HITH - Revisited
- Thread starter RD.
- Start date
Another question and sorry for asking so many haha just want to make sure about things, will HITH stunt the growth of my fish at all? They all seem to still be putting on good growth and eat like pigs every time I feed them. I haven't noticed huge growth on my true parrots but for sure the melanura.
Have you researched Spironucleus vortens, the pathogen that typically triggers this condition? It tends to start in the gut, and yes, it can affect nutrient absorption.
Dr. Edward J Noga suggests:
1. Bath
a. Add 19mg/gallon and treat for 3 hours. Repeat every other day for 3 treatments.
2. Prolonged Immersion
a. Add 25mg/gallon and treat once daily for a total of 3 times.
b. Add 95mg/gallon and treat every other day for three days.
3. via feed
25 mg/Kg of body weight/day for 5 to 10 days, or 100 mg/kg of body weight for 3 days. Retreat once if required.
Dr. Edward J. Noga, MS, DVM, is a highly respected professor of aquatic medicine and immunology, that has been published approx. 150 times in related papers/journals. His lab at NC State University specializes in the study of infectious diseases of finfish and shellfish. His book, Fish Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment is the go to "health" book for every serious fish keeper and aquatic DVM on the planet.
HTH
1. Bath
a. Add 19mg/gallon and treat for 3 hours. Repeat every other day for 3 treatments.
2. Prolonged Immersion
a. Add 25mg/gallon and treat once daily for a total of 3 times.
b. Add 95mg/gallon and treat every other day for three days.
3. via feed
25 mg/Kg of body weight/day for 5 to 10 days, or 100 mg/kg of body weight for 3 days. Retreat once if required.
Dr. Edward J. Noga, MS, DVM, is a highly respected professor of aquatic medicine and immunology, that has been published approx. 150 times in related papers/journals. His lab at NC State University specializes in the study of infectious diseases of finfish and shellfish. His book, Fish Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment is the go to "health" book for every serious fish keeper and aquatic DVM on the planet.
HTH
So I'm pretty sure I found the answer to my fish getting HITH. I looked into the quality of my water at my house and found out my damn water softener wasn't working resulting in very hard water. I now have it fixed and can tell a big difference in the water coming out of the tap. I am on my last day of treatment with metro. I'm also adding non iodized salt for a few more days to help with the healing. It seems water quality is the biggest reason for this disease so I'm very much hoping the water quality from my water softener not working was the issue. The HITH doesn't seem to be getting any worse but haven't noticed any big changes in the pits going away. Will be doing a larger water change today with my last treatment.
Natural soft water is different from softened water. Natural soft water such as black water has high tannic acid, near zero hardness, and low dissolved ions with conductivity under 100. Household softened water is an ion exchange process that replaced calcium with sodium. The resulting water, though low in hardness, is high in dissolved sodium with conductivity in the 1000s, To replicate natural soft water, you have to mix in with DO or rainwater, or filter with peat to remove ions and add tannic acid.
The pathogens that cause HITH are ubiquitous and opportunistic ,depending on the fish resistance and environment conditions. I don't know why hard water fish are more resistance to HITH than soft water fish. If you medicate your fish but don't change the water chemistry or environmental conditions, even if you can achieve temporary cure, your vulnerable fish will be reinfected and you are wasting your effort.
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We have hard water here, and I have never seen melanura , most certainly not juveniles, come down with HITH.
