hi, last time i was on here was because my little oscar was sick now my 2 big ones are.
one of them im pretty sure has the hole in the head disease but it still seems fine and acting normal and eating but the other one has like a bubble thing around its anus like its swollen or something. he hasnt eaten for a bit over a week but this buble thing only appeared today. ive been doing regular water changes trying to keep the water as good as i can and so far i havent put any medication in the water

the one with the holes in the head has had them about 2 weeks now and they havent gone away by just doing water changes.
the other one i thought was just sulking at first because a arranged the tank a bit but it hasnt got any better then the bubble apeared.

they are about 11 or 12 inches long in a 4ft x 2ft x2ft tank

ph is 6.5
ammonia is 0.4mg/l
nitrite is 0.5mg/ltr
nitrate is 25mg/l

ive been changeing about 20% every 3 days for the last 2 weeks before then once 1 week. its due to be done again tomorow.

i tried to take some photos but they didnt turn out that good but u can sort of see what im talking about.
any advice would be apreciated thanks.
IMG] i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz77/hardcore632/100_0211.jpg [/IMG]

Okay, let's address the hole in the head first. Unfortunately your water conditions are less than perfect. You should have zero readings of both ammonia and nitrite. Prolonged exposure to poor water conditions will result in diseases such as hole in the head. Your tank really is not big enough for two large Oscars. What type of filtration have you got? Unfortunately, if you are not able to maintain good water conditions you're never going to clear the hole in the head up.

Now let's address the other problem of what looks like a bubble on the fish's anus. Fish have been known to develop a prolapsed rectum. Basically, the lining of the intestine somehow protrudes out of the anus. Now whether this is what your fish is suffering from something I wouldn't like to say for sure, but it's the only suggestion I have for the moment. As far as I know, there isn't really a treatment for this, hopefully it will put itself right. Make sure you give your fish some good quality food, that should help.

It looks like constipation to me as far as the oscar with the bump goes.(diet related) i think you would have already read the reasons most oscars get HITH. and you have confirmed this with your water test. both ammonia and nitrites are present. this would mean your filter isn't cycled, lost its cycle or is partly damaged for some reason. your going to need further water changes to keep ammonia/nitrites under control. the water changes could take up to six weeks. do you know why you lost the cycle to your filter? have you cleaned it recently? used meds? or it could be down to the water changes you have been doing? a little mistake on a water change could have let untreated water into your filter?

hopefully the constipated oscar will relieve itself. you may need to change the diet a little to prevent it happening again

I have a canister filter, i dont no what it is but its been going good for a year since i have had the fish. this is the first time they have got sick. i have been doing a lot of water changes the past 2 weeks maybe i could have over done it but i was only doing bout 20% when i did.

i havent cleaned the filter out in long time, just been doing water changes should i clean it out or just keep doing water changes?

how long does constipation last if thats what it has?

and should i be adding some medicine for the hole in the head?

the canisters needs to be cleaned every several months at least.
It will not only contain Beneficial bacteria but also will collect a lot of dirt, that will stay in the system, when not cleaned.
When cleaning the filtermedia only rinse in old tankwater, no tap water for it will kill any good bacteria.
I think cleaning your filter will increase the flowrate and help you get your cycle going the correct way.

Try and find out what filter you have, look on the side of it and get manufacturors name and model number.
Also a filter for a tank must turn over at least TWICE the volume of water that the tank has each hour. So if you have a 50 gallons tank your filter must turnover 100gallons Per Hour at least. Mines turns 4 times the tank volume per hour.
Filtration is essential with Oscars, the more the better.
You will read that a lot of people dont touch their filters until it start to show signs of the water turn over slowing down. I have read this many times myself. This is my policy with the filter in my little tank. I just had to do it the other day.

'If it ain't broke it dont need fixing' as they say.

When it does start to show signs of slowing down you are basically removing the debris from the sponge side of the filter (mechanical filtration) to allow the water to pass through more, this is what clogs and slows down your filter.
The ceramics or balls in your filters (biological filtrations) is where the Biological Bacteria (BB,s) is stored and what kills off your toxins Ammonia and Nitrites.
Normally they come in a net like bag and can be removed all at once, just give them a gentle shake. Some people never touch these or just give them a gentle shake in a bucket of tank water.
When cleaning any part of your filter only clean it in a bucket of 'TANK' water and 'NEVER' under the tap. This will destroy your BB's and your tank will loose its cycle causing you to get a spike in Amms and Nits as we say. The only thing that should build up is the Nitrates and this is watered down with partial water changes.
As OFL says your tank is small for two big Oscars and if your filter is'nt up to speed which is what we suspect the HITH will never go away.

Keep us informed and let us know how you get on hardcore (strange name for a fish keeper... lol)

hardcore632 wrote:


Yes, you can't leave filters indefinitely without cleaning them. Remember that your water will be flowing through all the crap, that really isn't going to help keep your tank clean. I suspect that your filter will become quite dirty within a month considering you have a couple of large Oscars. Considering you are having problems with your fish I would actually advise you to give your filter a clean and remove any crap.

hi, well i just cleaned out my filter and it was really crappy, i washed it out in a bucket of the tank water.
i put some new filter in and just gently washed all the crap off the bag of bio filter stuff.
i looked and my filter is a EHEIM brand and its 440ltr an hour.

The fish with the lump is still just laying around not moving much but the lump looks to have gotten a bit smaller. The other is still fine just got the holes.

Got some medicine today from the pet shop its triple sulfa {broad spectrum}, its what the lady in the pet shop recomended but it says nothing about hole in the head on it.
says it does white spot, mouth and body fungus, fin rot and other external bacterial diseases.

does this sound good to use or should i try something else?

thanks for the comments so far

hi i would add another filter as i dont think you have enough turn over, my tank is about the same as yours, and i have a internal powerhead filter 2200ltr per hour also a 2200ltr power head for my hood filter, the product i use when my fish are sick is esha hexamita its a discus treatment but is also for ciclids, it is for hole in the head and other bacterial and fungus treatments its really good, xxxx

As I thought 632 your filter is only turning over x1 of ur tank size. You need at least 1,000 ltres per hour for urs.
Ur tank is just short of 100 gallons (less substrate and decor) which as we have said is too small for two big Oscars too keep them healthy.
My sun sun filter is 4x the volume of my tank per/hour.
White spot can be dealt with by raising your temp in ur tank a few degrees slowly and will destroy the bacteria.
Try and keep away from meds if possible as it is the 'water quality and filter' that is the back bone to healthy fish

ok, so ill look for a new filter this week. getting a bigger filter is really all i can do for the moment, cant afford a bigger tank and dont have any room for a bigger tank.

should i keep doing 20% every 3 days or should i do smaller ones daily?

thanks for the advice everyone

I think that you caught between a rock and a hard place at the moment.
Your tank is not cycled, so daily water changes will need to be done. With it being a small filter the water changes will knock the hell out of ur BB's as I have found out in the past.
Do ur 30% percent water changes daily which is what is recommended for a tank that is not cycled.
When you get ur new filter put ALL... the media, water and debris from it into ur new filter as this will really kick start it into cycling it.

As usual mate keep us all informed bud.... Cheers.

Call me Jamie by the way.....