rotting face

[cope]

Hey guys.... WOW this one is a weird one,.... I have a OSCAR that I have had for (I guess 2 years now) I have done nothing to the tank. No new fish.. nothing... been running like this for a long time... Monday I noticed my HUGE oscar had a pimple..... and he would not eat... this guy never misses a meal.... next day he had a bump on his forehead the size of a small marble.... now today WEDS.... his mouth area and some of those spots are literally gone and there are huge crators like acid ate his face........ man it look horrible..
I have taken him out of the take.... I feel sure he is dieing...... anyone ever seen this before.... It may be hole in the head, but man it looks nasty.

[Mzungu]

What size tank is he in?

Who are his tankmates?

What is your regular maintenance schedule on this tank?

What does he eat normally? How often do you usually feed him?

When was the last water change? How much did you change?

It's odd that the craters or whatever they are would appear so suddenly. Maybe something happened, like you noticed the "pimple," and looked closely and noticed the craters for the first time? Is that possible?

Any way you could post pictures?

[armthehomeless]

What size tank is he in?

Who are his tankmates?

What is your regular maintenance schedule on this tank?

What does he eat normally? How often do you usually feed him?

When was the last water change? How much did you change?

It's odd that the craters or whatever they are would appear so suddenly. Maybe something happened, like you noticed the "pimple," and looked closely and noticed the craters for the first time? Is that possible?

Any way you could post pictures?

Mzungu asked some very good questions... I'd like to add that mature oscars have "holes" on there face normally. These are the nasal openings and the olfactory bulbs. Look at the first picture in the link provided below:

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Cichlid,%20Oscars%20Spawn.htm

Is this where the holes are?

[aggrofishkeeper]

Sounds like Hole in the Head disease to me...


Take the carbon out of your filters,
Dose the tank with Metro,
Change Water
Dose the tank with Metro,
Only feed fish food diet and soak in Metro,
Keep up water changes
and dose the with Metro twice a day.

Most important thing is water changes.

[Zulaab]

Cope :)
I am sorry to hear about your Oscar... You need to separate him/her.
You need to get some Metro and a good heater...
Set the heater to about 88 degrees
Add enough metro to the tank he is in.
Water change every 48 hours..

The tank he came from.. do a GOOD cleaning and a massive 90% water change.

That is what I would start with...

[imagirlgeek]

Does it, by chance, look like the sores in this thread?

http://houstonfishbox.com/vforums/showthread.php?t=30031

[aggrofishkeeper]

Even with our advice, it's hard to recover from HTH. Good luck.

[Mzungu]

I wouldn't treat until you are positive there is something wrong. When you are positive about that, then be positive about exactly WHAT is wrong.

More info is needed for us to help. It's poissible that all you need to do is up the water changes, or feed differently, or something that won't be as drastic as medicating when nothing is wrong.

[Mzungu]

Even with our advice, it's hard to recover from HTH. Good luck.

Not sure about this. I'm not even sure the scientific community has yet identified the causes of HITH, and if it is indeed one single thing that causes it, such as a virus, bacteria, etc.

The holes won't miraculously close up, but they will look better over time, and shouldn't get any worse, IF this is what is wrong with your oscar, and IF the cause(s) is eliminated.

[nacra99]

Please post a pic if possible. It might be a number of things including Hole-In-The-Head.

Here's a pic of a discus with HITH (the external manifestation of Heximita). Externally, hex starts out as a pimple which grows and erupts into a sore, which if not taken care of, can eat away the flesh.

http://www.geocities.com/acuariogratis2/aditivos/hexamita.jpg

But chances are Large Cichlid (Oscar) + pimple erupting into a sore is quite possible HITH or Hex

If Hex, in addition to adding metronidazole to the water (as mentioned above), you want to try to get him to eat some of it too. Mix up some with frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp and allow to sit for 15 min or so and then feed it to him.

Remember that Metro targets mostly anaerobic bacteria and if the wound is huge, you are going to need another anti-biotic in the water to keep the external sore from developing secondary infections. I recommend Erythromycin (commonly available as Maracyn), which you can dose in the water. Or if you don't mind the smell, melafix may work as well together with the metro treatment.

Good Luck!

[armthehomeless]

I wouldn't treat until you are positive there is something wrong. When you are positive about that, then be positive about exactly WHAT is wrong.

More info is needed for us to help. It's poissible that all you need to do is up the water changes, or feed differently, or something that won't be as drastic as medicating when nothing is wrong.

+1

[imagirlgeek]

My only concern with the HITH diagnosis is the description of a bump the size of a small marble. I've not personally experienced HITH, but I don't remember anyone ever describing a bump rupturing and becoming a wound. I always thought the craters formed without the appearance of nodules or sores. Can someone confirm or deny this?

[Mzungu]

I have also not heard of a bump or sore turning into a crater/hole with any diagnosis of HITH.

[imagirlgeek]

It honestly sounds like what I'm going through with the giraffe catfish.

If Cope can confirm this, I can offer up what I'm doing to treat it.

[Zulaab]

It honestly sounds like what I'm going through with the giraffe catfish.

If Cope can confirm this, I can offer up what I'm doing to treat it.

Very potentially the same..
What did you do to resolve Hoover's problems ?