# What's wrong with my giant rhom???



## weerhom (Jan 12, 2007)

Anyone know what's wrong with this guy. His head doesn't look good. And neither does his gill plate. Can he be treated of is he a goner??? Thanks


----------



## Rough996 (Oct 3, 2006)

I've been in a similar situation. First - what are your water parameters? Regardless, you may want to do a water change immediately - 40% or so. Once done, add aquarium salt at 1 tsp per 5 gallons of water. The salt will help ease his gill functions and reduce his stress (as well as neutralize the nitrates in your water).

Do some research on HITH. I'm not an expert, but based on my experience and what you're seeing, it sounds like HITH to me. There are some good forums on this site that already discuss causes and treatments.

GOOD LUCK!


----------



## BigBadBlackRhom (Sep 10, 2004)

^^^ rough has it dead on. Any updates on the rhom? Start a daily routine of changing water (25% if you can). One thing that might help heal this quicker is to remove the large rocky substrate you have in that tank. I can only imagine how much decaying food, poop is in that stuff. Probably aggitatated the fish. Let us know what you are doing and how the fish is. He's definitely not a goner if you act on it now. Post params, etc- Good Luck!


----------



## Rough996 (Oct 3, 2006)

^^^ agreed... that substrate is ASKING for problems in your water quality. Get rid of it... even if you just leave a glass bottom for a while.


----------



## Yanfloist (Oct 1, 2007)

HITH, change your water at least every other day and add salt. that looks pretty bad.


----------



## Rough996 (Oct 3, 2006)

Yanfloist said:


> HITH, change your water at least every other day and add salt. that looks pretty bad.


Hey Lee,

How's your progress with your big guy?

I've seen very little regression in my rhom's HITH lately... and in fact, I'm starting to see a white film devolping over his head and gill plates, making me think it's worsening, although none of the "hole" areas are expanding. For the past 3 days, I've been dosing with melafix and pimafix to see if I could get that white-ish coating to deminish, but to no avail. It's not terrible, but definitely noticeable. I'm about to get back to Mardel's maracyn, but I have my reservations about over medicating. I'm still doing 25% changes every other day and keeping the salt levels right. I'm considering bumping my temps back to 84 (now 82). Any thoughts??

Marv


----------



## Rough996 (Oct 3, 2006)

Never mind... I've made up my mind. I'm raising my temp back up to 85, because he seemed to do much better at that temp. Also going to get fish zole Good place to purchase and treat 500 mg per 10 gallons every 2 days (after 50% water change). In the saved topic portion of this forum, there is an ideal treatment. I've tried everything else, so this is my last resort.

Lee - you mentioned that you were going to try it earlier... did you?


----------



## Yanfloist (Oct 1, 2007)

Rough996 said:


> Never mind... I've made up my mind. I'm raising my temp back up to 85, because he seemed to do much better at that temp. Also going to get fish zole Good place to purchase and treat 500 mg per 10 gallons every 2 days (after 50% water change). In the saved topic portion of this forum, there is an ideal treatment. I've tried everything else, so this is my last resort.
> 
> Lee - you mentioned that you were going to try it earlier... did you?


hey,
yeah my rhom is healing. the pin size holes have almost all healed, it just has some white flim on its head still. i change the water every other day and add salt. i never bought fish zole yet, but maybe in your case, you should try it. good luck and keep us updated!


----------



## Rough996 (Oct 3, 2006)

Yanfloist said:


> hey,
> yeah my rhom is healing. the pin size holes have almost all healed, it just has some white flim on its head still. i change the water every other day and add salt. i never bought fish zole yet, but maybe in your case, you should try it. good luck and keep us updated!


Yeah, my rhom's hith has been long standing, so it's already fairly bad, but I want it to completely heal over. I know that it's not getting worse, but that white film just won't go away.

I did by some fish zole (metronidazole - sp) and had it expedited, but it's still not here.







WTF did I pay the extra shipping for??? Anyway, it should be here today or tomorrow and I'll start dosing 250mg per 10 gallons every other day. I'm also going to put 100mg into his daily food. I'll keep you posted as to its effectiveness. Everything I read says that this stuff should have it healed within a couple of weeks of treatment... I'm skeptical that it will work that fast, but I'll try anything once. Based on every treatment that I've given up to this point, I can't rule out that my problem is in-fact, a hexamita infestation. If this doesn't work, I'm all out of options other than just continuing the usual SUPER maintenance regiment.


----------



## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Im not convinced that weerho'ms problem is HITH. Please if you can post up all your core water params (before water change) and try to get a better pic/s. The white film you guy's are talking about on your fish is another stage of the HITH disease where mucus starts secreting from the skin. Usually gets worse real fast so stay on top of it.


----------



## Rough996 (Oct 3, 2006)

Dr. Giggles said:


> Im not convinced that weerho'ms problem is HITH. Please if you can post up all your core water params (before water change) and try to get a better pic/s. The white film you guy's are talking about on your fish is another stage of the HITH disease where mucus starts secreting from the skin. Usually gets worse real fast so stay on top of it.


