Yeah I have been holding off on getting an oscar too. I had two, both got HITH. A friend had one and it got HITH too, all store-bought oscars. Now my tank is too loaded to handle an oscar. Maybe someday...
Hole in head disease??
- Thread starter highrisktankeeper72
- Start date
I don't think its any mor eor less prevelant in Wc vs captive bred.. more the level and quality of care they receaive... your average joe is not going to seek out a wc oscar.. where and dedicated hobbyist is more likely too... the wc one is going to over-all in general receive better care. while hikari is not my first choice in foods for many reasons i see it as one of the main foods in many HLLE fish.. I would try adding NLS and/or omega pellets to his diet... keeping nitrates below 20ppm ( imo this is a major contributing factor with this problem) and if these don't work adding liquid vitamins to his diet via pre-soaking pellets... adding frozen silverside, and krill may also help... the key is to offer variety in brands/foods so he gets a wide spectrum of min/vits... keeping water ideal... and imo YES at this stage it is reversable. when they develop the deep pits, and errosion happens along the lateral line itself it's sketchy if the fish can fully recover. Stress is def also something to worry about, so make sure nothing is causing this. usually other tank mates or external noise/harassment.
the soft water argument i find questionable.. but i wouldn't doubt if high TDS levels may contribute, as i've seen them negatively impact other delicate species.
the frustrating part is there really arn't any hard and fast cures/treatments for it... other then over-all increasing your level of husbandry.
Mike,
The "markings" , if what I am referring to are what you are referring to, are sensory pits.
HITH looks more like someone took the eraser end of a pencil and pushed it into the O's forehead. The marks which look like a bunch of little pin pricks are sensory pits. The two up front near the mouth are obviously nostrils. Hope this helps!
To add on what everyone else said, O's are messy fish. Require water changes and a balanced diet.
The "markings" , if what I am referring to are what you are referring to, are sensory pits.
HITH looks more like someone took the eraser end of a pencil and pushed it into the O's forehead. The marks which look like a bunch of little pin pricks are sensory pits. The two up front near the mouth are obviously nostrils. Hope this helps!
To add on what everyone else said, O's are messy fish. Require water changes and a balanced diet.
I had 3 occasions of Oscars...the only time I had HITH was as a newbie a dozen years ago, I did not change my water often.
Same here. I know it would bum me out if it happened.
Sent from my Desire HD using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Mike,
The "markings" , if what I am referring to are what you are referring to, are sensory pits.
HITH looks more like someone took the eraser end of a pencil and pushed it into the O's forehead. The marks which look like a bunch of little pin pricks are sensory pits. The two up front near the mouth are obviously nostrils. Hope this helps!
To add on what everyone else said, O's are messy fish. Require water changes and a balanced diet.
I did some research on it and thought it could be the sensory pits but to be safe I decided to bring it to the attention of the experts at mfk.
Thank you guys for all the advice and guidelines
Sent from my Droid using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
