i have a oscar with starting symtoms oh hith. he is in a 120 gallon and still eating a bit. what should i do?
HELP! HOLE IN THE HEAD!
- Thread starter fishpets101
- Start date
once per week, nitrate 27, nitrite 0, ammonia 0, ph 7.4 , dont test for that, a red eared slider , and pleco
Increase ur water changes to twice a week. How big is the tank? Is the Oscar stressed from the other tankamtes?
he's not stressed from the other tankmates, but i recently had to add him to a bucket for 1 day as his old tank leaked (cause of a lot of stress). he is in a 120 gallon currently
Ok. Increase ur water changes to twice a week and see if it improves. Keep nitrates below 20ppm.
There are a bunch of possible causes of HITH/HLLE. From the info you posted, it seems nitrates are a bit high. I would ask when that 27ppm reading was taken- if right before water change, it would tell us the upper range, but if taken after a WC for example, or during the middle of the week, your level might be going higher.
Also, since there is a slider in the tank, I would assume your water level is dropped? That would decrease your water volume quite a bit. Turtles are quite messy, and a 120 is pretty much the minimum tank size for an adult oscar (not sure how large yours it). So, my guess is the messy tankmate and reduced water is leading to high nitrates, causing the HITH or making it worse.
Also, since there is a slider in the tank, I would assume your water level is dropped? That would decrease your water volume quite a bit. Turtles are quite messy, and a 120 is pretty much the minimum tank size for an adult oscar (not sure how large yours it). So, my guess is the messy tankmate and reduced water is leading to high nitrates, causing the HITH or making it worse.
Agree with the others above.
Hole in the head is common in oscars as they age, where nitrate is high (anything above 20ppm (actually i consider anything above 10 ppm high)), and if not enough or too small of water changes are being done.
Twice per week 50% water changes would be a good start, but as the oscar grows, it may need more than 2 per week to keep nitrate at a reasonable level.
As any cichlids grow, water changes should be increased to keep up with bio-load, what's adequate for a 3 " cichlid, will usually not be enough for a 6", and what's good for a 6" cichlid will not be adequate for 10" or 12" one..
Hole in the head is common in oscars as they age, where nitrate is high (anything above 20ppm (actually i consider anything above 10 ppm high)), and if not enough or too small of water changes are being done.
Twice per week 50% water changes would be a good start, but as the oscar grows, it may need more than 2 per week to keep nitrate at a reasonable level.
As any cichlids grow, water changes should be increased to keep up with bio-load, what's adequate for a 3 " cichlid, will usually not be enough for a 6", and what's good for a 6" cichlid will not be adequate for 10" or 12" one..