Thanks for the advice Dr. G. I've received the fish zole (metronidazole 250 mg) and have done a 50% water change followed by a dosage of 500 mg per 10 gallons. It seems to have already had a positive effect, as the mucus area has receeded a bit. My schedule is to follow that regiment every 48 hours - due to perform my second water change and dose of fish zole this evening. I'm replacing the salt that gets removed at 1 tsp per 5 gallons and keeping the temp at 85. I believe that this will work based on the rapid improvement in his appetite (ate all of his food as opposed to one piece last night) and activeness - he's swimming in the current as opposed to sitting in the dead zone. I'll keep you posted on the progress.


----------



## Yanfloist (Oct 1, 2007)

hey, that sounds great! I'm glad to hear that fish zole is working for you. My rhom, it has healed much more but it may have a hexamita infestation. The other day, it was crapping out some white and stringy substance. I took some pictures of it and will post it up in the disease section. Before it crapped out the stringy stuff, it's regular crap was a bright yellow that looks like clumps of super tiny eggs. Strange I say.


----------



## Rough996 (Oct 3, 2006)

Yanfloist said:


> hey, that sounds great! I'm glad to hear that fish zole is working for you. My rhom, it has healed much more but it may have a hexamita infestation. The other day, it was crapping out some white and stringy substance. I took some pictures of it and will post it up in the disease section. Before it crapped out the stringy stuff, it's regular crap was a bright yellow that looks like clumps of super tiny eggs. Strange I say.


Hey Lee,

After my second 50% water change and dose of Fish Zole last night (done every 48 hours), I'd say that I expect a full recovery in 2 - 3 weeks. It's amazing how fast the holes are filling back in... and the whitish mucus is gone already. I'd say go ahead and order it - especially since he's pooping as you described - the stringy white poop is a classic sign of a hexamita infestation. As Dr. G said above, if it's showing that mucus, it can go down-hill fast from that point. It took 4 days for the Fish Zole to reach me - despite paying for Expedited shipping. If you want to save your rhom, it's worth it! Order it now - it's like $12.95 per bottle (100 tabs of 250mg) on Amazon.com and I paid $14.95 to expedite shipping. I had to buy two bottles, so that I could dose 8 times (25 tabs per dose over a two-week period). I'm dosing 500 mg per 10 gallons into a 125 gallon tank.

Good luck!

Marv


----------



## weerhom (Jan 12, 2007)

what do you mean by better pics??? You can see the problem areas very well. The fish has no white film. He acts TOTALLY normal and eats very well and aggressively. The fish is perfectly healthy except for the shedding of the head area. Please more input will be greatly appreciated and I will try to get even better pics. The nose area has little pin holes, but from far looks like he has a flaky head. Thanks for the input thus far hope I have helped clear up my situation. I see most rhoms get this, but it is only on the fish 12" and over....weird

oh yes...my rhom has been treated in the past with metro and praziquantal. And his poop is normal. Big brown rottweiler turds.


----------



## Yanfloist (Oct 1, 2007)

Rough996 said:


> hey, that sounds great! I'm glad to hear that fish zole is working for you. My rhom, it has healed much more but it may have a hexamita infestation. The other day, it was crapping out some white and stringy substance. I took some pictures of it and will post it up in the disease section. Before it crapped out the stringy stuff, it's regular crap was a bright yellow that looks like clumps of super tiny eggs. Strange I say.


Hey Lee,

After my second 50% water change and dose of Fish Zole last night (done every 48 hours), I'd say that I expect a full recovery in 2 - 3 weeks. It's amazing how fast the holes are filling back in... and the whitish mucus is gone already. I'd say go ahead and order it - especially since he's pooping as you described - the stringy white poop is a classic sign of a hexamita infestation. As Dr. G said above, if it's showing that mucus, it can go down-hill fast from that point. It took 4 days for the Fish Zole to reach me - despite paying for Expedited shipping. If you want to save your rhom, it's worth it! Order it now - it's like $12.95 per bottle (100 tabs of 250mg) on Amazon.com and I paid $14.95 to expedite shipping. I had to buy two bottles, so that I could dose 8 times (25 tabs per dose over a two-week period). I'm dosing 500 mg per 10 gallons into a 125 gallon tank.

Good luck!

Marv
[/quote]
hummmm....I think that I may just order fish zole. well, my rhom hasn't been pooping out stringy stuff anymore...it has gone back to normal. could it be the level of salt. I no longer use salt. but my rhom still has the white mucus and a elongated hole in the the middle of its head - it follows the dark bann line that comes down its back. It already had that when i bought it. If I can get that to heal with fish zole then I think I would do it. Well, keep us updated when you can. Thanks Marvin.

hey marvin, you could also take out some water so that you wouldn't have to add so much fish zole per gallon to your tank. (like from 125 gallons to 100 gallons of water)


----------

