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View Full Version : a couple Questions on HITH



dghby
11-02-2015, 12:29 PM
Hi All, a little over a week ago, I had one of my larger Discus come down with a severe case of HITH.
one large hole right between his eyes. this fella is about 2 years old and I have never had an issue with him.
anyways, into the hospital tank he went and I began a metro treatment. ( 500mg/10gl)
at the moment this seems to be working, the hole seems to be closing up, and his appetite, which was never really bad, is pretty darn good.
he is not hiding, greets me at the front of the glass as soon as I walk in.

my questions are this since this is really my first case of HITH
1. does he fully recovery? as in does the hole disappear? or is he scared so to speak for life?
beyond the hole he really seems in good shape.
2. is there anything else I can or should be doing??

obviously, large water changes are happening everyday and will continue.

brewmaster15
11-02-2015, 12:57 PM
Hi Tom,

A picture would help here, but this sounds like its not HITH from a parasite (a good thing) Sometimes the pits in the fishes head get infected, and rupture (think pimple) It leaves a hole. That should close up and will not leave a scar unless its massive and doesn't heal well. One thing you can do here is net the fish and swab the hole with hydrogen peroxide or iodine. Lots of clean water and the usual care for discus here should help. Since you have started metro... continue that for 10 days at your current dosing.

hth,
al

dghby
11-02-2015, 01:03 PM
Hi Tom,

A picture would help here, but this sounds like its not HITH from a parasite (a good thing) Sometimes the pits in the fishes head get infected, and rupture (think pimple) It leaves a hole. That should close up and will not leave a scar unless its massive and doesn't heal well. One thing you can do here is net the fish and swab the hole with hydrogen peroxide or iodine. Lots of clean water and the usual care for discus here should help. Since you have started metro... continue that for 10 days at your current dosing.

hth,
al
hahaha, you guys are awesome. I will get you a pic of the original hole when it happened and what it looks like today, BUT that is exactly what happened. I seen this pimple 2 days before the hole. it really is exactly how you just explained it. but it was pretty massive in my eyes anyways. I will get a pic soon for you to look at.

dghby
11-02-2015, 01:16 PM
Hi Tom,

A picture would help here, but this sounds like its not HITH from a parasite (a good thing) Sometimes the pits in the fishes head get infected, and rupture (think pimple) It leaves a hole. That should close up and will not leave a scar unless its massive and doesn't heal well. One thing you can do here is net the fish and swab the hole with hydrogen peroxide or iodine. Lots of clean water and the usual care for discus here should help. Since you have started metro... continue that for 10 days at your current dosing.

hth,
al
Pictures as promised, so Al should I dilute the hydrogen peroxide of swab straight from the bottle.

first pic is a week ago and second one today

9163291633

rickztahone
11-02-2015, 02:55 PM
that is a lot larger than I thought it was going to be. I'll let Al address it, but I'm not sure that is the size he had in mind?

dghby
11-02-2015, 03:17 PM
that is a lot larger than I thought it was going to be. I'll let Al address it, but I'm not sure that is the size he had in mind?
yeah, its been getting better everyday and I do think its going to close up, but just don't think he will ever be as awesome as he once was.
a bit of a bummer, he is 6.5 inches and starting to thicken up nicely.

brewmaster15
11-02-2015, 03:42 PM
Yep thats a classic localized bacterial infection... definetly not from a parasite. If it heals up, it'll probably be a pale area of tissue, but may not be too bad..It would actually be really helpful to the forum Tom if you post alot of update pics. If it look like its getting better, let the fishes system work...if you see any white areas, or reddish swollen areas I would try swabbing.... don't dilute. It does look like its recovering well on its own.

hth,
al

dghby
11-02-2015, 05:30 PM
Yep thats a classic localized bacterial infection... definetly not from a parasite. If it heals up, it'll probably be a pale area of tissue, but may not be too bad..It would actually be really helpful to the forum Tom if you post alot of update pics. If it look like its getting better, let the fishes system work...if you see any white areas, or reddish swollen areas I would try swabbing.... don't dilute. It does look like its recovering well on its own.

