Oscar Question...sick?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Okay, we need exact numbers please. HITH usually occurs in water with excess amounts of nitrAte. You also need to start feeding him a staple. This means you need to give him some sort of pellet type food that will make up at least 50% of his diet, and no more than 75%. Hikari cichlid/bio gold, warden and x-treme pellets all make good choices.

I've treated HITH regularly since I often rescue fish. HITH is not contagiuos (as far as i know)- but if one fish has it, other in the tank are likely to get it since they live in the same water parameters and probably eat the same foods.
 
That's HITH (Hole In The Head/Head & Lateral Line Erosion) starting. belle_foudre is completely right. Oscars (along with Angels & Discus) don't deal well with high nitrates. If you want a healthy Oscar for the entire 12+ years of his life you've got to commit to keeping nitrates below 20 ppm. That's my story and I'm sticking to it no matter how many people try to state otherwise.
 
I do weekly water changes of about 25%. My nitrates have been at 60 mg/L for the past 2 weeks and 90 mg/L the week before. I have been using AmQuel + for the past few days (says removes nitrate 1.2ppm per dose).
 
You nitrates need to be below 40ppm, ideally 20ppm. Ninety mg/l is fairly toxic and would probably explain the HITH. What you need is water changes- don't bother with and nitrate removing chemicals, that will only mess up your biological colony.
 
There's your problem, your nitrates are way too high. AmQuel+ does NOT reduce nitrates. I don't care what the bottle says. I used to have a link to a statement of theirs that admitted it didn't lower nitrates. That they started advertizing that because "some consumers told them it did". The only thing that lowers nitrates is (like I said) water changes. Even if your tank is a 125 g tank with the 2 Oscars you're not changing enough water if all you change is 25%. How big is your tank? You forgot to answer that (or I missed it because I didn't read careful enough). If your tank is 125 g and you've got just the 2 Oscars in there, then you should be doing a minimum of 75% weekly water changes (yes). If it's a 55 gal tank you should be doing 2-3 75% water changes a week while you look for a bigger tank. We'll help with this, we'd love to help. But the work load is going to fall on you as far as doing bigger water changes more often. Diet is important, but you can cure HITH with pristine water alone 99% of the time.
 
As stated by the other posts, you will definity need to step up your water changes. Once your fish has this, it takes work to get rid of it. When treating this your water needs to be cleaner than normal. I did daily water changes for around 4 months and she has cleared up well. This is what your fish is going to look like in a short time if you cannot do something for them. I got lucky that I was able to clear it up with daily water changes to keep the nitrates under 5ppm and moving her from a 40 gallon to a 60 gallon.
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This is not something that you can cure and it goes away forever. Even if you get this to go away by keeping the water cleaner. You have to keep your water clean or it will come back! There is NO CURE for this besides clean water and healthy diet!
 
Wow, thanks for all the great information everyone. Yes they are in a 55 gallon. They will be in there until after the first of the year when I can move. I have a 225g tank that will be set up in my new home. I will step up the water changes to about 50% a day and see if it clears up. Thanks again for the help I will let you all know how things turn out.
 
Steping up your water changes might not be enough for them, you might want to consider rehoming one of them. Remember your keeping 2 osacrs in a tank the bare minimmum size for one healthy O. But they might make it if you can keep up with the daily water changes. But remember this can and will come back. The second you think you have it under control and start skipping water changes, its going to be right back, and when it comes back it usually comes back with a fury. I hope that you can keep you with your daily watch changes, and that your fish get and stay healthy! ;)
 
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