My newest Oscar has a suspicious crater in the side of his head. I don't think it is a sensory pit because it's not on his face. The crater is between his left eye and his gills on that side. I've never had Oscars before about a month and a half ago. I have never seen hole in the head but i have seen the scars it leaves.

Firstly welcome to our community

The best thing for you to do is to provide a photograph, to be quite honest it's really not possible to diagnose anything just from a description.

Could you also please test your water and give us the results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrates and pH.

i concur with OFL.... picture is the best aid for evaluation.
does it look like this???


while waiting for the picture or further info, a water change is a must.
pristine water and varied diet is the best anti dote to most fish
illnesses....

nitrate-0
nitrite-0
water hardness- 300
alkalinity-120
ph-7.2
how do i load a pic?

kindly re-check the water...nitrate at zero means uncycled tank
you need to read this.
www.oscarfishlover.com/helpful-articles/cycling-an-aquarium

for photo posting, you need a host like photobucket; flicker;
imageshack and the like
www.oscarfishlover.com/using-photobucket

E:\my_pix\0423101803.jpg

TigerGirl wrote:

i believe the file is still in your pc; not in the host site.
create an account and copy paste the URL.

i'll have to wait for the hunny to help me with the pic in an hour or so. My reading came up the same. Im using a five in one water testing strip so i'll get a different testing solution tommorow after work. I've had the tank for five or six months so i know its cycled. I'll put new reading up tomorrow when i have a different tester.
As for clean water I do a 25% change on sun and wed every week. My babies a very messy. My ammonia level is about .02 to .03.

It's not very easy to maintain a nitrate of Zero. You'd be much better off with some liquid test kits. You shouldn't have any ammonia present whatsoever, it should always remain at Zero.

You will need to create an account with photo bucket, or a similar hosting facility, then you can add your photos to the forum.

This is him you can see the crater between his eye and his gills. approximately

imo hith will start developing around their sensory pits and nostrils.
Is there any chance he hurt himself on a sharp object?
I'm affraid the picture is not clear enough to judge.
But i say go for a liquid test set, and keep your water in pristine condition.
That's the best remedy against HITH.
Or any wounds by damage as well.
How big is your filter and what's the flowrate?

Hey Tiger. I am jamie, welcome....