[Stina]

I just noticed some holes on my oscars head & around his eyes. I don't have a light on his tank, and it's hard to see him that good. I have no idea how long he has had these . He also has some redding around his mouth. What gives ? I haven't change my rountine, water test are normal. Any suggestions ?

Here are the speck:
110 gallon tank
1 Oscar & 1 Pleco
Cyled-up & running since Feb 08
Temp 72
Amm. 0
ph-6.0

This is what he looked like before:

This is what he looks like now with the holes:

If this HITH, just raise the temp, and daily water changes ? Is there anything else I can do ?

 

[remarkosmoc]

that does look like hith to me.

I would increase the temp SLOWLY to 80-82, and add aquarium salt. I would also increase the PH to at least 7.0 but do this change slowly as well. I like to make the changes one at a time to reduce stress so I would increase the temp over a day; then another day add salt slowly; then another day increase the ph.

also here is a good link on hith
http://www.tropicalfishdata.com/disease ... _head.html

good luck

 

[BlackShark11k]

Looks like HITH to me. Best remedy is water changes. What are your nitrate and nitrite levels? You ph seems quite low, but seeing as you've had him since february, i don't think it would matter to change it. I've seen oscars thrive in water with a ph of 6.5...

Just up the water changes. Changing the ph can be risky, even for experienced aquarists.

 

[TheFishGuy]

Agreed, best to leave the ph alone, it's difficult keeping it consistent doing daily water changes. Consistency is key.

 

[Stina]

I've had my oscar over a year, but he's only been the 110 since feb. I'm going to buy some salt, and will start to slowly raise the temp. today. Let me know if you think of anything else.

Thanks all for the help. :thumb:

 

[15''oscar]

go buy some kosha salt from the grocery store for your salt

 

[rED O]

i would keep his water super clean and soak his food in boyds vita chem.

hey 15 inch oscar

 

[DirtyBlackSocks]

Keep nitrates under 40 ppm - if you can't do that with large water changes every week then you're overfeeding or you've got somthing rotting in your tank.

HITH is most commonly caused by poor water conditions - but some sketchy studies have shown it to be related to hexamita as well.

If you don't start to see improvments - that is, if it doesn't stop growing in size - after doing somthing like 50% water changes weekly then I would suggest getting some metro and doing a 5 day treatment as well as feeding him metro laced foods.

Keep in mind wounds from HITH take a long long long time to heal up - so you won't see them actually regress for months, if not a year - but you should see the holes stop spreading and growing in size.

 

[15''oscar]

i would keep his water super clean and soak his food in boyds vita chem.

hey 15 inch oscar

hey RED O whats up ..

 

[Al'Thor]

Try to get nitrates between 10-20ppm and keep them there, the lower the better. Whether that's a 30% water change every other day or 50% every three days, the main idea here is to keep the nitrates as low as possible. Test your water.....that will tell you how often to change it. The suggestion of raising the temp to 80-82 degrees is helpful too. If you do this, try to add an airstone to increase oxygenation of the water, because higher temps will deplete the oxygen levels a little faster. Adding a drop of VitaChem to pellets is also a good idea.

The main thing is to keep your water as pristine as possible. Do this and you should start seeing real improvement quite quickly. Water change, water change, water change...

i would keep his water super clean and soak his food in boyds vita chem.

hey 15 inch oscar

hey RED O whats up ..

rED O.....15"......nice to see you guys here. opcorn:

 

[BlackShark11k]

go buy some kosha salt from the grocery store for your salt

A lot of people don't recommend that because of Iodine

 

[TheFishGuy]

Epsom salt is what I use.

 

[15''oscar]

Try to get nitrates between 10-20ppm and keep them there, the lower the better. Whether that's a 30% water change every other day or 50% every three days, the main idea here is to keep the nitrates as low as possible. Test your water.....that will tell you how often to change it. The suggestion of raising the temp to 80-82 degrees is helpful too. If you do this, try to add an airstone to increase oxygenation of the water, because higher temps will deplete the oxygen levels a little faster. Adding a drop of VitaChem to pellets is also a good idea.

The main thing is to keep your water as pristine as possible. Do this and you should start seeing real improvement quite quickly. Water change, water change, water change...

i would keep his water super clean and soak his food in boyds vita chem.

hey 15 inch oscar

hey RED O whats up ..

rED O.....15"......nice to see you guys here. opcorn:

hey buddy hows it going.. :fish: :thumb:

 

[Al'Thor]

A lot of people don't recommend that because of Iodine

Kosher salt doesn't contain Iodine, you may be thinking of table salt which contains anti-caking agents as well. Kosher is fine to use, as is sea salt.

 

[Stina]

I just bought the Aquarium salt in fine grain for the LFS to use. I'll test tonight. Thanks for all of the help. He is already looking a little better. I looked at the LFS for any type of Vits., I couldn't find any. I'll have to look online later. Again, thanks for all the quick help. :thumb:

 

[Stina]

I can't find anything called VitaChem. Is that the full name ? :-?

 

[BlackShark11k]

A lot of people don't recommend that because of Iodine

Kosher salt doesn't contain Iodine, you may be thinking of table salt which contains anti-caking agents as well. Kosher is fine to use, as is sea salt.

Wasn't sure Didn't feel like getting up to check :lol:

 

[Al'Thor]

I can't find anything called VitaChem. Is that the full name ? :-?

Boyd's VitaChem. If you can't find it at your LFS, here's a link that you can order it online.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=4998

I just put 1 drop per pellet and let it sit for a minute, then feed. I only do this about twice a week.

 

[Stina]

Thanks :wink:

 

[Natalie]

I'm not sure if anyone is mentioned this, but it's a good idea to remove the carbon from your filters as well. Studies have shown it may be linked to HITH... although I'm not sure how much credibility there is to that claim.

Good luck with your fish!