Jack Dempsey Hole In Head

[Scott MacAdam]

Hey everyone,

So I left my jack Dempsey tank at home with my parents and siblings because they had taken a liking to him. I moved out about 4 years ago and he has been there ever since.

I came home to visit yesterday and the top of his head down to his lip is a rather large wound. It continues onto his bottom lip as well...

I've since done a 50% water change and have started a cycle of mela fix.

I'm not sure what this a actually is, it could be bacterial (it looks pretty nasty) or maybe he just swam into something sharp at a good speed. (he races around the tank from time to time)

2 questions:
Does this sound like hole in the head?
What else can I do to ensure a recovery?

Thanks.

 

[fluttermoth]

Can you get a pic at all? HITH cuases pits and craters that ooze a thick, whitish pus; does that sound like your JD?

 

[minnnt]

Lack of care mate I think. water changes will help him to recover, but the scaring will stay.

 

[pablothebetta]

Pictures would definitely help

 

[BigbruiserAl]

The carbon theory
It has never been proven, but there is much evidence supporting this idea - it is thought that carbon can be a cause of HITH, there are reports of people adding carbon to a tank and the the HITH disease developing, and then when the carbon is removed the HITH heals up.

Heximita infections
Heximita is an intestinal parasite which seems to reduce the amount of nutrients the intestines can absorb, it has been thought of as a main cause of HITH, but now it seems it might just be an extra problem for these fishes.

Treatment
To cure HITH you need to take good care of the infected fish, you want to start by ensuring the water quality is as perfect as can be, I would suggest doing 20% water changes every 1-2 days to help, you also should add some aquarium salt (1 tablespoon per 5 gallons), a good diet is essential, so ensure that the food you give is high quality.
Remove all carbon - this only makes sense if you think it could be the carbon causing the problems, also raise the temp to around 82-86 this might help kill off the disease, and increase the speed of recovery.
There are also medicines that may help the treatment of HITH, but you may need a vets prescription. Dimetridazole and Metronidazole are said to be effective as is Waterlife "Octozin".

 

[Scott MacAdam]

Ok, I'm thinking it's not "hole in the head" but he does have a bit of a hole in the head, if you follow.

No craters or ooze, just a rather large wound. Maybe he bashed his head somehow... When I get back to the house I'll grab a picture. He just doesn't seem himself. Hopefully this will turn around. I'm home for a week so I'll take care of him while I'm here.

 

[Mowbz]

Indeed, he could have just damaged himself in the tank, and as you havent been around, its not been noticed an has progressed. Same rules as above however, lots of water changes and a close eye on him moving forward, and he should recover

 

[walkers101]

It sounds like quite a large area are you sure its not a tumor?

 

[Scott MacAdam]

Ok, here we go.

Its pretty gross but hopefully you guys can lead me in the right direction here.

I've never had to deal with open wounds (thankfully) so I hope you guys can help.
Today when I got home I asked my dad about it and he said that the fish had banged it's head by running into things full tilt. I'm not sure why that would happen but as long as I can help it heal. Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated.

You can see the white on his face, that's the wound. the rest of him seems healthy but he seems a bit lethargic. Just sits around... He must be rather stressed

 

[Mowbz]

What size tank is he in?

 

[Scott MacAdam]

4ft,

 

[Mowbz]

Well he obviously has plenty of room, and if the water stats are fine, im not sure why he would be bolting around the tank!

 

[Scott MacAdam]

Yep, stats are 0,0,20,7.5

I'm still doing frequent water changes while I'm home and as I said I'm running a cycle of mela fix to help him heal. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something more serious.

 

[ctsv510]

My friend had some fish that started getting some strange looking wounds that we couldn't tell what was happening, whether they were bites or some other kind of physical trauma. It looked almost like the flesh was decaying and it started to spread....it turned out to be a fungal infection called Columnaris aka cotton-mouth disease. I can't tell from the picture but it kind of looks like it. It can kill fish in a matter of days but we used Pimafix and it cleared right up in a couple days. You may want to search google images for columnairs, cotton-mouth fish or fish mouth fungus and see if the images look anything like your fish.

 

[Scott MacAdam]

Thanks. I'll check it as soon as I get home.