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Old July 10th, 2009, 01:52 AM   #1
SeaSick
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Default Hole-in-the-Head Disease

I think one of my Oscars have "Hole-in-the-Head",
Is that really the name of a disease?
Do they really get it from eating "feeder-goldfish"?
Is there something I can get in a pet store to cure it?
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Old July 10th, 2009, 02:54 AM   #2
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Hole-in-the-Head disease is most often associated with cichlids, although it does occur in some other fishes. Small holes appear, usually in the region of the head, although they can occur near the lateral line. These gradually enlarge and increase, eventually emitting a yellowish mucus that trails through the water. It's caused by the protozoan Hexamita.
As far as the use of "feeder fish" causing this problem, I don't think so. I've used feeder fish for all my fish large enough to eat them for over 40 yrs, and only had to deal with HitH twice.
I believe that just as healthy humans are normally able to resist viral, and bacterial infections, so can healthy fishes. Should they become weakened in some way, however, perhaps through transportation, overcrowding, or poor aquarium conditions, they will sicken and, if a suitable treatment, or a change in conditions are not applied fairly quickly, may die.
There are OTC medications available in neghborhood pet shops;
"Clout" by Aquarium Products
Hole-in-the-Head Guard by Jungle
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Old July 10th, 2009, 11:26 PM   #3
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I always though that both the hole in the head and lateral line diseases are associated with poor nutrition. Properly fed fish might be less suspectible to any protozoan/infections. Feeding your fish a strict died of gold fish make for poor nutrition especially in aquarium environment.

In nature the predators that feed constantly on "meat" also consume plant matter that is found in the fish they just swallowd. In aquarium enviroment gold fish purchased are so underfed (too keep water quality in check) that there is not much nutrition in them.
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Old July 12th, 2009, 12:46 AM   #4
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I definitely agree, that a diet consisting of only goldfish would certainly not be good for any fish to sustain good health. I only suggested that feeding your fish "'feeder goldfish" would not neccesarily cause your fish to get "Hole in the Head Disease". When I use feeders to feed my fish its usually only 4, or 5 meals a week out of approximately 20, to 30 meals dispensed weekly. ( comprised of asst'd frozen foods, live worms & shrimp, and various pellets, flakes, sticks, tablets, and granules. )
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Old July 12th, 2009, 12:58 AM   #5
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Thank you Xoomer, and MartyK, I really feel I learned a lot about Hole in the Head disease and proper feeding of fish.
I think this forum is great place to get aquarium related questions answered by people who answer the questions that they feel qualified to answer, and obviously have nothing to gain or sell, as might be the case when dealing with retail pet shops that have untrained workers dishing out advice and just looking to make sales.
Thanks BAS for being true to your "core values" and actually EDUCATING AQUARISTS!
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Old July 17th, 2009, 06:37 PM   #6
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The use of feeder fish is controversial at best. The most compelling arguments against using feeder fish is that they are nutritionally deficient and they carry diseases. If you have ever seen an overcrowded tank of feeder fish with dead and dying fish in it as I have, you would never feed these to your fish. Many breeders will not feed certain foods to their prize fish, Tubifex Worms and feeder fish are high on their list of foods to avoid. However I do understand that some Marine Fish will not eat anything except live fish, which leaves most Salt Water hobbyists little choice but to buy feeder fish as food. As far as Freshwater fish are concerned I have imported Wild Bettas and other anabantids that I was told would eat nothing but live food, but with patience and determination I was able to ween them off live food and get them to accept Frozen Foods and in many cases dry food, with an occassional meal of live food, which was much better for them because of the increased nutritional value of the food. Many hobbyists believe mistakenly I feel, that live foods are better for Freshwater fish because they replicate the natural feeding environment of the fish. In truth the natural feeding environment of most Freshwater fish includes, insects, worms, crustaceans, and plant life as well as other fish. Their diet is usually composed of whatever is available at the moment and is very varied. However it is also true that you can force many Freshwater fish quickly into breeding condition by feeding them a diet mostly of live foods. This may be good for Breeding them, but I'm not sure it's good for the overall health of the fish. I am not familiar with Marine Fish diets, but I read that many Frozen and Dry foods are being used with really good results on many Marine fish. This is probably more of a topic for Fish Nutrition, but it is germane to the nutritional health of fish that get Hole in the Head disease .
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