Hole in the head.....the never ending battle.....

[N8DOGG]

man, I'm sorry, I love oscars too, they got me into the hobby

 

[daveedka]

Sorry to hear it as well, I know this has been a long and difficult battle, but I imagine you've gained some experience that can be applied to the future. Do you still have your Glass cat?
dave

 

[Gulp]

Sorry to hear it as well, I know this has been a long and difficult battle, but I imagine you've gained some experience that can be applied to the future. Do you still have your Glass cat?
dave

The cat (I was told its a Lace cat) is doing great. He's very active and healthy. I wish I had a decent camera right now to take a pic of him. (my camera was destroyed when I wrecked my motorcycle this summer. ) The cat's dorsal has grown a very long "feather" that will probably reach his tail soon if it keeps growing and he has some nice coloring. After tonight, I guess the cat will have the tank to himself.

I'm not sure I'm going to get another oscar......as much as I love them. This is the 2nd oscar that I have lost in the past 6 years to some "we don't know what causes this" disease.....

but I imagine you've gained some experience that can be applied to the future.

I'm really not sure what I've learned from this.... Nothing I tried worked, and I still don't know what caused the problem in the first place. I have definitely gotten a lot of experience changing water and testing it every other day though...

 

[daveedka]

I'm really not sure what I've learned from this.... Nothing I tried worked, and I still don't know what caused the problem in the first place. I have definitely gotten a lot of experience changing water and testing it every other day though...

Go way back to the start, you had a large fish in a 55g, and had never heard of HITH. by the time you got Gulp into a bigger home he had already developed HITH, and you did your level best to control it, and make things better for him. Essentially you have learned a lot about Oscars, tank size, tank maintenance and disease. I agree it was not an easy lesson, and I don't envy the experiences you have been through with Gulp. But you have learned a lot and taught some of the rest of us a lot. Whether or not you get another Oscar is obviously your call, and If you don't, you can still apply the things you have learned to other fish. If you do get another Oscar or two, you can most likely raise them and never have these issues again. Nothing is certain, but In all of my years of Oscars, I haven't had one develpe HITH. I have adopted it a few times and have managed to control it in several cases.

I was very fortunate, I accidently became a water change fanatic before my Oscar days, and I couldn't afford feeders, and didn't even know there were options other than prepared foods. My Oscars got the same flakes as my community fish way back when I started. Not everyone lucks into the situations that I did. But as I learned about things like HITH, I also learned that it is for the most part preventable ( not 100% I guess but close).

I guess what I'm trying to say is although it's a tough time and has been a for a while, you are definately a more knowledgeable Hobbyist. Even if you only use your knowledge for the Catfish it's still knowledge gained.

Just my two cents worth.
dave

 

[Gulp]

You've got a good point. Coming to this site and reading everything I have read, and trying everything I have tried has definitely changed the way I view this "hobby". Before finding this place, I just had aquariums with fish.....and did minimal maintenance. Now I'm obsessed. I just wish I knew why I couldn't get the HitH under control. It's frustrating as hell......

Go way back to the start, you had a large fish in a 55g, and had never heard of HITH. by the time you got Gulp into a bigger home he had already developed HITH, and you did your level best to control it, and make things better for him.

I thought I got him over to the 110 before he was "too big" for the 55. Here's a pic a few days before the transfer just for reference:

Ignore the boringness of the 55....I had taken everything out by then. I know I screwed up and didn't keep up with the water much in the 55....but I'm not sure the problems were caused by his size vs. the aquarium volume.

I also know I probably screwed up feeding him goldfish in his first few years.....yet another thing I learned from this forum. Oh well, I can't turn back time.

You are probably right about trying again though. I have a much better filtration system, plenty of room, and much better maintenance habits.....but it might be time to try some different type of fish. Oscars are a lot of fun, but some days I just want to stare at the aquarium and watch fish swim around and act "natural". Gulp wouldn't let me do that... If I was anywhere in the room he was at the top of the tank begging for food.

This sucks. My wife just came home from work and we are going to head out and buy some clove oil. I never thought I'd become so attached to a fish......but it happened. Maybe I can pay a neighbor to come over and move gulp to the clove oil/water bucket..... I keep wondering if I should give him a few more days, as he still seems to have a lot of energy......but his back is still bleeding, he still won't eat, and he's missing a lot of skin. O.K. enough rambling and moaning.......I'll spare you guys.

Thanks for all the input and advice from everyone. Maybe someone out there will read this thread and learn something from it.

 

[Gulp]

I just took this pic of him a few minutes ago on the worlds worst digital camera......but this is one side. This is the corner he's been laying in for days. He only moves to flare his gills and try to attack us... You can see the hole on one of his gill covers and his back. The blood doesn't show on his back because he flurried around a bit a few minutes ago and it washed away..... Since he still has so much energy, I'm going to give him another day or so. At least I have the clove oil now when the time comes.....

I know feeder fish aren't great.......but he seems to chase sinking food and he's tried to eat a few of the catfish's shrimp pellets.....maybe I should put something live in the tank and see if he will eat?

He just has no interest in his other foods.

 

[Gulp]

A few more pics......then I'm done.....

 

[Gulp]

I'll end the night on a good note. As you can see, Hoover is doing great. Check out the "rooster tail" growing off the tip of his dorsal. It looks great when he's swimming around in "full sail" mode. That extra long stripe that's casting a shadow on the back ground is not a plant, that's his fin.

 

[NikkO]

Ahhh... those pics just make me shiver. That is the worst case that I have ever seen. I remember back in the beginning of the year when the holes looked like they were barely there. Sorry to hear that you're losing the battle after so long. :sad Well, at least Gulp will be going to a better place.

 

[Gulp]

Ahhh... those pics just make me shiver. That is the worst case that I have ever seen. I remember back in the beginning of the year when the holes looked like they were barely there. Sorry to hear that you're losing the battle afer so long. :sad Well, at least Gulp will be going to a better place.

Makes me shiver too..... What really sucks is the holes WERE better just a few months ago. The one in the center of his head almost healed completely. I was going to post some pics to show that Gulp and I had conqured the HitH problem, then BAM.......the crap just took off in new spots. I didn't slack up on my maintenance. I was still feeding him a varied diet (2 differnet types of floating food, shrimp soaked in liquid vitamins, frozen blocks of blood worms, brine shrimp, etc....). All my water tests show great conditions (including the nitrAtes that I was not testing earlier). I don't know what the hell happened. MOST of the damage has appeared over the last 4 weeks.....and it's getting worse daily. Sorry to be a drama queen about this.....but when I woke up and saw blood on his back this morning....it did not make me very happy.