Have studied my new O, Scarlet, all day..
I thought the white spots on her was scars.. They are on the sides, on her jaw.. But not on top of her head.. Some of them are rounds, some ovals,
some looks like scratches...
I have searched the nett for O pics today, and now I'm really insecure...
I see on the pics of scarred O's that the scars are dark..
I'm starting to freak out... I don't want Oscar to get sick..
Have tried to take some pics, but it don't show so good...

i cant see from the pics but it looks to me to be physical damage ........how long have they been there ....are they multiplying daily ????????? make a drawing of your oscar from each side and carefuly mark the size and position roughly on the drawings of the scars,both sides of your fish ....make it actual size and then you have something to work off to monitor the wounds healing or worsening....if its physical dammage from bashing itsself into rocks ,some of the scars should start to disappear after about 2 days and be "greyed over" after about 4/5 days provided your water is within safe limits.......sorry this is all the help i can give you as the pics dont help....but i can tell you my o,s have these wounds daily but i cant be sure yours are only physical dammage make the drawings immediately and compare tomorrow ...if you are using carbon in your filter i advise you to remove it and replace it with other media .....but we need better pics,,maybee the others will give you advice as this is all i can help you

My water is good, don't have carbon filter. I'll get to the drawing right away..
Thanks. I'll try to get som better pics..
BTW, it looks like some of her scales has been scratched away.. Not like "pits."

Is HITH contagious??

i beleive your fish has physical dammage (scales pulled out)but i have NO EXPERIENCE WITH HITH WHATSOEVER but i understand it IS contagious ....put it this way ....i certainly wouldnt introduce a fish to my tank that clearly had HITH...dont worry to much as i say i think its physical dammage,mine get it every day ..i am also PARANOID about my fish getting hith but im sure the others can help you more than i can on this one. have a look at this link ...it says hith is highly contagious........


www.angelfire.com/blues/fish_problems/HEXAMITA.html

I've now studied Scarlet even more, and searched more photos online.. I'm now confident that she is scratched!!

Her colour's good, her appetite's good... She is flirting with Oscar and seems happy!

Thank BGH for goood help. AGAIN!!

no problem glad to help .....any time

if the scars are symetrical, you probably have the begginings of hith or jss. (looks to me like physicle damage tho)

hith is not contagious. however, if one fish has it, it's likely the others will too (since hith is a water quatlity problem)

i concur with art.
though i have no experience with HITH, i relatively
understand facts about it. Putting fish with HITH in
a clean and well maintained tank will make the fish
fell better and it will not make other fish sick. however,
putting healthy fish in a tank where some occupant had HITH,
the healthy one will most likely get HITH too.

The scratches are getting gray, so I'm VERY confident it's not HITH!
But, thanks for the replies! I like to learn as mutch as i can about HIYH, just in case!!

proper feedings, clean water, and proper care
will keep your fish away from any sickness. for
the past 7 years, i had never experience any fish
problem.......