hole in the head

[fishgeek]

was doing some reading and came across something that may be of interest to some here
found a reference by dieter untergasser(quite old 1989) to hole in the head and a differing theory

Basically it was their opinion that protozoan flagellate of the gut were not directly responsible for hole in the head
What they put forward was that vitamin D3 calcium and phosphorus were deficent in the animals affected and explained treatment with vitamin/mineral fortified foods

They also proposed that in large numbers the non-pathogenic gut protozoans could deplete the fishes reserves of these mineral and vitamins to start the signs occuring

Seemed an interesting theory , and one that i would have thought advances in fed manufacture would have resolved

Any comments
Andrew

 

[Neil]

Andrew,
Interesting! That kind of goes along with the basic assumption that numerous maladies in fish can be mitigated, in large part, by an appropriate diet. It goes without saying that the upkeep of the water in the tank is not the only thing that we must concern ourselves with.

Seemed an interesting theory , and one that i would have thought advances in fed manufacture would have resolved

Yes, but we are probably still early in devloping knowledge of species-specific requirements and the best option at this time would have to be a combination of foods to give an appropriate nutritional base for our fish.

Neil

 

[2la]

Here's one of the better articles on HITH I've come across on the 'net...

http://www.worldcichlids.com/diseases/Adamhith.html

 

[ButtNekkid]

I read somewhere that HITH only occurs on captive fishes. Is this true?