Oscar With Hith

[Lokemer]

So today as i was changing my oscars water i noticed that he has two spots that to me look like hith. i don't understand how he could get it. he lives in a 90 gallon tank by himself i change his water 25% weekly and i always check the water parameters at the end of every week and there has been nothing wrong with them, like seriously no spikes in ANYTHING. I feed him a mix of blood worm, beefhart, brine shrimp and on occassion a earthworm from the garden (no chems used in the garden). He always eats everything that i put in so theres never any left over chunks or bits of anything... he has pretty good filtering in his tank 2 filters designed for 120gallon tanks and they're stuffed with the foam that holds the beneficial bacteria. He lives alone in this tank and is about idk 6-7 inches or a little more. I know this is a mildly common disease that afflicts oscars but im just distraught because this has been my first problem with him ...any help is appreciated!

 

[Lokemer]

BUMP

 

[indigoj]

Do you not feed him any veggies? These are an important part of a balanced oscar diet either 'real veggies' or veggie pellets. Could be he is lacking essential nutrients if not.

Can you get a pic?

 

[Lokemer]

i feed him peas and i have a variety pack that has a cube mixed with blood worm and vegtable stuff and i feed that along with a pea or two at the end of every week...he doesnt really like that type of cube tho. i can get a pic tomorrow

 

[WILDER]

The spots do they look like white pimples.
Any redness to the pimples.
Any strands coming out of the pimples.
Do you use black carbon in the filter all the time.

If you suspect hole in the head you need to treat.

 

[Lokemer]

they dont look like pimples they look like holes. theyre red on the inside no strands or any thing. i use carbon in the filter mostly yes.

what do i treat him with that's available in the us?

 

[bitteraspects]

welcome to the wonderful world of oscars. HLLE /HITH is inevitable.

first thing you need to do, is get rid of the carbon in your filter and never use it again. many people worldwide link the use of carbon to HLLE (though i cant confirm this personally). beyond that, carbon is just not necessary for daily operation. it should only be used for removing chemical medications from the tank.

a good varied diet and pristine water conditions are the key to cure.

fill this out so we can have a better idea of whats going on in your tank.

what are your water parameters?
how often do you do WC?
what type of filter do you have?
how often do you clean your filter?
what do you feed your fish?
how often?

 

[WILDER]

Remove black carbon and add a bacterial med for now.
You only need to use carbon for removing meds. Carbon only works for 2 to 9 days anyway.

 

[erk628]

I had this problem about a month ago so I'll tell you what I did. First off from doing research my finds say that there are not any medicines over the counter that will cure HITH, yes there are some out there that say they do but they dont work. Now if it gets bad to the point there is an infecting then yes there are meds for that. Now there are two meds cant remember the names that have been proving to work but you have to get then prescribed at a vet. Now with these meds there only to be used in sever cases and yours dont sound like that.

Now the two main reasons for HITH is a bad diet and water conditions. Now when I noticed when my oscar had HITH again, I tested my water and my nitrates were off the chart 160 plus ppm. Now high nitrates like this can be a main cause. So what I did was do big water changes of 50% or more a day for about a week. In about a weeks time I was able to get it down to 0ppm of nitrate. While I was doing this I went out and bought a bag of Hikari Cichlid Gold pellets. These have everything in them that your ocar needs for a well balanced diet.

So what I would do and what I did do is check your nitrates I would try to get then down as low as you can and change his diet. His diet should consist mainly of pellets but a couple times a week you can feed him other things. I bought the pellets with color enhancement and his color has got a lot better. In about a week or 2 the HITH should be gone. Once I lowered my nitrates down to 0ppm doing weekly water changes afterwards of about 20 to 30% I'm able to keep the nitrates down between 10 to 20 ppm.

Also I would take the carbon out there has been studies down that say in some cases carbon can cause HITH.

 

[england]

A couple of good reads for you
http/www.worldcichlids.com/diseases/Adamhith.html

"I think it's worth mentioning an Oscars "sensory pits". Lots of people suddenly notice tiny little pinprick holes when they are observing their Oscar close up, or when they are looking at a photograph that has been taken using the flash. They then start panicking because they think their Oscar is developing hole in the head disease. Worry not, these are sensory pits and are totally normal, they should not be confused with hole in the head disease. The excellent photograph above provided by Rafel, one of our members clearly shows lots of pinprick holes arranged in circles, these are the sensory pits." http/www.oscarfishlover.com/hith-disease


http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/253192-join-the-oscar-club-its-just-for-fun/