Oscars are meant to die.

[sostoudt]

really i believe hith is a immune system malfunction, chiefly caused by malnutrion and/or stress from various sources.

the hexamita are parasites that affect the digestive tract of the fish, causing nutrient absorption problems. hence thats why there present in a lot of hith infection.




it may be worth treating your fish for parasites, if your confident in your husbandry to rid out any possibility the hith is a secondary symptoms of a infection

 

[Cholly]

I have seen no scientific evidence to back it up, but I've heard the carbon theory many times. I don't use it except to remove meds on the rare occasion that I've needed them. I don't really see any benefit from charcoal apart from removing meds, so I don't. If there's no proven long term benefit, and a fair amount of suspicion that long term use is detrimental, why would you even want to use it long term?

 

[knifegill]

If there's no proven long term benefit, and a fair amount of suspicion that long term use is detrimental, why would you even want to use it long term?

Because it comes prepackaged in the filter cartridge and I didn't want to defeat the filter pad by puncturing it. But I will from now on, I'll just do it on top, where the water doesn't really go.

Iffrat said

and i only do 20-30% w/c every other week .. mine do great .. they are hardy fish IMO

But how high are your nitrates? I keep mine below ten, which is supposed to help keep HITH away. That's why I do these gigantic, earth-moving water changes. To remove as much of the waste as possible. Some people do even more than this on a weekly or twice-weekly basis, doing multiple changes in a row to effectively change more than 100% of the water.

BDerick67 said:

I don't think there is a proven reason for HITH so how do you know ya did the right things?

Since I do not know what causes it, I took every possible cause and eliminated to the best of my ability.

Steelshade said:

Some oscars are more genetically prone to HITH than others. My two oscars have had the same living conditions all their lives and yet one has had HITH for a long time now while the other oscar has never had a sign of any hole at all. Great diet, great water perameters, everything perfect. Still one of them got the damn condition anyway.

Thank you for your words. I'll try to stop blaming myself for this. But some action must be taken. Say, how old is your afflicted fish and does it seem as though he can live with it for a long time?

Uting spouted:

When I was a kid I had a 7" oscar in a 15 gallon tank. I just cleaned every 2 week (100% becuase at that time I did not know the 100% rule) The water was clean because I used a filter that claimed to do 300 gallons per hour. To make it short JUST USE A BETTER FILTER!!!!

I'm already overfiltered and you don't need to yell at me.

vaine111 suggests:

get a uv sterilizer, change that god awful smelling filter cartrige and replace it with some cheap cut to fit filter pads and not continue to stress him out with your 90% water changes

I don't have the money for a UV sterilizer. Actually, the next time a bulb goes out, there won't be a light on my Oscar's tank at all. I had money when I started, but then I got married and she took it all away.

Dennis said:

90% water change is too much. Charcoal does not last indefinitely, it gets saturated and then leeches toxins back into the water. Biological filtration is best IMO, charcoal is chemical filtration. Hikari pellets, smelt, prawns is all mine have ever had, and they have never suffered with HITH. I have a pair, 12 inches each, and 2 singles 10 and 11 inches. Been keeping oscars for the past 30 years, good filtration 20% water change per week is all I have ever done.

Thanks. You have made me think more about these things.

vaine111 suggests:

Maybe his lack of filter maintenance may be the cause?

Good thought, but I rinse them well in tank water on a rotating schedule. They aren't nasty at all and function effectively, except maybe for the charcoal.


To everyone else, thanks for your words. Got any other ideas? I added some live plants to the filter box awhile ago. Hydroponic pothos and spider plant babies. Maybe they are using up essential nutrients? And black beard algae has sprung up all over the place. Does it also use nutrients in great quantity? Should I check my tap for heavy metals?

 

[Saterus]

I don't really have much advice to add being inexperienced with oscars.. BUT..
The two "large" oscars I've taken in in the past few months (one 7 1/2in one about 8 or 8 1/2 to start) have no signs of hith.
Both came from overstocked (oh, there were several uneaten goldfish in there) 29-75gal tanks, none have HITH. Ones does have slight marks that might say they had it in the past. One owner says NO, wtf are you talking about.. the other owner says "why do you ask? " (and then wtf do you know about fish you ass?!)
Both are now on a flake/pellet diet. Neither has had any problems. They get QTd goldfish once a week.

I do not believe they are meant to DIE, though..
I have 4 juveniles that though I don't know where to display, know I CAN and they are all and hopefully still are going to be loved enough for our customers..

Yes I know that's hopeful thinking, but damn baby oscars are a fun sight!

 

[Cholly]

Slit the cartridge on the water supply side to remove the charcoal. The material will still be usable by bacteria as a surface to cling to and mechanical filtration as it's supported against the unslit outlet side. That what I did until I got cut-to-fit media, it works.

 

[TheCanuck]

dude...

its very simple , feed your oscar pellets. Feeding him feeders crickets worms your killing it. Oscars dont eat vegtables. Pellets make a perfect nutrition for oscars.
Your nitrates are high because your tank isnt cycled. you do 90% water changes that ruins all your biological filtration.... 20% once a week only. your water will eventually get better and better. That is all you need to do , dont even run carbon , it only removes medications and chemicals , dont use vitamins either , the damage is done . Just do everything right from now on. Good Luck man.

Oscars are fish too...

 

[MadRussian79]

Personally I've found the HITH head tends to be a water chemistry condition, and then only affects certain individual fish. When water quality starts to drop fish develop all sorts of odd ailments. It could be a matter of your supply water having contaminants. It could be spikes in non nitrogen waste, like phosphate. Could be hard pH bounce due to huge water changes. Pull the carbon and do smaller frequent water changes.

 

[MadRussian79]

yes, oscars are meant to die. theyre disgusting filthy fish.
get yourself a real cichlid, rather than a turd with fins.
id suggest a nice guapote. maybe a jag, dovii, or RTM.

Crap plain and simple. What you keep is just personal preference, some fish need more care than others. Oscars are common so have a low value assigned to them. I can think of a number of fish that produce more waste then any oscar by a wide margin any yet there are many here who would staunchly defend keeping them, and they cost a **** load of money.

 

[fishy12]

Nutrition, nutrition. How am I supposed to feed my fish less and more at the same time? He doesn't eat vegetables.

Just scoop the excess food outta the tank if he doesnt eat it all. And if he does eat it all ur on the rite track i got 2 i feed mine more then once a week never had a chance of hole in the head because i wc weekly and remove all excess food

 

[Iffrat]

for people who think any one fish makes more waste then another .. remember food in = waste out .. your not going to see much if any diff in the amount of waste one fish makes compared to the next if they where to eat the same amount of food .. thats physics

to the comment about my water conditions .. the water is clean .. never any ammonia and other parameters are nice and low .. i just make sure that i clean the mech part of the filter well and get as much of the crap out of the rocks as i can. There really is not that much waste in the water floating around compared to whats in the sponge part of a Fx5 and down in the rocks .. so rather then cleaning the part of the tank with the least waste .. i clean where most of the waste is .. its a system that has worked for me for years ..

but i must say that i have been (up to now) lucky with my water coming out of my tap. i had never used prime or anything else until they built the new hospital across the street and my water started coming out with TONS of chemicals in it. so that might be part of why i need less tank maintenance then some people.

again this is all my opinion and im not stating anything as law or fact .. since every time i say something here some piss hole has to tell me why im a total moron and i dont know how to keep MY! fish. so this is all my experience and how i do things .. i would not tell anyone to keep fish the way i do .. and im sure someone will put in there 2c why this is true.