Could this be Hole in the Head on my Oscar??

[Chinnavar]

What you will need is a KH testing kit to monitor the water. If you don't want to add the actual leaves you can simply place leaves in a pot with water and boil them until they leach Tannins. Just let the water Cool off to the temperature of the water in the aquarium and pour it in without the leaves. The water will be a tea color.

I am fortunate to have Oak tree's near my home to collect every fall. Collect the fallen leaves in a area that doesn't have a high volume of traffic like a park and make sure no fertilizers or bird droppings are not on the leaves as well.

Just tested my KH, clocks in at 6D which translates to 107ppm. How much does it need to drop? I've read that 60ppm is considered soft.

I can't get any oak leaves as it is right now since its spring, will catappa leaves work? I believe it has the same effect, but just making sure. And I assume you need to restock the tannins in the tank after every water change?

Thanks for all the help btw!

 

[duanes]

In the U.S. catappa leaves (AKA Indian Almond Leaves) are sold purposely to be added to aquariums, and at a premium prices.
If you like the look, the leaves can be added directly to the tank, but they (as all leaves will do) break down.

I have use oak, maple, magnolia, and many types.


above some leaves when first added
below, later after breaking down, the fras may require more frequent vacuuming

As the leaf litter gives off tannins, it tints the tank water brown, in the same way it colors South American black water rivers.
I allowed the tank below to get a bit extra tannic,

Peat can also be added in porous bags, if leaf littler is inconvenient
One of the ways I have found to reduce hardness, is by mixing collected rain water with tap water for water changes.
Or buying DI water from the grocery store and mixing with tap water.
In my tanks leaf littler would only reduce pH by a couple tenths, and barely noticeable on hardness numbers I found their purpose (for me) was to add anti-bacterial qualities in the hard water. My water averaged 7.8 -8 pH, and 250 ppm total hardness.
For me this only seemed to be worth the bother for small fish in small tanks.
For my large fish, I choose fish species that came from water that mirrored mine.

 

[tlindsey]

Just tested my KH, clocks in at 6D which translates to 107ppm. How much does it need to drop? I've read that 60ppm is considered soft.

I can't get any oak leaves as it is right now since its spring, will catappa leaves work? I believe it has the same effect, but just making sure. And I assume you need to restock the tannins in the tank after every water change?

Thanks for all the help btw!

Yes Cappata leaves can be used for the Tannins. Yes the leaves need to be collected during the fall. Yes after water changes add Tannins. I believe 100 ppm or lower is Soft.

 

[Chinnavar]

In the U.S. catappa leaves (AKA Indian Almond Leaves) are sold purposely to be added to aquariums, and at a premium prices.
If you like the look, the leaves can be added directly to the tank, but they (as all leaves will do) break down.

I have use oak, maple, magnolia, and many types.


above some leaves when first added
below, later after breaking down, the fras may require more frequent vacuuming

As the leaf litter gives off tannins, it tints the tank water brown, in the same way it colors South American black water rivers.
I allowed the tank below to get a bit extra tannic,
View attachment 1413819
Peat can also be added in porous bags, if leaf littler is inconvenient
One of the ways I have found to reduce hardness, is by mixing collected rain water with tap water for water changes.
Or buying DI water from the grocery store and mixing with tap water.
In my tanks leaf littler would only reduce pH by a couple tenths, and barely noticeable on hardness numbers I found their purpose (for me) was to add anti-bacterial qualities in the hard water. My water averaged 7.8 -8 pH, and 250 ppm total hardness.
For me this only seemed to be worth the bother for small fish in small tanks.
For my large fish, I choose fish species that came from water that mirrored mine.

Thanks for the detailed reply! I'll grab some peat so I can put it in my filtration. I've also came across a product called "Easy Life Catappa-X" which claims to have all the beneficial effects of catappa leaves but doesn't make the water black. Any thoughts on this? Might buy a bottle to test, don't think it's available outside Europe as I only see reviews from the UK & Europe. I've read a thread of someone who used it in his SA tank to combat hard water.

