are these bite marks on my oscars face?

[Jexnell]

If you are talking the tiny holes in circles, that's natural for Oscar's. My girl Toni had them as well.


In the wild Oscar's hunt for bugs at and above the waters surface, these sensory pits help them do that.

 

[Deadeye]

Looks like sensory pits to me too. Keep an eye on it.
What’s the ph? If it’s too basic that may lead to an answer (high ph generally is a road to HITH).

 

[Rocksor]

If the water is 20ppm or less (through regular water changes during the week), it could still take years before HITH shows up in oscars raised in hard city water. In 5 years my wild oscar never developed any signs of HITH.

atabapo 1 pike and a small convict. i think itd be the convict because its the right size/shape for its mouth.

The pike wouldn't go for the face. It will attack the lower half of the fish or grab the tail of the fleeing fish and drag it across the aquarium.

 

[djsaltynuts]

If you are talking the tiny holes in circles, that's natural for Oscar's. My girl Toni had them as well.
View attachment 1459675View attachment 1459676

In the wild Oscar's hunt for bugs at and above the waters surface, these sensory pits help them do that.

thank you very much those are the same sensory puts i was looking at. i thought they only had two like nostrils and was very concerned my fish was starting to get HITH but your fishes sensory pits look the same as mine.

 

[djsaltynuts]

If the water is 20ppm or less (through regular water changes during the week), it could still take years before HITH shows up in oscars raised in hard city water. In 5 years my wild oscar never developed any signs of HITH.



The pike wouldn't go for the face. It will attack the lower half of the fish or grab the tail of the fleeing fish and drag it across the aquarium.

yeah i didnt think it was the pike shes scared of the oscars front end but nips at him from under her log all day.
ive also kept large cichlids my whole life and never had HITH it’s something im just hearing about in the past couple years so could i be overly concerned about something my fish is unlikely to get in clean conditions?

 

[djsaltynuts]

Looks like sensory pits to me too. Keep an eye on it.
What’s the ph? If it’s too basic that may lead to an answer (high ph generally is a road to HITH).

my ph is very neutral like 7.2-7.6. i keep the tank hot so maybe small amounts of nitrates are causing more harm but i do a large amount of water changes so id be surprised. the tank also has too much flow for the oscar.

i had peat in the filter but i removed it because a high temperature low ph tank would be even harder to keep pristine conditions in.

 

[Deadeye]

Ph is a little high for the Oscar and pike. They’d prefer 6-7.

 

[Wharf]

Maybe more frequent pwc's, feed a high quality pellet, and cut back on the amount of feeding. Hope it's not HITH. Unless you have liquid rock out of the tap I would think stable water para's are more important, but they do thrive with a lower ph...maybe add back the peat. What size tank? I have heard fishkeeper's feeding their Oscar's red bell peppers for vitamin C too lol.

 

[djsaltynuts]

Ph is a little high for the Oscar and pike. They’d prefer 6-7.

im aware but nitrates are more important than ph and harder to control in hot soft water. at with allot of water changes the ph will lower and increase twice a week which i feel like a neutral stable ph will still be better than a constantly fluctuating ph. id consideradding it back if you guys think itd be better but i came to the conclusion it wasnt.

 

[djsaltynuts]

Maybe more frequent pwc's, feed a high quality pellet, and cut back on the amount of feeding. Hope it's not HITH. Unless you have liquid rock out of the tap I would think stable water para's are more important, but they do thrive with a lower ph...maybe add back the peat. What size tank? I have heard fishkeeper's feeding their Oscar's red bell peppers for vitamin C too lol.

she doesnt like plant matter unfortunately. its a 3’x18” grow out. pike will be going in a 75 soon and oscar into a hydroponic pond for the summer.