Weird pimples on head

[apistonoob99]

insee weird white bumps/pimples on 2 of my apistos. I didnt notice anything yesterday. They are active and seem fine no weird behavior so far. What could it be? And how should i treat. Please help.
One of them js D37 and another is from macmasteri complex.

 

[anewbie]

Hard to tell for sure from the picture; but it looks like it bump or scraped itself and a tiny bit of fungus is growing as the wound heals - if this is the case it does not require treatment; the fungus will fall off once the wound completely heals.

 

[MacZ]

Spironucleus/Hexamita, aka Hole-in-the-head.

As I know you feed your fish well and in a fashion that prevents deficiencies, my only guess is, they are subject to some stress factor while infected with the Spironucleus parasite. Treatment would be either some med against Protozoans or Metronidazole. As we are talking of a parasite treating the whole tank will be necessary.

 

[apistonoob99]

Spironucleus/Hexamita, aka Hole-in-the-head.

As I know you feed your fish well and in a fashion that prevents deficiencies, my only guess is, they are subject to some stress factor while infected with the Spironucleus parasite. Treatment would be either some med against Protozoans or Metronidazole. As we are talking of a parasite treating the whole tank will be necessary.

Ohh, noted

 

[MacZ]

Have to ask: I don't mistake you for someone else? We had the topic of feeding a few weeks ago, right?

 

[apistonoob99]

Have to ask: I don't mistake you for someone else? We had the topic of feeding a few weeks ago, right?

We had a conversation regarding bimaculata pairing i guess.... few weeks back

 

[apistonoob99]

Have to ask: I don't mistake you for someone else? We had the topic of feeding a few weeks ago, right?

Anyways, i feed them frozen adult artemia once and sinking pellets once, daily

 

[MacZ]

Then I have to take my statement on feeding back. More diversity in frozen foods, more live food, less dry foods. Stay clear of red mosquito larvae/bloodworms and add some vitamins (available from various manufacturers to add to the food) once or twice a week. After a treatment this should get them back on track and prevent it from coming back.

 

[apistonoob99]

Then I have to take my statement on feeding back. More diversity in frozen foods, more live food, less dry foods. Stay clear of red mosquito larvae/bloodworms and add some vitamins (available from various manufacturers to add to the food) once or twice a week. After a treatment this should get them back on track and prevent it from coming back.

So i can feed artemia paired with tubifex worms right?
Ill stop pellets now. Anyways theyre not so interested in pellets and it seems like they always wait for artemia to fill their bellies

 

[MacZ]

So i can feed artemia paired with tubifex worms right?

Yes, but Tubifex are quite fatty and live Tubifex can harbour parasites, I recommend frozen Tubifex once in a while. Otherwise: Daphnia, black and white mosquito larvae, grindal worms, blackworms, mysis-shrimp.

 

[apistonoob99]

Yes, but Tubifex are quite fatty and live Tubifex can harbour parasites, I recommend frozen Tubifex once in a while. Otherwise: Daphnia, black and white mosquito larvae, grindal worms, blackworms, mysis-shrimp.

Understood. Thank you very much

 

[MacZ]

Gladly, hope it helps and your fish are doing better soon.

 

[Mike Wise]

I need to disagree with MacZ somewhat. Yes, variety is preferable but not absolutely necessary. A mix of 2 or 3 live, frozen, and dry foods is sufficient. No, frozen bloodworms are not bad - if used sparingly and are from a CLEAN source. The same is true for tubifex. They should also be from a clean source. Sadly, most are not.

 

[MacZ]

Sadly, most are not.

Hence I rather advice to stay clear of them.

 

[MacZ]

Yes, variety is preferable but not absolutely necessary. A mix of 2 or 3 live, frozen, and dry foods is sufficient.

I should also add: I only gave a list of live foods I recommend, Not saying all should be offered! I myself usually had 1 rotating live food, 2-3 rotating frozen food species and 1 dry food.

 

[anewbie]

From the picture i'm not sure that is hole in the head and better pictures might help; also I've had good luck exclusively with fluval bug bite with most apisto that don't have an accident living 3 to 5 years.

I do feed some of them bbs and frozen combination of brine and myst shrimp but in truth i've not noticed a lot of benefits over bug bites. I do mix my ground up bug bite with algae max (though most species of apisto don't eat much green); i gave up on live worms (white/black) as too much effort and messy though i still ahve a culture of white worms - also i worry the worms are more fat than nutrition.

I also worry that the frozen food is non-optimal though i did try once to feed some fishes fresh shrimp slized into small pieces but they wouldn't eat it which was a disappointment. I also tried bits of salmon with again the fishes not rejecting it.

I do find very soft acidic water helps with longevity even for domestic species.

 

[MacZ]

From the picture i'm not sure that is hole in the head and better pictures might help

Two fish with eroded sensory openings is for sure a case of HITH.

I do find very soft acidic water helps with longevity even for domestic species.

Absolutely agree.

 

[Mike Wise]

I much prefer using white and grindal worms over black and tubifex worm if one needs excess fat in the diet, like egg production. Why? Because white and grindal worms are terrestrial worms that are much less likely to carry fish pathogens. Black and tubifex are aquatic and live in septic conditions that can include fish pathogens.

 

[apistonoob99]

Another case in the same tank. Cf eunotus. Half face has turned black.
Total 3 sick fishes in this community,
D37 female , wild macmasteri (but im not sure if it's same as d37 HITH coz it looks likes a scratch but im being extra careful) and then this eunotus with half black mask.

 

[MacZ]

Wait, they are all in the same tank? I though it might be crosscontamination between tanks.

The scratching symptom is possible, not a must. It cn also be another unrelated parasite.

Now, at this point 1. You should definitely treat this asap. 2. It would be very importnt longterm to optimize the holding conditions. For this please fill out the disease template:

Template for disease/parasite/death cases

This template contains the most important questions to be answered when dealing with sick or dead fish to find causes and advise on treatments. Please copy and paste into a new thread and answer the questions as precise as possible. Water parameters should be given in numbers. "Fine" or "good"...

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