My son and I have a two year old Tiger in 55 gallons who has hole in the head, I have used a HITH treatment which turned the water blue and we had to administer every other day for 3 days. It didn't do anything, but we do test and keep the water as we should. Do you have any other advise, he is not getting any worse but it has not closed either. He will only eat occassionally and only the red pellets and live fish. Are crickets ok to feed him? He likes them.
Just after Christmas we bought two babies a Red and Albino Tiger, the Albino has tripled in size and loves everything we feed him, bloodworms, silverfish and those red pellets, but the Red has grown only about 1/2, they were both the same size. The Red does not eat the pellets which I know to be a staple diet for them.We keep them in a separate 30 gallon for now. Please help as he is not growing he eats bloodworms and silverfish,but what can I give him to grow? Thank you!

hi Fiona,

Firstly, am I right in saying you've got more than one Oscar in your 50 gallon tank? If so, this is not going to help your situation clearing up diseases. 50 gallons is big enough for one Oscar, and one Oscar only. Keeping too many fish in a small environment will result in poor water quality, which is a major contributor to hole in the head disease. Was it methylene blue that you used, or something that is based on this medication? if so, you should be very careful as this can have a negative effect on your biological filter, checked the water conditions please, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.

Medications do differ slightly to what you can get over here in the UK. There is something called Jungle labs, or something like that that can be used to treat hole in the head disease. If possible, could you please post some photographs.

For the time being, carry out regular tank maintenance and keep the nitrate levels at 20 ppm or preferably lower. This can definitely help heal, or keep the hole in the head under control. But I've have already stated, keeping fish, and Oscars in particular in good health does largely depend on the sort of environment they are kept in. When keeping Oscars, there are four important factors you should consider if you want your Oscars to live healthy lives, large aquariums, good filtration, a healthy diet and regular tank maintenance

Thank you for such a quick response, I have two tanks a 55 gallon with my adult oscar and a 30 gallon with my two babies. One of the babies will not eat pellets and is almost 1/4 the size of the other baby and they were the same size when I got them, please see my previous post for feeding details.
My adult oscar in the 55 gallon has HITH would it be ok for me to try again with the blue stuff?? We do test the water and ensure it is good for him. Thanks !!

what is the name of the blue stuff you are referring to?

I'm sorry I don't remember, it was called "HITH Guard" probably a commercial product with some chemicals that I didn't read about. I just had to take out 1/4 to 1/3 of the water and fill up tank again with this blue agent, every other day for 3 days, but like I said it didn't seem to do anything though the fish is not any worse.

The problem with HITH is that no one what causes it and so no one knows how to cure it. Poor water quality or stress are the most common circumstances that start it off

The only thing that can help (but doesnt always) is to keep your water as good as you can. This means lots of water changes and keep you feeding down (only feed what they will eat in 2 or 3 mins)

These treatments you can buy rarely work. I tried one and so did my friend without any success, and i have heard it on here many times of people trying them without success