New Oscar; hole in head?

[Ginevive]

We rescued this unwanted Oscar today; he had been at a local pet store; in clean conditions; but whoever had him previously, who got sick of him when he got too big, didn't. Now he is going into our tank, which we keep clean (125.) He is fine w/ our oscar, White Thing; they are actually exhibiting breeding behavior and not fighting right off the bat, so I have a good feeling about it.
I researched hole-head a lot and found that monor stages like this usually will go away if husbandry is improved. We use a varied diet of live feeders, and JumboMin (by Tetra) food specially made for them. Also, occasional insects and worms.
So is anyone knowledgible about hole-in-the-head? Here are some pics.

[TekWarren]

We have one adult Oscar left, its mate died this summer They spawned several times but never any viable offspring.

Good luck with the hole-in-the-head disease. Improved husbandry should definately help. You may also want to treat the water with some aquarium salt as well if you don't already.

[Ginevive]

I will do that. I use it already for my goldfish tanks, but have run out of it; I'll get it when we go into town Monday.
He seems like such a healthy fish otherwise.

[jglass38]

It absolutely looks like hole in the head. I have a lot of experience with HITH and with Oscars. They are extremely prone to it if not kept in excellent conditions (and being messy eaters they often foul tanks quickly without proper filtration). A filter with biological filtration is a plus (for any tank really). Also, treatments with Flagyl (they sell it in fish stores in tablets) should begin to clear it up. Also, go out and get a product called Melafix. It is made from Melaleuca (tree tree) and I used it at EVERY water change in Cichlid and non Cichlid tanks. It works and smells pretty damn good! Hope this all helps!

http://www.aquariumfish.net/informat...n_the_head.htm

[jglass38]

Also go with what Tek said and treat with salt. I used salt in all my tanks. Make sure you follow the directions and when you do a water change, only put in enough salt to cover the amount of water you are adding back in, otherwise it can build up to an unsafe level.

[elevatethis]

A lot of people with Ocsars like to feed feeder goldfish, which from most stores, come chock full of nasty fungus and disease and whatnot....avoid feeding those at all costs....

[jglass38]

A lot of people with Ocsars like to feed feeder goldfish, which from most stores, come chock full of nasty fungus and disease and whatnot....avoid feeding those at all costs....

Absolutely. Stay away from feeder fish. I fed mine krill, blackworms and bloodworms. As a staple they always got Hikari Gold. It is by far the best food out there.

[Ginevive]

I will have to try the krill; I was under the false impression that they're just for saltwater fish.. and the melafix sounds like a good idea. We have great filtration; a Penguin canister filter (Magnum) and a huge HOB (think it's Penguin; got it for free from a friend who couldn't get it to work and it's just fine.) I prefer Whisper filters and have them on all of my smaller tanks, but these seem to be working great; we have scavengers in there also that eat a lot of the waste food. 4 clawed frogs (they are never bothered by our Oscar, and the new one was tanked w/ some @ the store that were unharmed.) Also 2 plecos, an unidentified catfish (I'll post a pic of him if someone can help w/ that) a redfin and livingstoni cichlid. Also a large algae eater.

[recycling goddess]

another great way to naturally cure HITH is to add some liquid vitamins to the food. soak some of the pellets in garlic oil and some in the vitamins and then feed the pellets to your fish. make sure you don't overfeed, as leftovers will lower your water quality.

[jglass38]

another great way to naturally cure HITH is to add some liquid vitamins to the food. soak some of the pellets in garlic oil and some in the vitamins and then feed the pellets to your fish. make sure you don't overfeed, as leftovers will lower your water quality.

That is another good way! I always soaked my pellets a couple times a week in liquid vitamins. Works very well!