is water quality. This requires massive filtration and big frequent water changes. In general whatever a filter claims it can handle "up to", cut that in half and that is about what it can actually handle. However, this is only for moderately stocked community type tanks in my opinion, so cichlid and other high waste tanks will need even more filtration. My 14-15" jaguar cichlid is in a 75 with a Fluval 405 ("up to" 100 gallons), and two Whisper 60s ("up to" 60 gallons each). Water changes on big cichlid tanks need to be big and frequent. I keep all my tanks on this routine with a 75% water change every week. This will not harm your biological filtration at all, and it will only have benefits. If you are concerned about this water change schedule, please ask me about it and I can provide an article on water changes. This water change schedule will keep nitrates, phosphates, dissolved organic compounds, and many other harmful substances to a minimum, allowing for less stress on the fish and much higher water quality.
Another likely contributor to HITH/HLLE is a lack of trace elements in the water. This can be considered as part of diet, but needs its own mentioning. Trace elements are important for any animal and without them you can end up with an assortment of problems. It is believed that in this case it works similarly to diet. If there are not enough trace elements then the body doesn’t function quite properly, leading to stress on the organism and its organ systems. This allows the Hexamita to get a start. There are a number of ways to help prevent and treat this issue. First is to do the large frequent water changes. This brings in a lot of trace elements into the tank. The second is to use available additives if appropriate for your fish. For example: If you have a Central American cichlid, use a 'salt' or trace element supplement made for Central American cichlids. And lastly it is important to keep the trace elements in the system. This means no carbon in the filters. The carbon doesn't care if you consider the chemical to be good or bad, it will remove it. I have stopped using carbon and so far there is no discoloration, odor, or other ill effects (I believe due to the large frequent water changes).
For treatment:
If HITH/HLLE is already present, go by the guidelines previously described and treat with metronidazole. This medication kills the Hexamita. Hikari (under the label name 'Aquarium Solutions') now has Metro+. It is a new medication that you can use to soak food in, treat the whole tank, or use as a dip. It contains metronidazole. Metronidazole is believed to be the only effective medication on Hexamita. Jungle’s Hole-N-Head Guard also includes metronidazole. Follow the directions on the label.
Hole in the Head:
Hole in the head (HITH), also called head and lateral line erosion depending on the symptoms displayed, is very tricky and not as understood as it should be in my opinion. It is one of the most complex conditions commonly encountered in the aquarium hobby. Whereas most diseases are straightforward (if your fish looks salted, it has ick) and have commonly accepted treatments (for most with ick: use Quick Cure or the like, raise temp, add salt, etc.), HITH is one of the most controversial conditions as far as cause and treatment go. I had been lucky enough to rarely encounter it in my years of fishkeeping, but recently have had a few cases of it threaten a handful of my fish. In order to attempt a treatment on this condition, I started researching as much as I could. During this research I came across many sources and almost all of them had completely different approaches and subscribed to many different lines of thought. From what I have gathered HITH goes something like this:
A protozoan parasite, Hexamita spp., is present in many fish, especially cichlids. Under adverse conditions (low water quality, poor diet, etc.) the fish is under stress, and the Hexamita gets a stronger hold on the animal than usual, allowing it to spread and take over. The observable signs of Hexamita are in the form of Hole in the Head (HITH) or Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE). The holes are eroded tissue away and center around the lateral line system, especially the many pores on the face. Different species will display it in different ways, some only having pits on the face, others having the erosion all along the length of the lateral line system. There are also different forms of the appearance of the holes themselves. The holes can be narrow but deep and may include a stringy discharge from the middle, other times the hole may de shallow but very wide. This article focuses on HITH in freshwater fishes. Prevention is always the best treatment.
For prevention:
A high quality diet including Hikari Cichlid Bio-gold+ is important. I mention Hikari Cichlid Bio-gold+ specifically because it is the only fish food on the market that contains live beneficial bacteria. These beneficial digestive bacteria actually out-compete the Hexamita for its niche in the digestive system. In addition, Hikari Cichlid Bio-gold+ is a very high quality food, helping to prevent the poor diet issue. I would also highly encourage feeding New Life Spectrum (NLS). It is expensive, but worth it. Between the NLS and the Hikari food you should have no issues with diet. Important for the diet are foods that include an assortment of trace/micro nutrients. They should list off a lot of weird sounding names in the ingredients, many times including what the nutrient is with a common name. For example: D-activated animal sterol (vitamin D).
The other half of prevention is water quality. This requires massive filtration and big frequent water changes. In general whatever a filter claims it can handle "up to", cut that in half and that is about what it can actually handle. However, this is only for moderately stocked community type tanks in my opinion, so cichlid and other high waste tanks will need even more filtration. My 14-15" jaguar cichlid is in a 75 with a Fluval 405 ("up to" 100 gallons), and two Whisper 60s ("up to" 60 gallons each). Water changes on big cichlid tanks need to be big and frequent. I keep all my tanks on this routine with a 75% water change every week. This will not harm your biological filtration at all, and it will only have benefits. If you are concerned about this water change schedule, please ask me about it and I can provide an article on water changes. This water change schedule will keep nitrates, phosphates, dissolved organic compounds, and many other harmful substances to a minimum, allowing for less stress on the fish and much higher water quality.
Another likely contributor to HITH/HLLE is a lack of trace elements in the water. This can be considered as part of diet, but needs its own mentioning. Trace elements are important for any animal and without them you can end up with an assortment of problems. It is believed that in this case it works similarly to diet. If there are not enough trace elements then the body doesn’t function quite properly, leading to stress on the organism and its organ systems. This allows the Hexamita to get a start. There are a number of ways to help prevent and treat this issue. First is to do the large frequent water changes. This brings in a lot of trace elements into the tank. The second is to use available additives if appropriate for your fish. For example: If you have a Central American cichlid, use a 'salt' or trace element supplement made for Central American cichlids. And lastly it is important to keep the trace elements in the system. This means no carbon in the filters. The carbon doesn't care if you consider the chemical to be good or bad, it will remove it. I have stopped using carbon and so far there is no discoloration, odor, or other ill effects (I believe due to the large frequent water changes).
For treatment:
If HITH/HLLE is already present, go by the guidelines previously described and treat with metronidazole. This medication kills the Hexamita. Hikari (under the label name 'Aquarium Solutions') now has Metro+. It is a new medication that you can use to soak food in, treat the whole tank, or use as a dip. It contains metronidazole. Metronidazole is believed to be the only effective medication on Hexamita. Jungle’s Hole-N-Head Guard also includes metronidazole. Follow the directions on the label.