possible infection on oscar

[TPS reports]

i noticed about two weeks ago that my oscar had a spot on his head that looked like a blotchy translucent film on top of his skin.
it was very hard to see and could only be seen under the light.
i wasn't sure what it was so i decided to keep my eye on it.
today i was feeding my oscar and i inspected his head and it looks like it has spread.
it looks as if the one small spot has spread and ajoined with another patch.
the best way to describe it is white/fuzzy/translucent film atop his skin.

i can try to take pictures but it is hard to see with the naked eye.
although not blatantly obvious, it's presence is causing me to worry.
he acts very healthy, he is very active, aggressive and always willing to eat.
at 10" he is in a 75g with a 4" white saum, they get along fine.
highest nitrates get are 15 but i usually keep them below 10.
ammonia and nitrite are 0, temp is 80.

his diet consists mainly of hikari gold with worms/crickets/shrimp, chicken/beef parts every couple days.

i never really feed feeders.
unfortunately, against , my better judgment i fed him some feeders that my neighbor gave me from his guppy breeding tank.
i don't think this tank is taken care of very well and the guppies might have infected my oscar.
at first i thought it was only an excess of slime coat but the fact that it seems to be spreading makes me think it is an infection.
any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[GreenTerrors]

Its hard to help if we can't see it. My guess is maybe some kind of HITH. Best advice I can give is do a 25% water change then raise the temp 2-3 degrees and add some aquarium salt. If it starts looking better, do another 25% water change.

 

[TPS reports]

these aren't the best pictures but they give you some idea of what i'm looking at hopefully.

you can just barely see the patch in this picture, right above his eye.
if you look closely you can see what looks like a bridge, where it has spread to the second patch on the right.

full shot, it's above his eye but you can hardly see it in this one.
the second and third pictures i believe to be the best representation, even though they are blurry.

it started as a small patch on the left and has now spread to a second patch on the right.

 

[duanes]

Fish are unable to digest chicken or beef fat. It ends up in their liver and can cause many problems.
I'm not suggesting this is your problem, but it's something to keep your eye on. The meat also can quickly foul your water, opening your Oscar up to opportunistic infections.
Check out the latest issue of FAMA for a complete explanation of nutrition and why fish should not be fed land animal meat.

 

[ProblEmZ]

From your explanation and the pic's it very well may be HITH. Hole-In-The-Head disease, do a search alot has been discussed about it on these boards.

 

[TPS reports]

didn't know that about the chicken and beef, i thought things like chicken liver and beefheart were good sources of protein.

this looks more like a bacterial or fungal infection, my oscar has no pits on his head, eats readily and has displayed no symptoms of HITH.

 

[Dmaan.]

MELAFIX, just throw a bit of melafix and crack the heat up.
maybe even do more water changes til he's all healed up.
may leave a scar though? i'm not sure though.

 

[Ang]

didn't know that about the chicken and beef, i thought things like chicken liver and beefheart were good sources of protein.

this looks more like a bacterial or fungal infection, my oscar has no pits on his head, eats readily and has displayed no symptoms of HITH.

i fed beefheart mixed with veggies, pellets, white fish, shrimp and vitamins when my fish were growing. But once they reach their adult size, i stopped feeding it. i used it for growth, but since they are adults now and arent growing like they were, i dont use it.
This is what i did and my fish are beautiful and healthy. But i am not a scientist and this is just what I did.

looks like a fungus to me.
i would do 50% water changes every few days for the next couple weeks to make the water pristine.
Malefix is a good treatment. It is a very good fungal cure.
Add aquarium salt at 1 tbsp/5 gallons (unless you have scaless fish in there too then 1 tbsp/10 gallons)

 

[oscarsftw]

Take out carbon, do 50-75% water changes everyday, stop with feeders, just give him some quality pellets. Only clean healthy water will ensure your Oscar will heal and live from HITH...Fishes were not made to consume chicken and beef, beef heart is ok once in awhile. But I'd stick to insects and veggies and just good ol'e fish food and maybe some crayfish and krill from time to time.

 

[TPS reports]

good thing i said something.
i'll restrict his diet to pellets, insects and shrimp from here on out.
did an 80%wc today, took the carbon out of my filters and treated the water with a dose of melafix.
nitrates are slightly below 5.

i plan to perform 2-3 75% water changes a week and will keep dosing melafix until the problem is solved.
i don't think it is HITH but a fungal infection.
i plan to pick up some aquarium salt tomorrow, will be adding to the tank when i do water changes.
whatever it is, hope he gets better soon.
thanks for the help so far, any suggestions or any ideas about what his problem is are greatly appreciated