I'm adopting an oscar from a friends family memeber, it will be my first oscar. but when i went to visit him to see if i wanted to adopt him i noticed a LARGE hole in his head, its huge and it almost made me sick because i have been researching oscars for a few weeks, what can i do once i have him to help it get better? ahhh help!

I assume you have read this page http://www.oscarfishlover.com/content/view/21/41/

Okay, firstly you need to do is make sure the Oscar is living in good quality water. If you haven't got some already, go and get some test kits, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. There's no point in treating the Oscar with any kind of medication if the water is in poor condition. A photographed would be very helpful. This will help determine the severity of the case. I think of it as bad as you are describing, medication is going to be a good option. We will await further contact from you

i'm bringing him home today, i was just wondering of any suggestions on moving him and his tank....im planning on putting him a 5 gallon bucket while i move him and set up the tank (its the same tank that he has been in) but what should i do about putting new water in it, how long do i have to wait before i put him back in? im worried about temp and chlorine and stuff.

Okay, the most important thing that you are going to have to worry about is keeping the bacteria alive inside the filtration. If you can keep the media submerged in existing tank water, you've got up to around four hours before you're in real trouble. You will definitely lose some bacteria, but hopefully there will be enough left alive to stop you having to start afresh. Is there any way that you can get hold of an oxygenator. You could put the media in a bucket and make sure it's getting lots of oxygen, this will certainly help. In fact, but the fish in there as well. Failing that, put it all in together an oxygenator water with your hand. This will help a little bit. Try and save as much water as you possibly can from the tank before you empty it to bring home. Make sure you've got some water conditioner that you can put in the water to get rid of the chlorine because you will have to add some fresh.

I would advise you to get this tank setup and get the filter on as quickly as possible, you can worry about putting everything else in later on, you can put gravel and decor with the water already in there. I can't tell you how important it is to get that filter working again once you have turned it off. The bacteria will not to well without oxygen and water running through the media.

OFL is right. When moving a tank remove stuff like plastic plants and rocks. The remove the lights and air pump. Remove the heater. If you have an internal filter disconnect it and put in a bucket of water. If you have an external filter turn it off. Drain most of the water out, saving as much as you can and put some in the container the fish will go in (at least enought to cover the fish). Remove the fish to the container. If you have external filter just disconnect the tubes but dont empty the filter. Then move everything to the new location. Put back together in the reverse order. Any fresh water needs to be dechlorinated and to be about the same temperature as the water the fish are in

okay, i've got the fishy home and hes doing good. i tried to take some pictures of what i think is hole in the head... here they are... now give me some advice on what to do!!!

this is the best pic i could take

he

Not the worst I've seen. The picture is a little blurred. For the first week or so, do regular water changes and monitor the wounds to see if they start improving, stay the same or get worse. With severe cases of hole in the head, the fish is often left with very craters. The holes don't always heal properly, a little bit like very bad acne