HITH disease question

[ShawnMMcKenna]

Ok. My Oscar has developed HITH. Still in the early stage, so I have set up a hospital tank for him and I will be treating him with a medication for HITH. I know carbon must be removed, but I was wondering if I could use zeolite in place of the carbon to control ammonia due to the medication will probably kill the beneficial bacteria. Any opinions on this?

Thanks,

Shawn

 

[i3k]

Which medication are you using? Since you're putting him in a hospital tank...you won't have any BB to begin with. You'll just have to do frequent water changes to keep ammonia down while treating the fish.

 

[ShawnMMcKenna]

Actually, there are bacteria in the tank, I have a couple parrotfish in this 20 gallon that I will be moving out to make room for the Oscar. I am not sure exactly what med yet, I have to go to the LFS on friday.... I am hoping they have HITH gaurd by That jungle something company....

 

[HUKIT]

What size is the oscar since you're moving him to a 20 gallon tank? Skip the zeolite and just make sure the water is kept in pristine condition with nitrates below 10ppm. As far meds are concerned I would recommend Metro+ by Hikari. Just keep the nitrates low, feed a varied diet and use the Metro and he be good as new before you know it.

 

[ShawnMMcKenna]

He is about 8 1/2 inches from tip to tailfin. I know he wont be very happy in that tank, but he will only be in there for the treatment. I figure I will be doing 25% PWC 2x daily to keep the levels low, however there shouldnt be any nitrate at all if the meds kill off the nitrifying bacteria. That was why I was curious about using the zeolite, to control the ammonia.

 

[HUKIT]

I wouldn't transfer him to that tank. What size tank is he currently in? HITH is generally caused by poor water conditions but there are other factors like diet with vitamin defiency. What are you feeding him? What are your current water levels? Start with the basics like water condition at work down to prevent it from happening again.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/spironucleus.php

I rescued 2 full grown females that had HITH it's a long and tedious process but with pristine water conditions, a varied diet it will go away.

Their diet consist of New Life Spectrum jumbo and Hikari Bio-Gold with weekly treats of nightcrawlers,crickets, meal or blood worms, veggies and fruit. It's a pain in the *** my wife says they eat better than I do. Good luck!