South American Cichlids • Dose my Oscar have Hole In The Head Disease?

[evanr1234]

Hi Everyone,

So I got my first Oscar about 2 months ago. Right now all the water parameters are perfect (except it is a little soft at around 75ppm but I just added salt and am slowly increasing every few days).

My tank (75 gallons) had a nitrite spike recently that lasted around a week.

Also of relevance, I added some rocks from outside, and I think he scraped his upper head on a rock in the beginning, but it healed.

Dose my Oscar have Hole In The Head Disease? Are these craters in his head normal? Please see picture.

[Haplochromine guy]

It looks like that. I remember they are prone to that disease, but I would consult an expert rather than somebody who doesn't know much more than the few most common diseases.

[Oscar6]

Looks more like scarring from previous bouts of hith. Keep water ad clean as possible, as once an Oscar gets hith, the chances of recurrence are greater