Hole in the Head often occurs in aquariums with under gravel filters, and sometimes in aquariums with canister filters, but rarely in aquariums with a BIO-Wheel filters.One large Oscar 8 inches in length needs at least 80 gallons of water hope this help HITH sucks
Hole-in-the-head...Please help my beloved Oscar!
- Thread starter peaches
- Start date
I just saw a listing inthe Big Als catalogue for a product designed the take care of HITH, it is Jungle Hole in Head Guard, I have never used it but most Jungle products work pretty well.
Straight up the oscar is showing stress from an inadequate tank.Your fish needs a bigger tank,can he even turn around in there?He doesnt need meds he needs a suitable environment.Sure an oscar can live his entire life in a 29gal tank except its going to be a short disease filled life. 
As for the author of the book you have
Sorry to sound so angry but I love oscars and hate that so many get mistreated like this.
Go with your plan to get a 100g or so tank you know you want to
As for the author of the book you have
Sorry to sound so angry but I love oscars and hate that so many get mistreated like this.
Go with your plan to get a 100g or so tank you know you want to
i have to second gomezladdams as i said One large Oscar 8 inches in length needs at least 80 gallons of water and they do say 2 require 150 as i always say the biger the tank the easier it is to look after big fish require big tanks !!!!
Thanks everybody!
I feel really guilty for keeping Oswald in a 29. I was mislead by bad info I guess. But why does the famous aquarist author suggest and recommend it? Maybe he doesn't know what he is talking about for real. I don't think 29's are good for a large bodied fish that needs room for exercise...
I don't want my big Oscar to be sick and miserable. I will do my best to get at least a 55-80- or (I wish) a 100 gallon aquarium. It's so much money though..I am not the wealthiest person.......But I will do something right away.
wHY DID THE AUTHOR SAY you can keep one in a 29?????????? It almost makes me mad thinking about it. He is a well-known aquarist and has written lots of stuff in fish care. Ohhh.......... Maybe I should have been the one to be blamed for? I should have known. I don't really have the money and space right now for a new 80-100 gallon aquarium even though I would love that more than anything for my Oscar. But would a 55 gallon be OK? Say if he was the only fish in there? What sort of filter should I have? Extra large HOB filters? How many and what percentage of water changes should be made in a 55 gallon with one Oscar?
I only want the best for all my animals........
THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE!
Peaches~
I feel really guilty for keeping Oswald in a 29. I was mislead by bad info I guess. But why does the famous aquarist author suggest and recommend it? Maybe he doesn't know what he is talking about for real. I don't think 29's are good for a large bodied fish that needs room for exercise...
I don't want my big Oscar to be sick and miserable. I will do my best to get at least a 55-80- or (I wish) a 100 gallon aquarium. It's so much money though..I am not the wealthiest person.......But I will do something right away.
wHY DID THE AUTHOR SAY you can keep one in a 29?????????? It almost makes me mad thinking about it. He is a well-known aquarist and has written lots of stuff in fish care. Ohhh.......... Maybe I should have been the one to be blamed for? I should have known. I don't really have the money and space right now for a new 80-100 gallon aquarium even though I would love that more than anything for my Oscar. But would a 55 gallon be OK? Say if he was the only fish in there? What sort of filter should I have? Extra large HOB filters? How many and what percentage of water changes should be made in a 55 gallon with one Oscar?
I only want the best for all my animals........
THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE!
Peaches~
Ok lets try and save Oswald!!! I'm quoting Dr. G. Bassleer author of "Colorguide of tropical fish diseases", D. Untergasser author of "Handbook of Fish Diseases" and a few more I won't reference here. Hole-in-the-head disease is caused by a flagellated parasite found in the intestinal tract. When a mass infection occurs the parasite spreads over the whole body. The holes in the head can only be found in the adult Oswald, cuz the young could not stand the mass infection and thus are dead already. HitH are usually caused by an accumulation of factors which affect the lateral line organ; bad water conditions, unbalance diet and parasites. As a result, holes from which worm-like dots of rotten tissue could protrude, are formed in the lateral lining in the head area. Signs related to this disease maybe dark body color, emaciation and white stringy excrements. With advanced infection, reddish or pale patches on the skin may be formed, and secondary bacterial infections may occur.
Treatment:
When treating HitH, better results can be obtained with metronidazole. We can administer the dose in the food or mix it directly with the aquarium water, if Oswald has no appetite.
to be continued...
Treatment:
When treating HitH, better results can be obtained with metronidazole. We can administer the dose in the food or mix it directly with the aquarium water, if Oswald has no appetite.
to be continued...
Saving Oswald!!!
continued....
To control secondary bacterial infection, use anti-bacterial drugs like Nitrofurazone.
Metronidazole (FLAGYL) is used as a long bath in the already setup aquarium. the tablets are crushed and first dissolved in luke-warm water, then distributed over the surface of the water in the aquarium. The temperature can be raised to 30-33 degrees celcius to support the treatment. After 3 days , change 1/3 the of the water and gradually lower the temperature. Put new carbon in the filter to remove the remaining drug.
Or u can administer in feed. Crush a 250 mg tablet of metronidazole into powder. Opps this is too complicated. Lets just forget this part.