I'll do bigger waterchanges from now on and gonna try peat and catappa leaves for now to combat the effect of the hardness of the water. If it doesn't work out i'll follow your footsteps and choose fish that come from water which mirrors mine.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Ugh this is a such a huge bummer, I bought this tank because I fell in love with oscars. But I know it'll be quite hard and a lot of work to maintain the right water parameters and i'm afraid I simply don't have the time and experience to do it. But I can give it a try atleast, how much leaf litter do you think I need for a 180G to lower the hardness to an acceptable level? And if I see the HITH getting worse i'll try to rehome him to a nice place I guess. I highly underestimated the bond I get with my fish, especially personable fish like O's.

I would look into adding some peat moss to your filter, that along with some almond leaf litter or the like and some driftwood might help lower your pH. I agree it is usually best to keep the type of fish that will thrive in your water type, sometimes it is a necessity. Oscars are pretty hardy fish but do seem more susceptible to HITH that just about any other fish, being brought on from high nitrates, high kh/gh, or otherwise non ideal parameters and stress. The peat moss may not be a "fix" but might help just enough. I'd put a larg media bag of it.
On the leaf litter, I would put enough so that the bottom is more or less covered in a thin scattered layer.

Edit- Just saw last couple pages and people beat me to the advice haha. So this is a +1 for the leaves and peat.

 

[duanes]

I've also came across a product called "Easy Life Catappa-X" which claims to have all the beneficial effects of catappa leaves but doesn't make the water black. Any thoughts on this? Might buy a bottle to test, don't think it's available outside Europe as I only see reviews from the UK & Europe. I've read a thread of someone who used it in his SA tank to combat hard water.

I have never tried the bottled stuff, although some version is available in the U.S.
I happen to like the look of leaf litter in the tank, even though it creates more maintenance work.

I had a breeding group of killifish, that would spawn in leaf litter, and because many of my tanks were connected I could load the small killi tank with a thick layer of leaves, and the tannins would tint all the tanks connected in that line, so that group of tanks was where I'd house any South American cichlids, endemic to east of the Andes.

Or soft water Asian species like wild type Bettas.

 

[RD.]

From a previous discussion on HITH ……..

There is much more than just pH involved, and even tannins, various other natural turpines and chemicals found in indigenous plant matter may not only keep the pH buffered quite low, but in some instances (such as Terminalia catappa aka Almond leaves) some of these various indigenous plant matter are also known to produce antimicrobial activity that suppresses both gram positive & gram negative bacteria. Take those species out of that "protective" environment, and introduce them to parameters outside their ideal range, and a fish that comes under stress (of any form) is going to be open for invasion from any number of pathogens that it would not normally encounter in the wild.

IMO, and IME pH is not the issue, the introduction of bacteria, bacteria that some species cannot cope with well in captivity, where tank water is outside ranges typically seen in the wild, especially elevated levels of bacteria (which is common in aquariums) is the true cause of symptoms such as HITH. It's a chronic condition, that can take weeks, months, possibly even years to eventually cause outward symptoms such as pits and open sores on a fish. Oscars are one of the species that do not do well under those conditions.

The full discussion can be found in the following link.

HITH - Revisited

Over the years numerous things have been blamed as the cause of Hole in the Head disease in fish. While this is still a confusing subject among hobbyists one thing has become clear, the pathogen responsible for the ulcerated pits in the head and body of ornamental freshwater fish with this...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Good luck

 

[Chinnavar]

From a previous discussion on HITH ……..



IMO, and IME pH is not the issue, the introduction of bacteria, bacteria that some species cannot cope with well in captivity, where tank water is outside ranges typically seen in the wild, especially elevated levels of bacteria (which is common in aquariums) is the true cause of symptoms such as HITH. It's a chronic condition, that can take weeks, months, possibly even years to eventually cause outward symptoms such as pits and open sores on a fish. Oscars are one of the species that do not do well under those conditions.

The full discussion can be found in the following link.

HITH - Revisited

Over the years numerous things have been blamed as the cause of Hole in the Head disease in fish. While this is still a confusing subject among hobbyists one thing has become clear, the pathogen responsible for the ulcerated pits in the head and body of ornamental freshwater fish with this...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Good luck

A very interesting read. I've been searching high and low for NLS hex shield but due to import restrictions we can't get it here anymore sadly. Read some old dutch fishkeepers forum posts about how they ordered it through ebay from the UK, but everything is sold out and with this whole corona thing going on I don't think i'll get my hands on some hex shield any time soon.

Metronidazole is also hard to get over here because it's cancerous for humans I believe, but I can feed my fish some garlic atleast.