my oscar has HITH and has had it before i got him. Have been trng to treat it but the hole seems to be getting deeper. Last night my oscar was digging a whole in the middle of the tank, picking up rocks and moving them to the side of the tank. I figured oscar might be getting ready to lay eggs but she has no mate but if anyone could give some advice on what you think about this it would be great. thanks

Even though an Oscar is on its own in the tank, it will often take and clean rocks just like if it was part of a breeding pair. It's just part of its instinct to do this. Rather like some sheepdogs who have herding in their blood will try and heard other animals even though they have probably never seen a sheep before.

You need to be carrying out extra tank maintenance and if it is getting worse, get some medication. You could ask your vet for some Metronidoazole. Depending where you are in the world, there are medications called Jungle meds that can treat hole in the head. In the United Kingdom, you can use Octozin. However, you are probably better off going to the vet if it just isn't getting any better. As for knowing when a fish is going to die, the first sign of trouble is when I got off their food. Occasionally, a fish will suddenly die in your never know why. Most of the time, they become ill and then die. Is your fish still feeding okay? You need to do some water tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & ph. Hole in the head disease is often caused by poor water conditions.

yes oscar is eating fine he eats out of my hand. he still has the same attitude,rearranges the plants and bubble stones in his tank and chases the pelco around but i keep a close eye on him and it seems that the hole is getting deeper.

HITH is a real bugger. Once an oscar gets it quite bad it can be really difficult to get rid off. Old oscars are more likely to get it. The only real thing you can do is plenty water changes and try to keep your nitrates as low as possible(preferable less than 20 but definatly less than 40) Test weekly as you have a problem. Dont overfeed, just feed once a day and only what he will eat in about 3 mins, no more no matter how much he begs

well my oscar is an older fish and the hole in his head is really little(knock on wood)its about the size of a ink pen tip and it just now a couple of days ago i noticed that the whole was not just on the surface it now went deeper into his head. he has not changed his attitude or feeding habit and i change 50% of his water weekly. I got this magazine in the mail called Dr.Foster and Smith. it has a lot of great stuff in it including meds for osars so i went ahead and bought metronidazole which it says that it treats hith so if anyone knows anything elst i should do please let meknow. thanks.

metronidazole is a well-known medication for this disease, never used it myself, however hopefully it should work. However, in many cases, increased maintenance can often help clear up hole in the head disease. Keep us updated on your progress, if you can post a few photos, we could put them in the disease Gallery.

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do you suggest that i use a medication? or just stick with water changes, and how do i know when it goes away?

If you have got the medication, you might as well use it since you said it was getting worse. Can you post a photograph?

Don't do any water changes when you are medicating and make sure you take any carbon out of your filters

Pictures would be really helpful, quite often the sensory pores will open up above the mouth and this sometimes looks like hole in the head. Personally if your Oscar is feeding OK and moving gravel and stones around it sounds to me like he or she is pretty much ok. When an Oscar gets HITH it will become very lethargic and sit or lay around on the bottom of the tank not feeding and generally looking poorly. Often you can see stringy excrement hanging from the anus as the disease affects the mucus lining of the gut. The hole/holes will be very fleshy. If you have a pic close up or some video footage it would be helpful. It is generally believed to be caused by stress and poor water quality especially high nitrates. Changing water as suggested by others is excellent however you should do a nitrate test on the water that you put in your tank as well. It is often the case that nitrates can be over 40 ppm in tap water . In some areas it may be necessary to use some form of nitrate removal on the water that you are putting in the tank before you add it.

hey i tried to put photos on here with photo bucket but its not working. its probly me. and no its not the sensory holes its HITH. its right square in the middle of his head. The med. is for the water so i guess i will leave it alone. will the hole close up wen it is healed?

How are you trying to put photos on with photo bucket? If it helps, send me the photos.

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I have put together a little webpage showing you how to add photos using photo bucket. This is the way I do it and it seems to work okay

http://www.wheelchairanglingandhamradio.co.uk/photobucket.htm