HELP Please - Injured Oscar

[rsanz]

Hi all,

A few weeks ago my oscar injured his head on a rock in the 125g community tank. It looked like a pretty deep cut, and over the next week or two the injury has developed a white crater. It almost looks like HITH, but it is in the exact spot where his injury was so I am still thinking that it is the result of the original injury.

I already completed a round of Hex Shield food per label recommendations (3 days) to get some metronidazole in him just in case it is HITH, but it has not improved and the crater apppears to continue to expand. I am starting to get concerned. We have had him for 3 years and he is a member of our family so I would hate to lose him. See attached photo, I tried my best to get a clear picture of it.

Any reccommendations on next plan for treatment? Do I need to remove him from the tank and get him into some sort of hospital tank for targetted treatment? I don't have another tank available, so he may need to go in a bucket with heater & bubbler if he needs immediate treatment.

Thanks all in advance for any advice!

 

[Becca]

I recently ordered Fish Zole (there's also a higher-strentgh version - fish zole forte). It's hard to get these days and I got it from Allivet.com in order to treat a couple Discus for what I suspected was a hex flare-up.

I'd suggest isolating him and putting him in a bare hospital tank. Hike up the temperatures and treat him with Epsom salts and high doses of metronidazole - giving him 50% water changes daily, between doses.

The information I used to treat the Discus is available here- https://www.discusnada.org/diagnosing-your-discus/, and is not the same as the instructions on most medications. I don't think Oscars will tolerate temps that high, but you might want to raise it into the mid-high 80's and make sure you've got plenty of aeration set up.

 

[Becca]

If you can't find fish zole or an appropriate dose of metronidazole, I can sell you some of the tablets I have but you'd have to have a reasonably sized quarantine tank because it's not a very big bottle.

 

[rsanz]

Thanks for the response. Is this definitely HITH? Or is it just an abcess from the injury that will heal with good water quality and time? I would hate to hassle him (and risk further injury) to get him out of the tank and medicate him needlessly.

Thanks.

 

[Becca]

There's no easy way to tell.

 

[neut]

I hesitate jumping in health threads because everyone has their own opinion/experience with meds, etc. Among the reasons is pH and/or temps can affect which are effective. But my simple 2 cents is my usual progression is a little salt and/or a little Melafix (I normally underdose Melafix, which normally works just as well and reduces the rapid breathing thing Melafix can cause) and if that doesn't work I've healed a lot of external issues with meth blue... and if that doesn't work I consult this resource (you can also navigate to sections on disease, etc.).

 

[rsanz]

Thanks Becca and neut for your thoughts. It appears that the sore is starting to close up. I did treat with another round of Hex Shield, and whether or not that helped heal it I have no idea. The good news that my boy (girl?) is on the road to recovery so he will live on in our family.

Thanks!