CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Hi guys, its me again. After setting up my new tank ans finally getting a light on my tank i could really notice details about my fish. was looking at hisface and noticed small semi-indentations on his face between his eye and on the side of his head in two more spots. After seeing pics of hith i am wondering whether this is it? What do i do. I have heard this is a really serious condition. is it curable?i really need help....again

It is curable if caught early enough. Water quality and diet are big factors in helping a fish recover from HITH.

It may not even be HITH but it would not do any harm following the basic steps toward curing early cases. If you can only just notice pitting and it is in fact HITH it sounds as though it is not very advanced so it's good you've noticed it.

The basic steps to follow for treatment are...
Supplimenting diet with vitamins (either from a fish store or a multi vitamin crushed and absorbed into pellets or other typical foods). It's also though that a simple (or "boring") diet can contribute to the onset and progression so it would be a good idea to also feed a variety of foods aswell if you don't allready do so. Things like worms, shrimp, insects, shelled peas etc.
Try and keep water quality optimum and begin doing regular water changes so that the water perameters are as good as possible (say twice weekly of 30% or something like that).
If your tanks not allready salted you can also dose at a medicanal rate with aquarium salt (1 tablespoon per 5gal unless you are housing scalless tankmates in which case you should half that to 10gal).
Also remove any carbon from your filters if you use it as it is beleived to be a factor in HITH and definately wont help any.

Like I said it may not even be HITH (They could be sensory pits) but following those steps shouldn't have anything but positive effects anyway. If it does progress further and the fish develops larger pitting then you may need to treat for IP (Hexamita) with something like Metro but if it's only mildly onset in a lot of cases meerly those first steps will overcome HITH.

ok, that all makes alot of sence, and looking at the causes, i think it may be hith. he has had a diet of mainly pellets, and i have been struggling with his water from the start(too small tank not as much filtration as an oscar needs). so anyway, i have this stuff called geo liquid mineral magic that is supposed to remove harmful bacteria and create ideal water conditions. should i try to use it? someone told me it does nothing, does anyone know?

Skip the Doc in the box, at least thats my opinion. As fnesr stated, in most case's of HiTH water quality, and or diet.IMO "stress" is another cause as well.
For more info, check out the thread in our FAQ's on HiTH.

Here's a link that might be helpful determining normal sensory pits or HITH.

http://www.oscarfish.com/cms_view_article.php?aid=3

ok, well maybe it is normal, but i will keep a real close eye on him, hard to tell by those pics whether it is or not. anyway gonna prevent it by following above steps. It was mentioned that insects could be given. are moths ok? i get them sitting on the top of my tank near the light and have been tempted to let them 'drop in" but not sure if they are a problem. gonna make beefheart recipe today, and get a few different kinds of live worms. i can get meal worms and blood worms.i take it these are ok too

Moths should be fine.