What the hole is it?

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The picture is not of the best quality, but what is the white hole above his eye. The hole has progressively gotten worse. Should I quarantine the fish or continue to do water changes? I did finally change the activated carbon for the first time- I didn't know you were supposed too (ROOKIE ERROR!#!@#!). ***H**E***L**P***

-----The way I finally was able to post my cell phone picture was by opening up the picture on my computer in "paint" and saving it as a jpeg file. Then after downloading it onto my photos in 3reef, i was able to copy the URL directly from my photo on 3reef and post it on this thread. Luckily, photo bucket was not required- because I don't know how to use photo bucket------

 

Is he still eating fine? I would just use garlic,improve water quality, and hope for the best. If you try to fish him out to quarentine or make too many changes you may just stress the fish out and make it worse.

 

He is new to our tank and eats better now than he ever did. The first few days in the tank he was very finicky and did not seem to eat at all. As a result I widely expanded my food variety. Now he seems to eat almost everything. I will continue to work on water quality and give daily reports of progress or lack-of. Is there a specific garlic-food product I should administer or do I cut chunks of fresh garlic?

 

****UPDATE****UPDATE***UPDATE****

After changing activated carbon, a 15% water change, a 10% water change, and heavy feedings of varying foods, the Coral Beauty seems to be healing... or at least not getting worse. I will continue to post updates on the progress of overcoming "Hole-in-the-head" disease. Pictures will be posted along with the progress. THANKS FOR EVERYBODY's HELP!!!

 

Glad to hear it's not getting worse. Last night I read a thread about someone having a similar issue, and good nutrition, the right kinds of foods for the type of fish, and good water quality and temp control helped that person's fish. Good luck to you!

 

Has anybody conquered this fish disease? If so, how? I recently saw a medicine for "hole-in-the-head" in a magazine. Any opinions on wether or not it is worth a try? I have read many threads that claim the medicines for 'ich' are pointless. Could this medicine be just as pointless? This thread has definitlely become the "Save-A-Fish-Foundation" and, as promised, here is an updated picture of the fish disease.[/url][/IMG]
If the fish continues to cooperate with photo shoots, I will try to post an updated picture daily... I know with the wisdom and experience found in 3reef we can help this fish pull through!!!

 

***UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE****

Unfortunately, the disease is getting much worse. The hole has expanded from the top of his eye, to down around his eye to the edge of his mouth. Think I may set up a quarantine tank and try some "hole-in-the-head" medicine I saw in a catalogue.

 

I am having the same issues with coral beauty that is newly aquired (3 weeks). Water parameters are spot on, but my temp has been fluctuating about two degrees ( I think the heater is malfunctioning). On the opposite side of the sore, my fish also has a case of popeye (which had made me think at first that he had scraped himself on the rocks). I use garlic supplements for the food. Im wondering if anything you have done has helped your coral beauty???

 

Sorry to hear about your Coral Beauty. I mail ordered medicine for the Hole-in-the-Head and placed my Coral Beauty in a hospital tank. I may have been too late because he died a few days later. Per the recommendation of fellow 3-reefers, I now have a grounding probe and am trying my luck with a 2nd Coral Beauty. I should have quarantined him for a couple of weeks, but chose to acclimate him straight into the display tank. It has been over a week now and everything appears to be fine. Keep me posted on your progress or lack of.

 

Mine had gotten much worse, so I ordered Zoecon and Zoe. Within a few days, the spot is barely noticeable, and his pop eye is virtually nonexistent. I couldn't believe how fast the stuff worked; I thought we were going to lose him, as the spot was rapidly growing and he was staying hidden most of the day. Now he is out and about and back in his honorary position as a member of the school of green chromis.