Hole in the Head HITH Lateral line erosion

HITH is a horrific problem found mostly in cichlids, oscar's being the most prone to this. Causes of this disease can range from, poor water quality, incorrect feeding, stress and in some resarch it has been found that the use of carbon has sometimes been found to be a cause.

To protect against HITH ensure your water quality is spot on with regular weekly water changes. A good varied diet is also needed. Stress, a hard one to combat sometimes without fully knowing your fish, it may appear ok, but be stressed.

HITH starts with a milky sheen over the head, not a fungal fluffy type just a build up of excess slime coat. Then small pits appear as white craters in the fishes head. If action is not taken immediately these pits will become larger and larger.

With my own fish I thought the first instance of HITH was down to him bumping his head on some wood, but as this did not clear up in a few days as it normally would I suspected HITH - see below


For my oscar the cause of his HITH was stress, I had added another fish to the tank

To clear the problem I did a daily wc of 15% gravel vaccing the whole tank each day. The holes did start to heal pretty quickly but a few more did appear, due to the stress of having tank maintenance done each day (my oscar dont like the gravel vac). Persistance is the key, dont miss a day and you will see results.







If using daily wc the problem still persists there are medications available, Use Vitazin a vitamin supliment you can soak the fish's food in, Octozin is a tablet treatment added to the water (please read the manufactures instructions).

This disease is cureable with hard work, but it will take weeks not days to cure.

My oscar fully recovered with no scarring, if the pits are very deep fish can be left with permanent damage.