# Mark on Black Rhom's head



## tsmith09 (Jul 6, 2009)

Hi,

My Black Rhom has a white mark on his head and upon looking closely it seems as though there is tiny pin size black spots on the white mark? am talking about really tiny black spots.
I only got the piranha on 18th July so i have only had him for just under 2 weeks. He is 14.5"
My Ammonia rose to 1ppm at the weekend and after posting in the water chemistry forum because i think my pH was so low (below6.0) it was killing my beneficial bacterica. After several water changes since the weekend and raising my pH my Ammonia is back down to 0ppm.
However on Sunday/Monday the piranha was trying to rub himself on the gravel although he has'nt done so since Monday although this white mark has appeared.
My water test results today are - 
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm
pH=6.6
Is this some sort of disease? Should i dose the tank with Melafix just incase?
Is it possible he could have just bumped into the powerhead or something and this is what the mark is?
He has'nt been acting any different and he is still eating.

I have posted a few pics on tinypic.com -

Pic1
Pic2
Pic3

If you need anymore pics let me know

Thanks


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Yikes!

That white mark looks like a scrape, it is the rest of the craters that have me concerned. Your rhom has a serious case of HITH...you need to treat him ASAP! I prefer using Jungle Labs Parasite Clear Tabs because they contain prazi and metro along with some antibiotics. You need 1 tab per 10 gallons treating on days one, three, and 5 with a 25% water change before each dose (order online and get the 100 pack as you may have to retreat in the future). That should get it under control, but I don't know if you can reverse all the damage done. Make sure you are feeding him a diet of fresh white fish such as catfish or tilapia soaked in a quality vitamin like Vita-Chem. If you don't get HITH under control, he will suffer and eventually die from it or secondary infections!


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

Hell yeah..Dont worry about that..do what Bio said!! (JUST NOTICED..WHEN DID YOU CHANGE IT TO PIRANHA TEACH???)

Thats no good man.
I hope you have luck with it.
I would be pissed at who you bought it from but...you should have noticed that.


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## tsmith09 (Jul 6, 2009)

Thanks for the replys.

Not what i wanted to hear but i need to know.

I have looked for the meds you mentioned however i have just looked online and phoned my LFS and can't find them. I live in the UK so will they be called something else?


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## jamesw (Jan 28, 2009)

Where did u get the piranha from?


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## tsmith09 (Jul 6, 2009)

A bloke down near London who imports them.


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## jamesw (Jan 28, 2009)

Was it from piranha warehouse, coz they were selling a 14.5inch rhom? i cant imagine theres too many 4 sale, how much did u pay? i hope he gets better!


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

tsmith09 said:


> Thanks for the replys.
> 
> Not what i wanted to hear but i need to know.
> 
> I have looked for the meds you mentioned however i have just looked online and phoned my LFS and can't find them. I live in the UK so will they be called something else?


Ahhh...probably can't get it in the UK because of the metro in it...evidently you have to go to a vet in the UK for metronidazole. You should be able to get Octozin though and see if that does anything.

You've got to stay on top of your water quality and filter maintenance (ditch the carbon if you use it), feed a healthy diet, and I'd dose Aquarium salt as directed. Melafix and Pimafix is fine too.


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## tsmith09 (Jul 6, 2009)

I went to my vet and managed to get metronidazole. It is in tablet form. He gave me 57 tablets, each tablet is 200mg, he told me 55 tablets would treat my tank which is 450 litres. My tank has around one and a half inches deep of gravel along the bottom of the tank and a fitted juwel aquarium background in the tank so should i lower the amount of tablets i add to the tank? He said i was to crush the tablets into power and add to the water and leave for 2 days then do a 100% water change and also to move my FX5 to my other tank as the metronidazole will kill the bacteria in my filters. He said i would probably need to do this 3 times as the problem is serious.

I have'nt added the metronidazole yet as i added melafix to my tank on Friday. Will it be ok to add the metronidazole to the tank with melafix in the water? or should i add carbon to my filter to remove the melafix before i add the metronidazole?

Do i add the crushed tablets directly to the water in my tank or add them to a bucket full of water then add that to the tank?

Also when i do add the metronidazole instead of doing a 100% water change could i do around a 50% water change and just add carbon to my filters?


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

Order what you need from a us site that ships world wide... Most ship pretty cheap.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

tsmith09 said:


> I went to my vet and managed to get metronidazole. It is in tablet form. He gave me 57 tablets, each tablet is 200mg, he told me 55 tablets would treat my tank which is 450 litres. My tank has around one and a half inches deep of gravel along the bottom of the tank and a fitted juwel aquarium background in the tank so should i lower the amount of tablets i add to the tank? He said i was to crush the tablets into power and add to the water and leave for 2 days then do a 100% water change and also to move my FX5 to my other tank as the metronidazole will kill the bacteria in my filters. He said i would probably need to do this 3 times as the problem is serious.
> 
> I have'nt added the metronidazole yet as i added melafix to my tank on Friday. Will it be ok to add the metronidazole to the tank with melafix in the water? or should i add carbon to my filter to remove the melafix before i add the metronidazole?
> 
> ...


Did he tell you how many tabs per litre or UK gallon? Are those 57 tabs supposed to be divided into 3 doses? I have no experience dosing straight metro, but what I've found said something about 125-250mg per 10 US gallons. It also isn't supposed to affect your filter bed. Your vet could be giving you a heavier dose based on case, but I don't know. Either way, you should take into account how much water you feel is being displaced.


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## tsmith09 (Jul 6, 2009)

He said 1 tablet would treat 8 litres.

The tablets i have just now are for 1 dose only.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

tsmith09 said:


> He said 1 tablet would treat 8 litres.
> 
> The tablets i have just now are for 1 dose only.


He's the vet! Approximate how many litres you think is displaced and alter dose accordingly. I would dissolve the crushed tabs in hot water first before adding. Change as much of the water as you can and then add carbon to help with the rest when done. Did he say how long in between doses you were supposed to wait?


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## tsmith09 (Jul 6, 2009)

He never said how long i was to wait between doses. I'll phone tommorrow and ask.

Trigga - I emailed Drs. Foster & Smith about shipping the jungle labs parasite clear + vita chem over to the UK and the quotefor shipping i got was $130.99 that was FedEx Economy.


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## tsmith09 (Jul 6, 2009)

Managed to speak to the vet today. He said the procedure has to be repeated every 2 days for 3 times.
The problem is the vet surgery has'nt got enough metronidazole tablets in stock right now to supply me with the second and third dose so they have had to order more in so i'll need to wait until they arrive.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

tsmith09 said:


> Managed to speak to the vet today. He said the procedure has to be repeated every 2 days for 3 times.
> The problem is the vet surgery has'nt got enough metronidazole tablets in stock right now to supply me with the second and third dose so they have had to order more in so i'll need to wait until they arrive.


Okay...in that case, you obviously can't remove 100% of the water with the fish in the tank. I would remove as much water as you can (75% maybe) refill then remove 75% again before redosing.

Is there any way to move him to a smaller hospital tank to treat him in to save you some $$ on metro and make water changes easier? Since you'll be changing so much water every 48hrs, you can slap on a spare filter. Don't feed him until he is back in the main tank.


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## tsmith09 (Jul 6, 2009)

Unfortunately i have'nt got a hospital tank. The vet also asked me the same question.


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## locust (Aug 2, 2005)

Theres a product availabe in the UK made by Azoo called Discus parasite or something similar, it contains metro , it doesnt kill filter bacteria either.
Ive heard of using Easha Heximita treatment by dabbing it straight on the holes


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