what type of medicine is good for hole in the head???? very early stage. just notice on my friends fish. thanks

For HITH the best treatment is to raise the temp to 88 degrees and use Medication This stuff works great..i say this from personal experience..follow the directions and the fish will be better in no time! Good Luck

Jon

thanks

I suggest u to raise the temp to 88 and use Melafix! Melafix is the best stuff I used but those capsules are just as great!! good luck bro

Melafix will probably be the best route for you. Paragon also is a good remedy as well. Keep us posted and good luck....

Fh Freak,
Metronidazole 250 mg per 10 gallons. Treat it everyday for 5-7 days. Do 50% W/C daily. Temperature should be 88-90 degrees...

This is the disease that I dreaded most. It takes quite a while to cure this disease. I personally have not been very successful. Most of the time, I usually put the fish out of its misery as it is very painful to see them suffer. Anyway, good luck !

Like lauro..he suggested what i suggested..follow that it works quick..melafix will take many days and i'm not sure it treats HITH..I used paragon before..i don't like it because it's a yellow powder that makes your tank look really ugly where as metroidazole (spelling) is a white powder that dissolves clear.

Jon

Your fish is suffering from what is known as Hexamitiasis. This is not a bacterial infection. As such normal broad spectrum antibiotics won't be effective; anticeptic solutions, much less effective. It is in fact an infection caused by hexamita, a type of flagellated protozoa. It's the most serious illness a flowerhorn could get. And it could be lethal. For a time, hexamita-infected flowerhorns in Malaysia were put to sleep as a standard measure to end the fish's misery and prevent further infestation. Of course, nowadays we know that there is a cure for this.

There are 2 ways hexamita could attack a luohan, either through the gastro-intestinal tract (this would be the case for your fish) or subcutaneously, that is, under the skin with visible holes to be seen around the head (this is known as the dreaded hole-in-the-head disease.)

The drug of choice to get rid of these protozoans is metronidazole, usually sold as Flagyl, 500mg. This drug could easily be bought OTC at any drugstore and is quite inexpensive. No need to look for hard-to-find magical petshop medications. It doesn't get easier than this.

The actual treatment though is a different matter. I'll give you a step-by-step process.

1. If you're using an overhead filter, remove the carbon if any. It would be ok to leave the glass wool in the filter box.

2. Perform a 50% water change. Syphon your tank until it's half empty. Replace with 25% chlorinated water and 25% conditioned water. (My definition of conditioned water would be that which has been aerated for at least 48 hours and dosed with aqutan.)

3. Dissolve the metronidazole tablet/s in a cup of warm water. Don't skip this proceedure. The water must really be warm. Metronidazole works best when dissolved at a temperature of 90+ degrees. A cup with 50%-60% "cofee-hot" water plus 40%-50% tap water would be fine.

4. Let the tablet/s dissolve for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, mix well.

5. Drop the metronidazole solution in your tank. The required dosage would be 500 mg. for every 10 gallons.

6. Repeat steps 2-5 after 48 hours. You'd need around 7-8 doses of metronidazole. Usual treatment would be from 10-15 days. Observe the waste of your fish on a regular basis. If your fish shows improvement before 10-15 days, there's nothing wrong in finishing the entire cycle. Extend treatment if neccessary.

If you have a heater, set it at 30-32 degrees. Hexamita thrives in cold water. While the medication used to kill them works best in warm water. For those with no heaters, don't worry. Its not absolutely neccessary to use one. Just be sure to dissolve the metronidazole in warm water.

If you've got more time to treat your fish then you could apply the following protocol:

1. Again do steps 1 through 5.
2. After 24 hours, implement a 20-25% water change.
3. Drop your metronidazole solution but this time at 250 mg. for every 10 gallons. Repeat steps 2 & 3 everyday until the fish recovers.

By the way, the very best food for a flowerhorn recovering from a bout of Hexamitiasis would be frozen bloodworms. If the infected fish is still eating, a feeding of pellets pre-soaked in a metronidazole solution would make it recover quickly.

If the fish is suffering from the external type of hexamitiasis, the hole-in-the-head disease, the same proceedure above would cure it. In this case, malachite green may be used in conjunction with metronidazole primarily to prevent secondary infections.

This illness is quite common nowadays. Dip your finger in the aquarium in the evening and you'd get an idea of how cold it gets. I hope this post would be helpful to a lot of you out there.

thank you ferrari2.
fh_freak

Melafix is good

Hi,
what about using Octozin by Waterlife? They come in tablet form , and do i put it in hot water too? It was mentined earlier that metronidazole is not absorbed by the gills and have to be force fed to the fish. In this way, i guess mising the metronidazole with food would eb a better idea.

I've checked at the local drug stores here, and Metronidazole is available only by perscription. Maybe it's easily available in Asia. (Since it was originally a human antibiotic)

I've bought some at the LFS, but it was about $5 for 10 250 mg capsules.

I ended up ordering 100 grams of Metronidazole powder. About $15.80 with shipping.

I'm going to play doctor as soon as I do water changes with all the sick fish. I'm going to have to forcefeed some of them with the "metro" mixed with food.

Dennis ))))`

Aiya, tried getting it at my local pharmarcy but they didn't have it.They have directed me to other bigger stores, but as it was raining, i headed home.Guess the treatment would have to wait til the next day ba. -

Hi guys,
i have added a pill daily and had a partial water change on the 3rd day.The holes dosnt seem to be closing up.Some people say that even when they recover, the holes doesn't close up immed.It takes some time.So how will i know whether has it recovered?

HITH is a very powerful disease... yes it is true that even when they recover scares will still remain from hole in the head

goodluck Almondeye... hope all goes well

So do i just put in 8 times of dosage and stop?

COs my fish is very active, vibrant colours and doesnt seem to indicate he is troubled by the 2 holes ard his cheek.

so is carbon really the cause of HITH

no, carbon is not the main cause to Hex. there are other possibilities, like poor water quality and poor nutrition.
the cure a lot of water change. if you are just feeding one kind of food mix it up a bit. beefheart, live worm, pettets you could mix in different kind of pellet. my fav. sanyo aweek red 25% and 75% grand sumo or the new omega food.

To answer to Almondeye no you do not stop. you wait for 3 or 4 day. monitor your fh see if theres any improvements. hex takes a long time to heal. if the hole are still getting bigger repeat medications. if it is improving still repeat until the holes are gone. if the holes are here to stay keep repeating for a month to be on the safe side. remember if your fh's tank is share with another fish you have to medicate the other one too. hex is easily spread. dont use the same net, syphon, or anything that touch the hex tank just my 2 cent

fh_freak

thanx so much!