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How can I tell if my oscar has hole in the head disease or if it's just a scratch and has some scales missing? I've looked at some pictures of HITH and can't figure out if it's the same thing. I do have pics if anyone would like to make a guess at it.

Last edited by angie6999 at 16-Jun-2005 18:03

Hole in the head, as it's name suggests, is something that occurs mainly around the head of the fish. So, the mark's you're talking about are on your fishes head? It's not often my Oscar's get scratches on their heads, though the rest of their body is fair game.

If you've done some reading on HITH, then you've probably learnt a couple of things:

1. Some people think it is not curable. Bollocks to them, i've done it and so have many other Oscar owners i know. It might leave scars, but you can save the fish.
2. You should have noticed the main symptom for HITH is bad water conditions. Water are you water parameters, in parts per million (ppm)? Particularly Nitrates.
3. Most seem to agree that the poor water quality leads to a vitamin defficiency. I've found the best cure for this is Pea's, and my Oscars love them anyway... so now they are a regualr part of their diet as a vitamin supliment.

If you'd like to post some pic's(links to, whatever), i'm sure you'll get some feedback. But, in the mean time, do a water test and find out what concentration of Nitrates is in your tank. Constant exposure above 40ppm has been known to cause HITH symptoms in Oscars.

hmmmmmmmm maybe it's just an injury cause you didn't mention white stringy excreta cause thats normaly one o the symptoms but if ya could put a hyperlink to one o ya pics that would be a big help
declan

http://community.webshots.com/user/angie6999100

Last edited by angie6999 at 17-Jun-2005 15:35

It really is hard to tell from those pics. There's 2 definate marks i can see, but i can't tell the depth of the marks or see the edges. If it's a cut(s), then the edgees will be sharp and look like the edge of a torn peice of paper. If it's hith, then the edges will smooth into the fish, like someone has pressed their thumb into a chunk of play-dough.

You still haven't posted Nitrate results. These are absolutely critical. It would be very uncommon for any chiclid to get HITH without having Nitrates above 40ppm. I've heard/read it speculated that HITH can be caused by 'boring diet'... but in most cases, it's water quality related... so those water test resukts are equally as important as clear pictures.

Sorry about the pics, I know they are not very clear. The edges of the marks are more like torn paper, thank you for describing HITH in a way i could understand. My nitrates are always at 10ppm or lower, and all other test results look good. Ph 7.6, ammonia 0, nitrite 0. I was concerned about the boring diet. My oscars don't get any live food at all, but I still give them different types of fish food. I know it's not the same thing. Thanks for the replies.

No, don't mistake not giving live food as boring diet. Live food is only a treat, and the biggest problem with feeding regular live food is that it will increase your nitrates significantly, which then opens you up to HITH. I tend to feed such treats before i'm due to do a clean, and that way the Nitrate levels never get the chance to spike. Around once a month for some frozen fish blocks or worms (etc.) is more than enough. Often my guy's go months without live treats.

If you use a couple of different pellet chiclid foods, you should be well on the way to healthy fish. I feed my guy's Hikari Gold, Nutrafin Chiclid Sticks and Pea's as a regular part of their diet (once per week). They especially love the pea's... so it's like a treat + helps keep them regular + is a vitamin supliment (B, C and D). I use frozen pea's, and while still frozen squeeze them out of their shell. Then drop them in (while the O's are watching)... and they get gobbled up!

Your water parameters look fine, and if the edges are torn on the wounds, there's a very good chance it's just a "curious Oscar" injury. Your water parameters are very good, so i wouldn't bother treating with anything... the fish will self heal whilever your water parameters are good. My O's do it all the time trying to fit in the driftwood mazes i build... and i just keep their water clean. They heal by themselves.