# What wrong with my Green Terror?



## daaaaaan (Oct 27, 2004)

Well guys, I just picked up a new 9" Green Terror from the LFS (thread here) and the only injury I noticed is below his eye right infront of his front fin, you can see a hole of some sort, is this an injury from a fight, or a disease, or a parasite eating away at him, or what? And what should I do besides add Aquarium Salt and turn up the temp?

Thanks for all the help!!

Oh, and I have 14 days to return the fish, so if this is going to be a "life threatening" disease please let me know so I can return him (although I REALLY dont want to!)
*NEW! Here is a video!* (right click "save target as") http://www.twinsenland.com/vids/greenterror.mpg
His Mystery Hole:
View attachment 67464


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

HITH disease, it's not entirely uncommon in cichlids. Alot of times it's caused by poor water quality and poor diet, which considering he came from an LFS I think is the likely culprit. It can also be linked to the hexamita parasite and untreatable in a few cases (though it often doesn't get alot worse so long as water quality and diet is good) but usually good nutrition and proper care will get it straightened out. I've seen it get very bad in Oscars and they lived, so it's extremely unlikely it's going to turn serious in your fish, and even more extremely unlikely it will become fatal or anything.

Treat him right, and he should be fine before long


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## daaaaaan (Oct 27, 2004)

elTwitcho said:


> HITH disease, it's not entirely uncommon in cichlids. Alot of times it's caused by poor water quality and poor diet, which considering he came from an LFS I think is the likely culprit. It can also be linked to the hexamita parasite and untreatable in a few cases (though it often doesn't get alot worse so long as water quality and diet is good) but usually good nutrition and proper care will get it straightened out. I've seen it get very bad in Oscars and they lived, so it's extremely unlikely it's going to turn serious in your fish, and even more extremely unlikely it will become fatal or anything.
> 
> Treat him right, and he should be fine before long
> [snapback]1089370[/snapback]​


Ok, so just salt, and good water conditions, and such?

Do I need to be worried at all w/ handeling stuff in the tank, like can I get "catch" it or anything?


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Nope you can't catch it, and salt won't do anything to it so I wouldn't bother adding salt unless he gets a fungal infection or ick or something like that.

You should always wash your hands after they're in your tank, but other than that you don't need to take any extra precautions since humans can't catch HITH


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## Scarlet (Apr 15, 2004)

Metronidozole is pretty effective against HITH. If you start to see it progress despite good diet and water, that would be your best bet.


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## Kain (Mar 13, 2003)

...nevermind


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## GoJamieGo (Mar 18, 2005)

I've seen HITH on cichlids on many occasions and that doesnt look like HITH at all.......

It looks like tuberculosis. Symptoms of this disease are chronic and nonspecific in nature. Small granulomateos lesions resembling pimples may appear on the body. These skin lesions, when present, are often observed at the fin bases and around the orbit (head).

There is no effective treatment and fish diagnosed with this disease should be humanely euthanized. Unless in your case, you have 14 days to get your money back. =)

Although fish tuberculosis is not caused by the same organism that commonly affects humans, it can still be transmitted to us. Such infections are characterized by a chronic skin rash resembling samll nodules and are most commonly observed on the hands.

If I were you, I take adavantage of the stores return policy and get a refund ASAP.


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

That's not HITH.... if it were HITH there would be many more holes.... not just one









Cant really tell for sure what it is but I'd either say it's a bacterial infection or some sort of deep cut


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## daaaaaan (Oct 27, 2004)

I dont think it is TB, for one reason I found some symptons of fish TB:
Loss of appetite- nope ate with hours of his new home (thats rare!) 
Progressive thinness- nope 
Sluggish movement - nope very active, already moved 3 of my plants!
Folded fins- nope 
Eye protrusion- nope 
Dark coloration and granular appearance of the cornea (this is the first sign in Angelfish). - nope
Skeletal deformity - nope (has a nice bump!)
Hanging at the surface- nope 
Skin defects, including blood spots and open wounds that may ulcerate- yes 
Black spots, or overall dark coloration (in Cichlids particularly). - nope
Fin rot, characterised by the outer rays falling out.- no rot, just nipped at 
Scales loosening and falling out- not a single scale missing 
General swelling and scale protrusion (as in Dropsy)-nope

So he has 1 sympton of fish TB.....i found all this info here: http://www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html

I think it may be HITH from what other people have described on the internet, or it may just be a scar from a battle in his past......the hole isn't deep at all, and the outside of it has a brown trim (very light brown). Also his front left fin has been nipped at from other fish, along with his tail. I will keep and eye on it, and see if it spreads or not....

Also Please dont go around diagnosing to people that their fish has TB, and they should take it back for a refund yes of course there is a slight chance the fish may have it, but any fish can.....I understand you were just trying to give your input on the issues, but as something as severe as TB, you shouldn't just be throwing that in the cloud of ideas of what it could be, before asking more questions to gather info.......

I appreciate the help guys!

EDIT: I just put a video up too, hope this helps!


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## daaaaaan (Oct 27, 2004)

up


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