Oscar Problem

[rein]

I have a 75 gallon tank holding a 6 inch Oscar that I purchased about a month and a half ago. He is the only occupant of the tank, which is completely empty except for gravel, Emperor 400 filter intakes, an Ebo-Jager 200 watt heater, and water. He obviously has plenty of room.
Everything has been fine, water conditions good, tank cycled with Bio-Spira, fish appears healthy, happy and hungry. Until this morning... I went to feed him and he came up hungrily excited as usual, except this time he had a fingerprint sized chunk of skin missing from his head, pink in the middle and black around the edges. The only thing I can figure is the dummy fell asleep with his head against the rounded bottom of the heater and burned himself a nice hole. He was in perfect condition the previous night.
Does this seem like a reasonable conclusion? If this is the case, is there anything I should attempt as way of treatment, or is it a matter of letting nature take its course and hoping for the best? I am concerned about possible infection to the wound. Will the missing patch regenerate or will there be a permanent scar? Also, this was a really pretty fish and now his head looks awful. I am thoroughly bummed.

[Bantam]

this topic would be better in cichlids -hopefully someone will move it (hint, hint) and you'll get more responses.

my pair of oscars are always scrapes and knocks but they have each other to blame :D . as yours is in a fairly bare tank its a bit more puzzling. could he have scraped against a filter intake? as you say the heater is also an option. are the water conditions ok?

there is also a disease called hole in the head which affects, amongst others, oscars. don't panic though you're oscars symptoms sound slightly different. with the disease the hole is usually whiteish and i don't think it would be as big as a fingerprint after one night. however i've never had a problem with the disease (touch wood) so i don't know for sure.

it might be worth your while doing a search on fish disease and making sure what you're oscar looks like doesn't match any of the illustrations.

anyway i would be fairly confident its just a scratch. if so it will heal by its self pretty quickly.

regards

[rein]

I tried posting it there, but the system wouldn't let me. I thought that forum might not be available to first time posters.
My first thoughts were "what could he have scraped his skin off against?" and the filter intake was the only possibility. But I never noticed any unusual rubbing behaviour in him before. All my water tests have shown that the Bio-Spira seems to work as claimed since I have never registered any ammonia or nitrites in the tank. It was the approximate size and blackened color around the wound which made me think it was possibly the heater. I hope you are right about it healing ok. I just have to figure a way to prevent him from getting burned again if he can't sense the heater burning into his head.

[Bantam]

he will heal quickly - give it a week and you'll hardly be able to tell.
can you stop the oscar getting to the heater by building a 'wall' using rocks or even house bricks. if you do this you need to make sure the water circulation isn't impaired. i'm lucky because my heater is behind a plastic guard.
he could have scrapped against something if he was startled i guess. just keep a good eye on him and fingers crossed it will prove to be a one off.

good luck

[rein]

Thanks. I am having second thoughts about the heater theory myself. I placed my hand on it submersed and it just doesn't get that hot; its set for 76F. He probably did get spooked and dart, scraping his head on the filter, either the intake or output spouts. Even though it looks nasty, he sure hasn't lost his appetite. Gotta be a good sign!

[goldfries]

they recover really fast. and they're tough fish. wanna see mine?

[Visualeyes2]

Your Oscar may likely have "hole in the head" disease-also known as hith.....it is very serious and is fatal if not treated. WIthout seeing your fishes head it is impossible for me to diagnose it for sure but don't dismiss it as a possibility at this point. The earlier it is treated the more likely the fish can be successfully treated. Do some reading about hith and if you think it is, email me and I'll tell you the best and least expensive way to treat it.

[goldfries]

HITH doesn't happen overnight. did the "missing" thing happened over night?

[Wench]

Most likely your oscar got spooked at one point during the night or maybe thought he saw something floating (food) and made a mad dash for the top and hit his head on the glass canopy.

I understand your wanting to give him plenty of room by having a bare tank but it wouldn't hurt to put something in the tank, a piece of driftwood, a rock, a fake plant, something so he don't feel so exposed to the world. He'd probably feel a little more secure. I mean don't we all just feel like pulling the covers over our heads and just hiding from the world once in a while? :p

[OrionGirl]

Hint hint...

:cool:

[Faramir]

HITH presents as small holes or pits, not dirty great wounds like this. I'd say 99% a suddenly appearing wound of this size is of traumatic, not pathogenic, origin.

[hanif]

if the oscar did burn his head on the heater it would be a good idea to purchase a heater guard which will prevent him from doin it again, also providing some form of shelter would be a good idea this will help settle the oscar more and he will feel more at home how would you feel if some one placed you in a big empty room with no one for the rest of your life, if he has drift wood or rock to hide under or behind then he will have no need to hide near the heater and he will be a lot happier for it has well, good luck and i hope everything goes well.

[rein]

Thanks for all the replies, folks. After only a few days the nasty gash is starting to disappear nicely. I am pretty sure now he just spooked during the night and scraped his head hard against the filter. I have been looking for a nice piece of driftwood to decorate the tank and maybe provide some emotional security if he feels like hiding. Should get one for myself in case the wife ever finds out how much gets spent on a $10 fish...

[hanif]

you lucky were i live they cost between £15-£25 depening on there size.