How would i know if my fish had whole in the head disease?

Question

Some pictures of the disease would be much appreciated

my fish has a small whole on the side of its gill and 2 small dints on its head...

Answer 1

What kind of fish is it? It's generally more common in oscars and other cichlids. Usually by the time you notice it, there's pits in their head area. It'll generally look discolored from the rest of the coloration on the fish. Here's a picture of an oscar with it:

http://www.oscarfishlover.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=41

Best treatment for it-especially if it's an oscar, do frequent water changes to keep your nitrates under 20 ppm, and vary his diet(no feeder fish). Get a good quality pellet food, and soak it in some liquid vitamins(I used childrens Poly Vi Sol or liquid Centrum works too) 2 or 3 times a week. But the pellets in a bowl, and just soak the pellets with the vitamin for about 20 minutes. Also, if it is a large fish like an oscar, be sure he's in an adequate sized tank-for 1 oscar a minimum of 55 gallons is recommended(75 is better), and have good filtration running. I ran a canister and a large hang on the back filter.

There's still debate about what actually causes it, some say high nitrates, some say lack of a varied diet(not enough vitamins). Some will say hexamita is the cause of it, but from my readings, hexamita is usually a secondary bacterial infection to HITH disease. So, using an antibiotic(usually metronidazole is recommended) doesn't generally "cure" the fish of HITH disease.

Answer 2

I just lost an Angel Fish that had a hole in its forehead just above its eye. I was slack in reacting to it and as a result the fish died. Do a google search for pics.
There is a treatment available at Pet Stores which shouldnt hurt any un affected fish, but honestly i dont really know much about the Disease. Good luck :)

Answer 3

Here are some pics
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=ks-ans&va=hole+head+disease&sz=all


Hope that helps
good luck


EB