Hole in the Head Disease

[Mrs. Ruglayr]

I think my Oscar is developing Hole in the Head Disease. It looks like there are several pin holes on his head, inbetween his eyes. Is there any way to stop this from getting worse? If not, what should I do. We keep a very clean tank, and we have great filtration. I don't think it's a water problem. If he does have this disease, do I get rid of him before he dies or just let nature take it's course? I've had him for a little over 2 years, now, and he's about 11 inches long. I really hate to get rid of him, but I don't want to come home to a dead fish, either. Please help. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[Slappy*McFish]

How often do you water changes and how much is changed? Also, what do you feed him?

[PumaWard]

Pin size holes are perfectly common on fish, in fact, all fish have them. The holes are just really easy to see on large cichlids like oscars.

Here's a picture I got off the net of an oscar w/ HITH

[Oscar_Mania]

It's nice to hear that pin sized holes are common with fish. I thought that my Oscar had HITH as well when I saw the pin holes. I kept the water clean and fed him a wide variety of food, but they never went away. Now I know why.

[Mrs. Ruglayr]

We do water changes every three to four weeks. We also clean the filters every week. Our tank is established. It always checks out well within where it should be. I don't think it's a water problem. If pin holes are common, why didn't I see them on him before? I looked at that picture posted in one of the replies, but I couldn't see it very well. I'd like to see a picture of a fish like mine with pin holes to see how it compares. Does anyone have one that I could see?

Thanks!

[Slappy*McFish]

Try doing water changes weekly(25-30%), and avoid feeder fish if you use them. It could be a build up of nitrates in the water. Oscars can pollute water rather quickly and water changes every 3-4 weeks may not be enough to dilute the resulting nitrate build-up. If you can get a close-up picture of your fish that we can look at, we should be able to tell you if it's HITH or not.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

all my oscars after a cirtain size got small holes between the eyes but i treated it just in case it lead to anything but a picture and some water changes would be best:D

[PumaWard]

The white spots on this fish's head are HITH.
http://www.aquariumfish.net/images_01/dsc_002311.jpg (picture taken from aquariumfish.net)

I'll see if I can find a picture of the pin-sized holes seen on healthy fish.

[RTR]

What is the nitrate level in the tank prior to a water change?

[Mrs. Ruglayr]

I haven't had a chance to check the nitrates level, yet, but I did take a picture of my Oscar. Sorry, it's not very good. Does this look like Hole in the Head to you guys?

[Mrs. Ruglayr]

Here's another picture. I'm not sure if it's any better. Thanks, again, for helping me. This forum has been great! It's nice to get helpful information from people that actually know what they're talking about!:D

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

ive edited that about so its easier to see it could develp into HILH so do a 50% today then 1 the next day for 6 days of so get everything down and i cant remember how to treat it but a it comes in a tablet form down here so it could be different;)

[Slappy*McFish]

Yes, that is most definitely the early stages of HITH. How old are the fish?

[macman7010]

Yup! for sure that is Hole in the Head disease, not a fun disease to have your fish get. Not only is this disease terribly hard to get rid of, it slowly kills your fish and watching as thier entire head is eaten away is not fun sight.

Oscars and some African Cichlids - and Discus are succeptable to this disease although don't think your Oscar is in the ground just yet. I had one of my Oscars, similar size to yours get HITH at just about the same stage yours is at right now. I am going to tell you what I did to clear him up, but remember HITH will not sure overnight and therefore seeing results will not be that easy. It took over a month for the spread of HITH to stop with my Oscar and more than month for the existing legions to start to heal.

First off clearing up HITH is not easy, and requires a good bit of time and work - not easy but not impossible. First off you need to pick up a product by Jungle called Hole in the Head Guard. It carried detailed instructions and is the first step in clearing up your Oscar. Next you will want to add generous doses of Aquarium Salt to your tank water - if this fish is not alone in the tank then quarentine him in a smaller tank if you have one. Also you will need to raise the tempature of the water to roughly 86-90 degrees, I know this sounds high but to heal HITH the water must be warm. Once the salt is added and the tempature is high - *Daily 25% Water Changes are Needed* I know its a lot of work but HITH becomes plague like and un-curable if the water is not extremely clean. Also Once a week you will want to Soak the affected fish in a high concentration solution of the Hole in the Head Guard - the instuctions included on the bottle will tell you exactley how to do this.

Once you have given careful attention to the details above you will want to assess nutrition. Feed the affected fish a mix of high protien pellets - I recommend the Hikari Cichlid Gold and New Life Spectrum with a mix of Meal Worms - Krill - and Formula One Prepared Frozen foods. It will take time and a certain amount of attention to detail but HITH will clear up with effort.

[Mrs. Ruglayr]

Thanks for taking a look at my Oscar. I'm sorry that he got HITH, but I'm thankful that there were people like you out there that could help me take care of the problem. Thanks, again!:)

[Tiger15]

Originally posted by Mrs. Ruglayr
We do water changes every three to four weeks. We also clean the filters every week. Our tank is established. It always checks out well within where it should be. I don't think it's a water problem. Thanks!

Doing water change every 3 to 4 weeks for an 11-inch oscar is not enough. It appears to be water problem. Buy a nitrate test kit and find out what nitrate you have. If it is over 60 ppm before water change, you have a water problem. For large messy fish like Oscar, 50 to 80% water change weekly is needed, depending ont he size of the tank. A common mistake for many oscar owners is that when the fish is small and cute, they can get by doing infrequent water change. But the fish continues to grow, eat more and get more messy and the same water change schedule won't work. Also, when the fish is small, you can't see the holes as easily. The trouble with HITH is that its a chronic symptom that won't kill the fish for a long time and you have to live with an ugly swimming skull. Many ended up euthenize the fish.

If indeed it is water problem, I won't apply any medication. Just keep up with frequent water change and hope that it will turn around. IME, HITH is an environmental problem. There are many HITH remedies sold in store but I doubt if any one works if you don't improve the water quality.

BTW, HITH affects only soft water fish like Oscar, Pike cichlid, angels and Discus. I haven't seen HITH affect African Rift Lake cichlids or perhaps if it does, the fish won't survive long.

[Mrs. Ruglayr]

I have been told that HITH is contagious. Is this true? Either way, if my Oscar dies from HITH, and I re-stock my tank with African Cichlids, are they more apt to die because my Oscar contaminated the water?:confused: