i have never dealt with diseased cichlid since i try to keep the water quality on the good side. I try to feed a varied diet (freeze dried food, frozen foods, staple pellets). i do a 25-30% water change weekly and test my water atleast 2-3 times a week. My parameters:
ammonia=0
nitrate=10
nitrite=0
chlorine=0
alkalinity= "Ideal"
PH= 6.6
the water is "soft"
so here's the problem....i went 45 mins away to buy medication for my tank that is infected with hith. all of my cichlids have it. i believe i have caught it early b/c my fish still have a voracious appetite and they are not lethargic. they are still very active and still try to test each others strength. i bought the Jungle labs anti parasite for ponds b/c everywhere else that i went in town didn't have enough meds to treat my tank. each tablet treats 50 gal. so on the first treatment i did a 25% water change before i started. then i have been adding 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gal to increase the effectiveness of the meds. i know there is metronidazole and prazi in the tablets along with a couple of other meds. well when i treated the 1st time about and hour after i treated the tank the fish were very lethargic / listless. ( i made sure to add an extra hob filter for extra agitation, O2(. i now have 2 pengiun 330 hob filters, 1 tetra 60gal hob, and one canister filter rated for 180gal. so i freaked out when they started gasping and being lethargic so i did a 30% water change. the 2nd time i treated them i only treated for 100 gals rather than 150 gal. they still reacted badly to the meds. so i went and bought some Seachem Metronidazole and got a cup put about 1 tablespoon of tank water, 1 measure of metronidazole, 1 tablespoon of hikari gold pellets and a few freeze dried shrimp in the cup and let it soak it all up. then i fed the food to them.....will this work? if so, how often do i treat them with the homemade medicated food? i tried feeding them the Jungle lab anti-parasite food but the pellets are way too small and they just spit them out. HELP PLEASE I DONT WANT MY FISHIES TO GO TO HEAVEN THEY ARE STILL SO YOUNG!

You gave a lot of info and I wish I could help you hun but I don't have any experience with HITH at all. The mods here are fantastic and will be riding in to save the day any minute now! How many fish do you have and are they all sick? You're in my thoughts, good luck!!

i have 5 oscars, 1 green terror, 2 baby channel cats ( that will be going into a pond in a year or 2) and then 1 fat pleco. the only one that isn't showing the symptoms is my strawberry lutino named pinky....and that might be b/c it's such a light color that i cant see the light colored spots on her. not sure...she seems a lot tougher than the others and hardier too. i just need to know what i can do to get rid of this and if there is any way to do it quickly. i know this can turn in to a 6 month ordeal but i would rather it not ya know? but i really want to see if my idea with the pellets soaked in metronidazole can work?

I do know, I worry about my fish like I worry about my kids. You're being very active about helping them so I think it will turn out good for you.

i think i worry about them way too much though. i freak out when they even look the slightest bit sick or injured. i figured out that melafix is an oscars best friend and pointy rocks are the enemy. but my husband is starting to get jealous b/c of all the attention they get. he's the one that got me started with the hobby in the first place. he had oscars in highschool and then last christmas he bought me a lil betta set up and that's how it all started. i went from a 1/2 gal tank to a 150 gal within like 15 days. lol but back to the sick babies.....

i have never had to deal with hith myself and beleive the other guys here who have will give you beetr advice on how to proceed ....but i do know ..unfortunately that hith is conected to bad water ...and apparantly is not contageous ......so IMHO the problem has developed from bad water conditions i see you say the parameters are zero.....but hith normaly only develops in poor water conditions....also i regret to inform you that 5 oscars in 150US gals is equal to 125 uk gals ......this ammount of water is not enough for all your fish .even with massive filtration the harmfull chemicals will be rising so quickly the fiss will be subject to prolonged exposure to these toxins (nitrate)even after a 25% waterchange 12- 24 hours elape and your back up to dangerous levels ...so after fresh water is added your readings are ok but soon become toxic ....this yo yo effect has had a detrimental effect on your fish i beleive ...and 125 uk gals will only house 2 oscars and your terror cats and plec..... metro is the most effective treatment for hith so youe on the right road ...but you will shortly get more info there from better experienced hith members............but you need to first find the cause or reocurance will take place .........and IMHO you are far overstocked .... just my opinion hope this helps

I need to take more time before I answer posts, I didn't even think about overstocking. It's hard to resist though, I'm on the edge myself.

Sinstinna wrote:



sins your concern here is as valuable to the site and members as ANY info.... thanks

i have a 75 gal that i am currently building a stand for. all of the fish i have are under 5in at the moment i am waiting for them to pair off so i can seperate the pairs and put 2 in the 75. then i will have the terror and 2 oscars in the 150 and a pair in the 75. since they haven't paired and they are still very small i believe it's ok for now. like i said earlier the channel cats are going into my father in laws pond once they get to about 10in or so. i have been using cycle and amquel+ to keep the levels at bay and it's been working well along with the weekly changes and cleanings.i always make sure to test the water before a water change and then 12-24 hrs after the change. i will say that for a while there i didn't have a gravel vac so the nitrates were spiking in the earlier days but i thought that hith was contagious. but like i said i have no clue. im doing daily water changes at the moment to make sure that the fish have clean fresh water and so i can treat them with the meds. do you think i can soak the pellets and shrimp in the metro and treat them? that's what i want to know. another thing i wanted to know was if anyone here has every treated hith successfully?

Thank you very much for the smile BG, it means a lot to be a part of this site. I keep OFL open the entire time I'm online so I don't miss anything. Hugs to you ;0

i am about to go to lunch but i will be checking back around one. i just need some good info and see if there is anything else i can do to make sure that my fish are as comfy as possible!

see yall in a bit!