Is this hole in the head disease?

Poor photo I know but is this hith?
I noticed it a few weeks ago hasn’t really grown much but has got whiter , water parameters are the usual after 6 days with 40ppm NO3 it’s being changed tomorrow
Any treatment will have to be done in tank as my QT is just not big enough , any ideas on what it is and how I can treat ?

Guyb93 said:

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Poor photo I know but is this hith?
I noticed it a few weeks ago hasn’t really grown much but has got whiter , water parameters are the usual after 6 days with 40ppm NO3 it’s being changed tomorrow
Any treatment will have to be done in tank as my QT is just not big enough , any ideas on what it is and how I can treat ?

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in the photo it just looks like his head is shiny like this guy

I'd say HITH indeed.

As someone who panicked constantly about hole in the head I don’t think this is.

Hole in the head is caused by bad living conditions and bad water quality neither of which you have. It’s also pretty rare like I’ve only ever seen one case in person and probably a handful on this forum.

It’s more likely that it’s an injury either from decor or fighting given where it is I think it could be a bite.

Hole in the head usually expands from the sensory pits or the lateral line so that’s an other thing to check. It’s also not usually white it just sort of decays.

Wills said:

As someone who panicked constantly about hole in the head I don’t think this is.

Hole in the head is caused by bad living conditions and bad water quality neither of which you have. It’s also pretty rare like I’ve only ever seen one case in person and probably a handful on this forum.

It’s more likely that it’s an injury either from decor or fighting given where it is I think it could be a bite.

Hole in the head usually expands from the sensory pits or the lateral line so that’s an other thing to check. It’s also not usually white it just sort of decays.

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I assumed a fight wound at first but they normally heal up within a few days to a week so got a little paranoid when it’s still there after a few weeks

HITH would be my first assessment. I would definitely treat for hith.

Wills said:

As someone who panicked constantly about hole in the head I don’t think this is.

Hole in the head is caused by bad living conditions and bad water quality neither of which you have. It’s also pretty rare like I’ve only ever seen one case in person and probably a handful on this forum.

It’s more likely that it’s an injury either from decor or fighting given where it is I think it could be a bite.

Hole in the head usually expands from the sensory pits or the lateral line so that’s an other thing to check. It’s also not usually white it just sort of decays.

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Sorry to say but It definitely isn't rare.

DoubleDutch said:

I'd say HITH indeed.

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DoubleDutch said:

Sorry to say but It definitely isn't rare.

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scary...

Wills said:

As someone who panicked constantly about hole in the head I don’t think this is.

Hole in the head is caused by bad living conditions and bad water quality neither of which you have. It’s also pretty rare like I’ve only ever seen one case in person and probably a handful on this forum.

It’s more likely that it’s an injury either from decor or fighting given where it is I think it could be a bite.

Hole in the head usually expands from the sensory pits or the lateral line so that’s an other thing to check. It’s also not usually white it just sort of decays.

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Nitrates play a part in a lot of HITH cases (it being quite common) and they’re thought to be one of the main causes. Cichlids don’t tolerate nitrates as well as most fish, and 40 is actually quite high for them. HITH is also usually white, or pale grey.
HITH is a progressive disease, which spreads. So after a few weeks you’d see other white spots/holes, as it spreads to more sensory pits. So this could be an injury where the fish has banged its head on something. Or not.
A better picture might help...

I say its rare as we get a lot of people posting here and 9 out of 10 times its just a wound on or around the head. If you've had other experiences though fair enough

Personally based on knowing how the OP keeps his tank I would be surprised if it was HITH, 40ppm nitrates isnt great but it also isnt the end of the world IMO (I know others disagree). I also think the OP has more sensitive fish than a Severum in the tank that would show issues earlier too.

Wills

As others have said, a better picture would help.

It's most likely a wound with excess mucous.
Hole in the head disease is caused by a dirty tank, dirty filter and lack of water changes. High nitrates will increase the chance of it occurring. You want to try and keep nitrates as close to 0ppm as possible and under 20ppm at all times. If the nitrates go up to 40ppm between water changes, then do bigger water changes or do them more often.

Make sure you gravel clean the substrate whenever you do a water change.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter at least once a month. Wash filter media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn.

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If a fish ever gets sick, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. This dilutes any disease organisms, poor water quality or chemicals in the water and gives the fish the best chance of recovering.

Just to clarify my tank is 40ppm NO3 after a week of a fully stocked tank and aggressive feeding habits , agreed it’s not what everyone wants but I work a full time job and my free time is spent with my small children lol that’s my way of saying there is always going to be NO3 in my tank
If generally speaking hith is caused by bad conditions I’m leaning to it’s not hith then , I’m going to avoid using any treatments at the moment as I can’t isolate the fish and the rest of the tank is fine , il try and take a better photo also

If you grow floating plants like Duckweed or Water Sprite in the tank, it will help keep the nitrates lower.

If you reduce the amount of food going into the tank, the nitrates will remain lower.

Colin_T said:

If you grow floating plants like Duckweed or Water Sprite in the tank, it will help keep the nitrates lower.

If you reduce the amount of food going into the tank, the nitrates will remain lower.

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I was growing hornwort fairly well until the severum ate it all Have been looking at getting some rather large frogbit but think the same will happen again they have eaten all my plants pretty much now , I’m going to try direct feeding and hope to drop NO3 the only reason I haven’t tried this before as it’s the passive feeders that will suffer like my corys and pleco

It is hard with fish like severum but there are some plants that they don’t go for. Have you thought about some chemical filtration in your filter? You can get resins that soak up nitrates which could be good in here as it’s not like it’s in your tap water which is where it usually comes from.