Hello everyone,

I just go 2 baby Oscars. But one of them has hole-in-head and I have no Idea how to treat it. I don't want to take him back cause from what I have read the pet store is the reason for the disease. ( Plus I love him already, he jumped into the bucket when I was picking out a fish, I was trying to get different one but he seemed eager to go home with me. LOL ) So far it is not too bad, just looks like a few ( 5 ) pin holes. he is still eating well and active. I have a 125 gallon tank ( US )with excellant filtration. I also have a 20 gallon hospital tank if that helps. I know that you really can't see in the picture, but I thought you might like to look. They are both about 3 inches long. Any advice would be wonderful, thanks and have a great day.

Hi Steph and Dan: Welcome to Oscarfishlover.com. If in early stages, HITH should remit if you are capable of keeping excellent water parameters. I would also consider using UV sterilization at a low enough flow to kill in-water bacteria.

For a tank your size, that can be achieved by using a unit with 18W UV lamp and a powerhead/pump flow within the 360 to 540 GPH range (1,400 - 2,000 LPH). All you need to do, given you keep up with a healthy maintenance routine, is replace the UV lamp every 6 months.

Also keeping nitrates really low. Aim at 5 to 10ppm. You may need to perform as much as three or two times per week partial water changes for a good while. Avoid overfeeding, rather feed sparingly but more frequently, since as youths Oscars tend to eat more than as full grown adults.

Your fish may show scars lately on, but if in early stages, likely barely noticeable.

This is what I would do if I were in your position. However, wait for the those more experienced than me. I have not dealt with HITH disease myself.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

two of the main causes for hith, in my opinion, is diet and water conditions. both of these are easily solved by giving your oscars a balanced and varied diet that has a quality pellet as a staple and clean water.
try to keep your nitrates down under 20 by doing water changes frequently. only by testing your water will you know when and much water to change.
hith is curable but can take a long time to cure. just keep your water in pristine condition and you should be fine.

btw welcome to the site

Thanks for the advice, do you suggest a 50% water change a couple times a week or smaller? I have had fish all my life, but this is the first time I have had oscars. I read everything I could find about them before I got them, but I still have alot to learn. The white one in the pictures is the one with the problem. What water testing supplies do you suggest? I read that giving them meal worms was ok, what do you guys think? They get pellets most of the time, I am talking about for a snack.

LOL!
Like I said, I have alot to learn.

for water testing i use the api(american phamaceutical inc) brand liquid test kit. i find it to be a quick, easy to use and reliable.
as for the frequency of your water changes use the test kit to tell you. when your nitrates reach 20ppm do a 30% water change and test again in a few days.

a varied diet is a must for healthy happy oscars. i feed mine crickets, earthworms, krill, shrimp, mussels, and beefhearts along with hikari cichlid gold pellets as a staple.

50% would be great.

That's my water change target at the Oscars' tank on a weekly basis (some times sooner than that, I enjoy water changes).

My other tanks go with 20-30%, but these have way less messy fishes.

For water testing I use two types: For screening (a quick check) I use test strips. For accurate readings I use liquid reagent based test kits.

There are several brands out there. I recommend this ones, but others I haven't tried might also be very good (e.g. Seachem's).

Test strips for Nitrite/Nitrates by Jungle; and for pH, KH, GH, Nitrites and Nitrates EasyStrips 5-in-1 Test strips by Tetra.

Test kits (liquid reagents)
Tetra Laborett Test (pH, Ammonia, Nitrites, GH and KH) unfortunately no Nitrates test in the kit but single Tetra Nitrate test is sold separetely.

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (API) Freshwater Master Test kit (low range pH, High range pH, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates) unfortunately no KH and GH test kit but you could purchase API GH and KH separetely.

Marine Enterprises Inc. Nitrate Test kit. The only one I have found locally from this manufacturer, very good test, I wish they bring a Freshwater Master test kit of this brand.

As for live food, as long as you feel it's safe, they will love you for that. Crickets, earthworms, shrimp, even safely raised feeder fish... they go crazy!

Pepe
Santo Domingo

Currently one of my oscars has a worsening case of HITH as well.

What I am doing to try and treat is the following:
- increased water changes from 30% per week to 30% every 2-3 days.
- increased water temperature from 26 degrees c to 28 degrees.
- adding 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 40 litres of water changed.

Usually my Nitrates are at 10-20 ppm but when I tested the water when I was sure it was HITH it was at 80 ppm.
I am not sure how this happened but I had removed carbon from my filter a couple of weeks before to add pimafix and also turned off my UV light at the same time.
Maybe the pimafix affected the reading given from the test but I am currently attempting to keep my Nitrate level at zero at present to give him the best chance to recover.

Hi. primafix will do nothing for HITH. so if you are adding it to treat this I would stop using it. the above seems ok, the main thing is keeping nitrates below 40%. the only other thing I would add is to make sure you heat your new water to match tank temperature.

marcus wrote:


The Pimafix was added a couple of weeks before the HITH showed up to help my other Oscar with another problem which I will post about in a few days when he has died to see if anyone has seen this before. It was quite strange what happened to him, we went away for the weekend and came back to find body parts that should be inside his stomach hanging outside.

I do not heat my water before adding it but only trickle it in over a period of an hour or more. If my tank temp falls over 2 degrees C I stop filling for a while. I have two heaters in my tank normally but on cold days I add an extra two heaters while filling it up so the temp recovers quite quickly.

Do you think allowing the tank to drop 1-2 degrees C during filling is too much of a shock?

Usually the only way a temp shock will do for an Oscar is that it's completely cold and or very very hot over 90 degree's that will make the Oscar jump outta the tank faster than you think! What should be done is to heal the hith is raise the tank temp about or just a lil I mean a lil over 86 degress F and you'll be fine keep it at that temp over a few days and it should go away.I keep my Oscars in a tank with a few other cichlids and the temp is always left at 78-80 degree's F so that's my thing on healing hith


Good luck

the best way to treat hith is to keep your nitrates low and by low i mean less than 20 and is to feed a varied and balanced diet. curing hith is a long process but not overly complicated. use your test kit regularly and as soon as the nitrates hit 20 do a 30% water changes. continue this until the holes are covered over then you can return to your usual water change ritual.
the best way to treat hith is not to get it at all. always change your water when your nitrates hit 40 in a healthy tank and this should reduce the odds of getting it in the first place

hope this helps