# Hole in the Head



## zhelmet (Jul 21, 2004)

yesterday I found 2 small holes in my piraya's head and face. I hear that the "hole in the head" is a terrible disease which will cause death. are there anyone has the experience of curing it?
I also hear that Metronidazole is the drug for this disease. but I don't know the dosage. can someone tell me more about that?


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## 2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY (Nov 1, 2005)

do you have a pic of it? how long you have him and what tank size?


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

This is caused by poor water conditions.

How frequent and to what percentage are your water changes?


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Piranha_man said:


> This is caused by poor water conditions.
> 
> How frequent and to what percentage are your water changes?


It also can be a secondary condition due to internal parasites and/or poor nutrition.

Definitely step up your water changes to improve water conditions, treat with a broad spectrum parasite med such as Parasite Clear (has metro and prazi in it along with some antibiotics), and start enriching its food with Kent Zoe Freshwater.


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## ANDY K (Jan 17, 2006)

How big is your fish?


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## Apott05 (Jul 19, 2005)

i would recomend posting up a pic. If it isn infact the begining of HITH i would make a trip to you LFS and buy something to treat for it. Last thing u want is HITH on a nice piraya. Good luck. Let us know whats going on and try to get us a picture if you can.


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

Using carbon in your filters has also been known to cause HITH.

IMO, If you have a cycled tank, you should not use carbon.


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## weerhom (Jan 12, 2007)

I recommend quarentining your fish if you really care about him. These fish are just like reptiles caught in the wild. They have parasites which deprive these creatures from nutrients. Get some praziqual and some metro and keep water prestine during treatment. Piraya aren't cheap. And a fish that has holes all over it's head is worthless. I've seen a guy who had 10 grand of pygo in a huge tank loose his investment very quickly to hith. He hates tropical fish now because of it. What a shame. Good luck. My fingers are crossed for u.

pm me if you want to learn more.


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## zhelmet (Jul 21, 2004)

the fish is around 24-26cm. the tank size is 180cm*50cm*60cm with two filter. the water is usually changed 20%-30% per 1-2 weeks, but currently cut down a little because the winter is here and the water is cold.
I can't take clear photos because the holes are quit small, which can only be noticed in a close observation. and the fish acts quite normally. I think if this is hith it should be at the early stage.

the fish is around 24-26cm. the tank size is 180cm*50cm*60cm with two filter. the water is usually changed 20%-30% per 1-2 weeks, but currently cut down a little because the winter is here and the water is cold.
I can't take clear photos because the holes are quit small, which can only be noticed in a close observation. and the fish acts quite normally. I think if this is hith it should be at the early stage.


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## weerhom (Jan 12, 2007)

That's a biggin. Make sure you raise temp near 86 while treating. Keep your filter clean. Less or NO gravel is best. It's so important that waste is kept low during quarentine or you will just clean him out then reinfect. Luckily you caught it early. Those holes can get extremely bad extremely fast. The best way to treat the metro is soaking or marinating the food in the powder. Praziqual is just as important as the metro. Prazi is a one or two part deal. I would probably treat with metro for a good week. Stomach contents of wild fish show large amounts of parasites under a microscope. We should all be quaretining our fish! It's the first thing I do now when I get a new fish. We need to protect our investments along with give the fish respect it deserves even if it is just a fish. Good luck to all with this stubborn disease.


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## zhelmet (Jul 21, 2004)

thanks weerhom. I have got some pills of Metronidazole for human. but I don't know the proper dosage. one of my friend said it is quit danger to use Metronidazole because he killed a hole tank of fishes with Metronidazole before. is that true? please help.


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

pillz ,, lol sorry but how ya gonna get a pill into a piranha,,?


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

If your positive it's HITH treat with metronidazole. If your not I would not throw anything in except increased water changes and feed healthy food only.


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## zhelmet (Jul 21, 2004)

the hole seems a little larger today. a Metronidazole bath was used yesterday and food with Metronidazole was also fed. I also added some compounded vitamin for human to the food. hope it will work.


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