Angel with a hole in the head

[Anna]

Help! My med sized angel has a hole right above its eye and it looks mouldy. She is eating and swimming like normal but will probably start to weaken if not treated. I have added stress coat for now. What can I treat with ?

[Woodsy]

You can't medicate a tank unless you're sure all your parameters are correct, ie. Temperature, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate (yes guys, over 50ppm can be bad), pH, and general hardness (GH). If you don't have all these test kits, find someone who does and get them to test your water (or show you how to do it yourself).
If all this comes up good, hole-in-the-head is a tricky one to treat. I'd suggest adding extra airation to the tank, adding some cooking salt, and a course of multicure (remember, half-dose if you have tetras!)
See what Joz has to say first though, if I'm not mistaken he's bred lots of Discus, and it's more common in them than other fish. Good luck!

[hotwinter]

sounds nasty, hope you sort it out soon...and I'm just about to get discuss :( so not the best news for me

[Woodsy]

I've had low-grade Apistogrammas do it to me too. Main way to avoid it is to make sure you get good quality blood lines, as from what I've seen it's more apparent in low-grade, inbred fish.

[joz]

Hole in the head is caused by a gut parasite which uses up the nutrients first before the fish can absorb any.So basically its malnutition ,but can't be fixed by extra feeds.

There is some treatments available commercially.
I think Octozin is one,there maybe others but I'm a bit out of touch.


Though if you can get a hold of any Metronidazole,its available as Flagyl via a chemist and you can only get it with a script.
Some girls may have some lying about the house ( so check if you can)its used in humans for vaginal fungal infections.

Now if you can get some you treat your tank without active carbon/charcoal at a rate of 10mg/litre or a 400mg tab/40litres.

It can also be added to home made food but your fish must be eating and not on a hunger strike which they tend to do when feeling off.

http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/hole_in_the_head.htm

good luck.

[Anna]

thanks Joz,
I have applied the first dose of sulphate and am ready to put next lot in. Not sure i can get to the doc for other supplies - sounds a bit weird! If sulphate doesnt work, its back to the lfs for diff treatment i suppose.

[joz]

Sorry,sulphate?:confused:

[Anna]

Oh, you know, tri-sulpha. Had it diagonosed, its not hole in head but fungus. Fingers crossed for recovery. cheers,