HITH/HLLE Treatment(s)
(1)Water Quality
Get your water quality/chemistry perfect, NH3-0, NO2-0, NO3- 0/20ppm,
check your filters & clean'em if necessary (reduces alot of NO3), gravel vac & PWC, do small PWC's (25%) every other day.
Just about everyone will agree that bad water chemistry and HITH go together like apple pie -n- ice cream...
(2)Diet
Feed a well balanced and varied diet* (See below).
(3)Vitamin Supplements
Add liquid vitamin supplements to all food and vary their diet.
Soak or load everything you feed the fish with vitamins until cured and watch your water.
Vitamins that you add to your tanks water are worthless (IMO).
We use "Vita Chem", our fish get it regularly.
This particular brand is available at most on-line retailers and at better LFS's (We get ours at BigAls).
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=27489;category_id=3781;pcid1=2911;pcid2=
(4) Supplementary treatment
I would add a dose of salt to the tank, this encourages slime-coat production and gill function amongst other things.
Also a dose of Melafix and Pimafix, these have been known to help healing and prevent secondary infection.
(5)Temperature
Gradually increase your tanks temp to aprox 80'-82'f.
Increased temp increases metabolism which can influence the immune system thus possibly speed healing.
(6)Medicate
Alot of folks blame Hexamita for HITH and thus treat for it with medications, BUT, studies have been done showing that Hex (and others) is/are a secondary infection/s (Whether or not Hexamita plays a key-role with HITH infections is controversial).
You need to do what "You" feel is right and correct after researching this for yourself, google "HITH causes prevention and cure" or some such, and visit Cichlid specific forums for more info.
Some folks also think that filter carbon dust plays a role...
Carbons role is controversial.
Some folks also think that stray electrical currents are to blame...
Stray electrical currents role is controversial at best.
It seems there are no absolutes as to the cause, but just like ICH there are many ways to treat it and proponenets/opponents of each treatment.
I say again though...
Perfect water quality and a varied nutritious diet supplemented with vitamins.
Here's a good article on HITH available here at Oscarfish,
http://www.oscarfish.com/cms_view_article.php?aid=3
For more simply
Google, 'HITH'.
DIET
A quality cichlid pellet or stick should make up 75-80% of your O's diet.
These are my primary foods...
Pellets, Carnivore sticks, freezedried krill, algae wafers, fresh nightcrawlers, fresh/freezedried earthworm (Any worms are great foods!), fresh crickets, fresh mealworms, almost any insect I catch
(Insects from outside do pose a risk of insecticides which can harm your fish, be careful.).
I rotate store bought nightcrawlers, crickets and mealworms about monthly on the menu.
I feed my 10"+ O probably 4-6 large crickets, 6-10 mealworms or 1-2 large nightcrawlers per feeding and he'll get'em every 2-3 days.
I feed or have fed my O all of these foods...
Raw/cooked shrimp, small bits of raw cut fish, beefheart, bitesize bits of fruits-n-veggies (zucchini, carrot, shelled peas, shelled corn, apple, orange, pear, papya and etc...), small tree/grass frogs (NO toads, and know which frog species your feeding as some can be toxic too.) and properly quarantined or raised feeder fish,
these should be fed sparingly and rotated as snacks or dessert.
Do not feed unquarantined feeder fish from LFS/LPS, do not feed mammalian flesh (Animal fats from mammals and fowl are very bad for most fish).
I supplement his nutrition by soaking his pellets 4-5 times a week in a liquid vitamin.
I use Vita-Chem, available at some LFS's and on-line retailers, I get mine at BigAl's,
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp19215/si1380216/cl0/boydvitachemfreshwater4oz
Alot of different types and brands are used, Liquid Centrum for example, but you could reasonably use any quality L. vitamin.
