hole in the head

hey guys i have a quick question for you guys. I just got two LARGE oscars and they have hith. Anybody ever have any luck with this disease and what were your methods of fighting this disease

I have never had to treat it myself but most of the things I have read about it is that it is caused by poor water quality. Lots of water changes to keep clean water should help.

Oscars are really prone to HITH...and a lot of the fish traded into fish stores have it.

I've always thought of it as more of a symptom than a disease, per se. Really clean water and a good diet can sometimes result in the sores healing over, although not always.

Good luck!

Matt

i thought it was a diet defeciency

It's mostly due to internal parasites which causes nutrient deficiencies.

YSS said:

It's mostly due to internal parasites which causes nutrient deficiencies.

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this is so true. one of my peacockbass had it really bad. but the only thing he would eat was feeder fish. So i purchased some vitamins you would usally soak food in and i injected them into his feeders. He cleared up in no time.

Peacockbass said:

this is so true. one of my peacockbass had it really bad. but the only thing he would eat was feeder fish. So i purchased some vitamins you would usally soak food in and i injected them into his feeders. He cleared up in no time.

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DO YOU KNOW REMEMBER THE NAME?

Zoe is the most commonly used liquid vitamin. Zoecon supplies lipids and fats. Metronidozole is the medication to use for initial treatment of the parasite.

In oscars it is often caused by poor water change discipline and the misguided feeding for entertainment of disease invested feeder goldfish (and nothing else).

mab said:

In oscars it is often caused by poor water change discipline and the misguided feeding for entertainment of disease invested feeder goldfish (and nothing else).

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SO IF A PERSON FEEDS NO FEEDERS DOES 70% WATER CHANGES WEEKLY AND FEEDS NLS AND KENS FISHFOOD WHAT WOULD BE THE CAUSE INTERNAL PARISITES AS MENTIONED ABOVE?

Zoe was the vitamins I was using. Could not think of it till andrew posted it

Posted via mobile.capitalcichlids.org

The parasites are from the genus Hexamita. They are a flagellated protozoan. There used to be a medicine called Hexamit, I think made by Aquatronics, on the market - little capsules, that did a good job when I had it in my discus way back when (I'm talking 15+ years ago). Don't know if it is still on the market these days. I never treat my fish anymore. I find that a varied diet and clean water give you healthy fish. Unfortunately, the clean water part sometimes gets away from me

mab said:

In oscars it is often caused by poor water change discipline and the misguided feeding for entertainment of disease invested feeder goldfish (and nothing else).

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I concur with Michael.

As you may already have noticed, there is no general agreement as to what causes hole in the head. I consider it a symptom and can only guess that it is caused by any number of things. I suspect it might be like people puking. What causes it? Want a list?

I have a 135 gal. tank of real beasties. One is a 14 inch pike with the worst case of hole in the head you may have ever seen. It has had it for about 6 years. The fish eats like a pig and fights with every thing else in the tank. I have no idea why it has hole in the head but it looks very ugly. This tank has ALWAYS gotten regular water changes. One of it's tank mates is an Oscar. The Oscar has been in there for well over a year. If it was parasites, don't you think the Oscar would have them? The Oscar is fine. The Chocolate Cichlids in this tank have been there for 3 or 4 years. They have no holes in their heads. There are just no easy answers to this one.

All you can do is take good care of your Oscars. The problem may heal some but the bad news with hole in the head is that it always leaves scars, sometimes worse than others. Yours will never be show fish but Oscars are very cool with or without scars.

George

Couldn't agree more, George.

I had a 7" male Gymnogeo start to develop HITH or at least cranial pits (and die shortly thereafter) a couple of months ago.

His tankmates: wild Satanoperca leucosticta (which are REALLY prone to it...yet have never shown any signs of it) and other Gymnogeos. He was the dominant fish in the tank as well.

I think it's one of those things: some fish (Uarus, some pikes, some Geos, Oscars) are really prone to it. Even in the best conditions they can get it.

But fish that aren't in the best conditions frequently get it...

Matt

George said:

As you may already have noticed, there is no general agreement as to what causes hole in the head. I consider it a symptom and can only guess that it is caused by any number of things. I suspect it might be like people puking. What causes it? Want a list?

I have a 135 gal. tank of real beasties. One is a 14 inch pike with the worst case of hole in the head you may have ever seen. It has had it for about 6 years. The fish eats like a pig and fights with every thing else in the tank. I have no idea why it has hole in the head but it looks very ugly. This tank has ALWAYS gotten regular water changes. One of it's tank mates is an Oscar. The Oscar has been in there for well over a year. If it was parasites, don't you think the Oscar would have them? The Oscar is fine. The Chocolate Cichlids in this tank have been there for 3 or 4 years. They have no holes in their heads. There are just no easy answers to this one.

All you can do is take good care of your Oscars. The problem may heal some but the bad news with hole in the head is that it always leaves scars, sometimes worse than others. Yours will never be show fish but Oscars are very cool with or without scars.

George

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SORRY FOR THE DIRTY GLASS