# Hole in head: carbon?



## BubbaGump_59 (Jul 23, 2010)

ok so right now in my 140(for filtration i have a 40gal sump with Mag12)i have a pair of oscars some bichirs and 2 red tail giant gourami's im growing out, i do water changed 2-3 times a week (there about 40% changes) so recently my female oscar developed a small case of HITH (one hole in the center of the head), there fed shrimp squid and smelt along with pellets. i was puzzled and didnt know what trigger was for the HITH (all other fish are fine btw) until a couple days ago i realized that the carbon that was in my sump was very old (it was from a pervious owner and i had the tank for almost a year now :S ) but when i picked the bags full of carbon up black water just poured out (i took all carbon out btw) :S could the carbon be the cause?? its the only i can think of! the waters clean and are well fed. the pair of O's actually just layed another batch of eggs this morning so ill have fry in a couple days!
oh and ive been adding salt to the water every Water change. id just like to know what everyone thinks about the carbon theory and maybe some tips to get my female oscar a speedy recovery!

thanks in advance for the help


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## hondas3000 (Apr 22, 2010)

Remove the carbon and do more water change and add salt. They do have HITH medication that you can buy. The healing will take a couple week though. I read about Carbon but never experience it myself, nothing will be good forever so you need to be replace after a period of time. I have carbon in my drip system so it can remove chlorine but I do replace it every 2 months.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

just clean water will heal HITH problem. Check your water parameter. Remove the carbon. Active carbon should be replaced every month. Once chemical is bonded with the carbon, it stops being active. But I doubt that is your problem of HITH.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

BubbaGump_59 said:


> ok so right now in my 140(for filtration i have a 40gal sump with Mag12)i have a pair of oscars some bichirs and 2 red tail giant gourami's im growing out, i do water changed 2-3 times a week (there about 40% changes) so recently my female oscar developed a small case of HITH (one hole in the center of the head), there fed shrimp squid and smelt along with pellets. i was puzzled and didnt know what trigger was for the HITH (all other fish are fine btw) until a couple days ago i realized that the carbon that was in my sump was very old (it was from a pervious owner and i had the tank for almost a year now :S ) but when i picked the bags full of carbon up black water just poured out (i took all carbon out btw) :S could the carbon be the cause?? its the only i can think of! the waters clean and are well fed. the pair of O's actually just layed another batch of eggs this morning so ill have fry in a couple days!
> oh and ive been adding salt to the water every Water change. id just like to know what everyone thinks about the carbon theory and maybe some tips to get my female oscar a speedy recovery!
> 
> thanks in advance for the help


Old carbon will cause HITE for sure. We have seen this with larger Cichlids as well as marine applications. Removing the carbon will help in reversing the condition. Varied diet like you are doing and as others say, frequent water changes. IT seems to be related to when the carbon starts to deteriorate and fall apart, in most cases it can be reversed. It can also be caused by stray voltage resulting from an old pump, heater etc.


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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

I agree . It does. Discus breeders never use carbon exactly for that reason. Also if it was old and mungy then it was most likely leaching stuff back into the water.
it should heal with clean water if not
Metro helps.


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