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I know this should be in the health forum but this one gets the most replies. i have an oscar with hole in the head. i tried treating it a long time ago and i thought it helped but it has gotten even worse. i tried treating it recently but it didnt help. now he has a couple real big holes and his bottom lip is not even there. i can see his teeth cause there is no lip, he wont eat only like 1 piece of krill a week. i dont want to kill the fish but i think that he is suffering real bad, so i dont know what i should do. please help?

It might be helpful if you would outline in detail, the treatment you tried.

I would push water changes and dose with metronidazole. (What's your normal WC regime?) I would make sure the filter and substrate are not in need of cleaning. I would add vitamins to the food. I think I would probably elevate the tank temperature. I would verify that there are no cracks in the heater.

How large is the oscar and what size is the tank?

What was the oscar formerly eating?

Also, it would be helpful for you to list your water parameters.

all the information heaven asked for would really help out. in the mean time however, I'd definitely step up water changes. I'd start doing 30-50% water changes every 2-3 days.

hes 8 inch in a 75 gallon. i used hex-out, and the parasite food to get rid of the parasite. i do water changes like every week. filters, heaters and everything is good. i just really feel bad for the guy hes really messed up, he doesnt even move anymore. i thought he would have died like almost 2 weeks ago but hes a tough one, i just dont know if he is suffering real bad. his lips are basically non-existant, no skin left around his eyes, hes in real bad shape. i tried giving him to the fish store like a month ago to see if they could fix him cause i couldnt but they wouldnt take him, so i kept trying but nothing worked and he only got worse and worse. i dont know what i should do, this fish has huge holes in his head. he wont even eat anymore.

Also, it would be helpful for you to list your water parameters.

definitely test the water and see how the nitrites, nitrates and ammonia are. also, like I said before I'd start doing 2-3 water changes a week of 30-50% each. what filtration do you have on the tank because it may not be adequate. with a large oscar I wouldn't want anything smaller than an Aquaclear 500 on the tank though with an adult oscar that may not even be enough.