P.S. Hole in the head has been attributed by cichlid breeders to be associated by the use of activated carbon. They claim that the problem is avoided when they deleted activated carbon from their filter. I believe the carbon traps the parasite until they multiple enuff to escape and infest the whole tank!!!
Good luck i hope Oswald will be ok!!!
continued....
To control secondary bacterial infection, use anti-bacterial drugs like Nitrofurazone.
Metronidazole (FLAGYL) is used as a long bath in the already setup aquarium. the tablets are crushed and first dissolved in luke-warm water, then distributed over the surface of the water in the aquarium. The temperature can be raised to 30-33 degrees celcius to support the treatment. After 3 days , change 1/3 the of the water and gradually lower the temperature. Put new carbon in the filter to remove the remaining drug.
Or u can administer in feed. Crush a 250 mg tablet of metronidazole into powder. Opps this is too complicated. Lets just forget this part.
P.S. Hole in the head has been attributed by cichlid breeders to be associated by the use of activated carbon. They claim that the problem is avoided when they deleted activated carbon from their filter. I believe the carbon traps the parasite until they multiple enuff to escape and infest the whole tank!!!
Good luck i hope Oswald will be ok!!!
Oh u may not be able to get metronidazole (Flagyl trade name use in women to treat yeast infections) in ur country. It maybe only availiable by prescription from ur vet. or if u have a nice family doctor. I get it in canada cuz I'm a Pharmacist.
I would be happy to mail u some, but Oswald will probably not survive that long.
Don't let the guys bother u about the tank size now. U just have to increase Oswalds effective volume of water. U can use a make-shift sump but not under the tank!!! Got get the biggest rubbermaid garbage container u can get. Drill a hole slightly under the rim of the container thats the top. Now place this container slightly ABOVE ur tank. Run a hose from the hole in the top of the container into ur tank. Now cut another lenght of tubing put one end into the container and the other end of the tube attach a powerhead. Put the power head into the main tank, plug it in. Now water will flow from ur main tank into the container located above the tank. Over flow from the container should now flow back to the tank from the container. SO IN fact this will increase Oswalds volume by the volume of the container. this should be fine till u save the money for a bigger tank....
Again good luck!!!
I would be happy to mail u some, but Oswald will probably not survive that long.
Don't let the guys bother u about the tank size now. U just have to increase Oswalds effective volume of water. U can use a make-shift sump but not under the tank!!! Got get the biggest rubbermaid garbage container u can get. Drill a hole slightly under the rim of the container thats the top. Now place this container slightly ABOVE ur tank. Run a hose from the hole in the top of the container into ur tank. Now cut another lenght of tubing put one end into the container and the other end of the tube attach a powerhead. Put the power head into the main tank, plug it in. Now water will flow from ur main tank into the container located above the tank. Over flow from the container should now flow back to the tank from the container. SO IN fact this will increase Oswalds volume by the volume of the container. this should be fine till u save the money for a bigger tank....
Again good luck!!!
Most excellent ideas from you all! thanks!
What I am really striving for now is to somehow get him into my resident 55 gallon. The problem is--it already has 1 large severum, 2 big tinfoil barbs, and one striped river catfish. This seems to be the obvious thing to do for him. I am wondering if he will get over his HITH by extra clean water and the addition of vitamins to his food? Should I feed medicated foods designed for HITH? Medicated foods seem better because from what I've read HITH is mainly an intestinal tract infection of some sort like that.
I wish I knew what to do with my current severum and tinfoil barbs, they themselves have almost outgrown their aquarium! I am really attached to them all and dread the fact that the best thing to do is to take them to the petstore. 
Most of the petstores around my area seem to neglect their fish half the time. One petshop once had all their angelfish infected with fungus, so much that one of poor angel's tail was completely eaten away by infection. No sign was posted either that these fish were sick or not for sale. It was sad...And I fear that's how they'll treat my fish if I take them there.
*If I could get just an 80 gallon that would be perfect. Lots of turn around room too.....
Is it Ok for an 80 gallon to be run by a HOB power filter? Or does that size of a tank need a canister or something?
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONCERN!
Peaches~
What I am really striving for now is to somehow get him into my resident 55 gallon. The problem is--it already has 1 large severum, 2 big tinfoil barbs, and one striped river catfish. This seems to be the obvious thing to do for him. I am wondering if he will get over his HITH by extra clean water and the addition of vitamins to his food? Should I feed medicated foods designed for HITH? Medicated foods seem better because from what I've read HITH is mainly an intestinal tract infection of some sort like that.
I wish I knew what to do with my current severum and tinfoil barbs, they themselves have almost outgrown their aquarium!
I am really attached to them all and dread the fact that the best thing to do is to take them to the petstore. Most of the petstores around my area seem to neglect their fish half the time. One petshop once had all their angelfish infected with fungus, so much that one of poor angel's tail was completely eaten away by infection. No sign was posted either that these fish were sick or not for sale. It was sad...And I fear that's how they'll treat my fish if I take them there. *If I could get just an 80 gallon that would be perfect. Lots of turn around room too.....
Is it Ok for an 80 gallon to be run by a HOB power filter? Or does that size of a tank need a canister or something?THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONCERN!
Peaches~