hth,
al OK, I will do a swab tomorrow as it is showing some white, pale color areas around the outside of the hole. thanks a bunch, i am glad i decided to post this today.

dghby
11-03-2015, 10:45 PM
So I pulled him out today and swabbed the area with Hydrogen Perioxide, it is showing much improvement from 9 days ago.
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jmf3460
11-10-2015, 12:57 PM
this thread is awesome OP. I am so happy you didn't cull that fish at the sight of that huge hole. I think many people automatically assume hole in the head when they see something near the head of a discus, when many times it is nothing of that sort. Lots of people confuse sensory pits with HITH and I will admit I did too at the first of my discus journey. This thread will help a lot with people who may think their fish has hole in the head. Good luck and I am so glad your fish is doing well, he looks great and you are to be commended for hanging in there with him to fix this problem.

rickztahone
11-10-2015, 01:01 PM
Thread stickied for now.

dghby
11-12-2015, 09:33 AM
this thread is awesome OP. I am so happy you didn't cull that fish at the sight of that huge hole. I think many people automatically assume hole in the head when they see something near the head of a discus, when many times it is nothing of that sort. Lots of people confuse sensory pits with HITH and I will admit I did too at the first of my discus journey. This thread will help a lot with people who may think their fish has hole in the head. Good luck and I am so glad your fish is doing well, he looks great and you are to be commended for hanging in there with him to fix this problem.
Thanks Jacklyn, i definitely thought this was hith, but in no way would i have given up on him, he would have had to die on his own. he is doing quite well and is back in the DT, i will get some pics up.

dghby
11-12-2015, 11:07 AM
So after a couple weeks of QT ( with a metro treatment of 10 days that i feel was unnecessary now) but with daily water changes i decided to put this fella back in the DT (needed to make room for a possible pair i recently got from Hans). because the hole was so massive i don't think he will return to his original form. BUT, thrilled that it looks like he will be just fine. he has a bit of a recession where the hole was, and his lines have not yet came back together, but his appetite is amazing and he seems real happy to be back with the group.
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rickztahone
11-12-2015, 11:31 PM
Great documentation. TFS

dghby
11-23-2015, 01:45 PM
another 10 days, I can see the lines coming back together. as I mentioned earlier, I don't think it will get back to where it was before the issue, but definitely seems to continue
to get better. So, after about a month here is todays updated pictures
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rickztahone
11-23-2015, 01:49 PM
That is incredible Tom. Thanks for the updated pics.

jmf3460
11-23-2015, 01:52 PM
Tom,

Thanks for keeping us updated in the healing process. This scar is barely noticeable at this point and will continue to get even better I am sure. Great job and great thread!

dghby
12-01-2015, 02:34 PM
Yep thats a classic localized bacterial infection... definetly not from a parasite. If it heals up, it'll probably be a pale area of tissue, but may not be too bad..It would actually be really helpful to the forum Tom if you post alot of update pics. If it look like its getting better, let the fishes system work...if you see any white areas, or reddish swollen areas I would try swabbing.... don't dilute. It does look like its recovering well on its own.

hth,
al
so just a shout out to Al for helping me save this guy. at over 6.5 inches I really didn't want to give up on him. thought sure this was a HITH issue, but Al called this immediately as a classic localized bacterial infection.
after about a week I decided to swab the area ( Al's advice) with Hydrogen Peroxide, and beyond that just water changes. (think I have heard of that somewhere, Lol)
here are a few pics of the progress to bring the comparison all to one post.
Before the (pimple) this is what he looked like
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then the pimple came and went and the following day this happened
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then a week later and after swabbing
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another week past
92307

and Today 5 weeks after the issue he is still healing
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jmf3460
12-01-2015, 03:06 PM
Tom great progressive shots there, he is looking really good. unnoticeable if I hadn't of already known what had happened.

dghby
12-21-2015, 03:53 PM
So even in the past 3 weeks we are still seeing improvement, so glad I didn't give up on this guy.
back on 12-01-2015
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and today
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jmf3460
12-21-2015, 04:01 PM
unnoticeable at this point Tom. Good job to you. never give up!