Ok, made my daily stop at the petco right down the road from my job and somebody had just brought in a rather large Oscar about 8" with hole in the head. I found out the people had this poor gal in a 20 gal tank! Just terrible! Ok, but on to my question. I would like to rescue this little lady but I am concerned about my other two Oscars contracting hole in the head or some other disease. What should i do? How would I go about medicating and making sure shes ok to put in with my other oscars?
Hole in the head contagious?
- Thread starter Mike4155
- Start date
HITH is mostly brought about by poor water quality. I don't think its contagious. If you give her clean water, and enough space, it should clear up. I'm no Oscar expert though. I know that in a 20 gal tank, there def. Was some water quality problems, which is probably the culprit for the HITH.
HITH/LLE doesn't appear to be contagious but I would qt separately and treat with metronidazole for at least 2 weeks. It will leave the fish scarred since it doesn't fill back in. One problem with HITH/LLE is the cause is unknown but hexamita is generally present with it. Clean water, ample room are required.
If you cannot provide a separate tank just for her treatment, I would suggest that you pass her up.
If you cannot provide a separate tank just for her treatment, I would suggest that you pass her up.
Hole in the head disease is definately caused by bad water quality. A 20 gallon tank?? That is torture to an Oscar that big. I can't believe that the poor thing is even alive. Hole-in-head disease is not contagious. The relationship between Heximita and hole in the head disease is reasonably well-established. The lessions are caused by Heximita parasites that have migrated into the head where they cause the surrounding tissue to decay. Because of the damage to the epidermis, secondary infections easily set in, making things worse. It is not certain that all cases of head and lateral line erosion disease in fish are caused by Heximita parasites. Malnutrition in particular has been proposed as a possible cause of the disease. Because many fish likely carry low-level Heximita infections, anyway, the disease isn’t normally considered to be contagious.
It is very important to keep up consistant water changes. The minimum recommended water change in Oscars is 50% once a week, but I find this lacking. I think there should be a 50% water change every 2 to 3 days. I will nver understand people who insist that Oscars can be kept in a 20 gallon tank, and probably with minimal water changes.
I hope you get this poor Oscar. He seems like he just needs a good home to get better.
It is very important to keep up consistant water changes. The minimum recommended water change in Oscars is 50% once a week, but I find this lacking. I think there should be a 50% water change every 2 to 3 days. I will nver understand people who insist that Oscars can be kept in a 20 gallon tank, and probably with minimal water changes.
I hope you get this poor Oscar. He seems like he just needs a good home to get better.
Unfortunately, there is no proof either way about causation being hexamita. That is something that has been a hot topic for the last 10 years. The popular thought is hexamita causes it since every case of HITH/LLE has hexamita present.
Sad to say all evidence that supports causation of HITH/LLE is anecdotal and lacks scientific support because it has been seen in many cases under different water conditions. Clean water and ample room has still rendered cases of HITH. I personally have had it show up in one of my Oscars inspite of 2 different tanks, same water source, same maintenance schedule and same food. Both fish came from the same source and the same original tank. Go figure cause it sure had me stumped.
My maintenance schedule is 30-50% once a week, always the same day of the week. Sometimes I do an extra WC if water tests indicate it is needed. I sure hope that someday it can be solved so no cichlids have to endure it in the future.
Sad to say all evidence that supports causation of HITH/LLE is anecdotal and lacks scientific support because it has been seen in many cases under different water conditions. Clean water and ample room has still rendered cases of HITH. I personally have had it show up in one of my Oscars inspite of 2 different tanks, same water source, same maintenance schedule and same food. Both fish came from the same source and the same original tank. Go figure cause it sure had me stumped.
My maintenance schedule is 30-50% once a week, always the same day of the week. Sometimes I do an extra WC if water tests indicate it is needed. I sure hope that someday it can be solved so no cichlids have to endure it in the future.
Is it contagious? Well, maybe yes and no. The parasites can be transmitted from cichlid to cichlid, but if your resident fish are healthy they probably aren't in danger. It may depend on their ability to fight it off, like so many other things. Better safe than sorry, imo.