Oscar HITH/LLE

J

jri4

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May 15, 2008
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I own one Oscar in a 75 gallon tank, all by himself. My 1.5 year old Oscar has always seemed to be plagued with disease. Home from the LFS as a little 2inch guy he had Ich. Cured that, but noticed maybe a few little pricks in his head, square between the eyes. Now he is nearing 10 inches long, and those holes have grown into large pits (I do not mean sensory pits, but craters that have engulfed the sensory pits) His right nostril has also been blown out by a gaping hole that is at least triple the size of his normal nostril. Lastly, no matter how hard I try, his tail slowly develops rips and tears that seem to begin in the center and work outwards....

Is this HITH and something else? I have not failed, in 1.5 years, to change the water at least 30% once every 7 days. The condition of the water is immaculate, showing no readings on ammonia, nitrate, and low nitrite levels consistently. I do not believe his illness is due to water conditions, and have no reason to believe so based on my rigorous weekly maintenace schedule.

The tank is a 75 gallon, with nothing but sand in the bottom. I had rocks, but thought they might be causing the tail tears as he swims past them. Now that is not the case. The water stays between 79 and 81 degrees. The tank is filtered by an Aquaclear 110 (new version of the 500) with foam pad and ceramic noodles in it. I took the carbon out in case it was causing problems. Two airstone aerate the tank.

My Oscar acts normal, eats ferociously, and seems to be okay. I feed him a diet of Hikari Cichlid Gold Pellets (about 15-20 in a sitting) once daily, 1 veggie wafer each day, and either 1 freezedried krill and some freezedried bloodworms as a treat at least once a week. His condition looks is unsightly and I do want to keep my fish for as long as I possibly can. I hope I have given enough detailed information for you knowledgeable people to help me. If needed, I can "try" to get a picture, but it might not turn out good enough to do any good.

What steps should I take? What medicine should I buy? Am I feeding him enough, and a variety? Thank you for all your time and effort in helping me. I am not panicked, but would like to get this taken care of once and for all so I can enjoy my fish and he/she can enjoy life!

~jri4
James
 
It certainly sounds like HITH, but a pic would be great to confirm. Shouldn't be too hard to get a pic - unlike a Giant Danio or something which is constantly swimming at 70mph. ;)

Metronidazole in the water and preferably feeding it to the fish for 10 days is the first line treatment. You may be able to find it locally, but if not google 'Jehmco'.

It sounds like you take care of the fish well, but I would get a second AC110 for that tank as well.
 
I keep one of my Oscars (15") in a 90 gallon with 2 Emperor 400's running full time. The only tankmates are a common Pleco (15") and a pink Convict (4.5"). I do weekly W/C of 30-50%.

There is no known reason for the source of HITH/LLE although Hexamita is thought to be the source. Although hexamita may not be the only cause, there may be other reasons present. Removing carbon has helped for some people as have multiple weekly water changes. Although your water may be immaculate to your eyes, it may in fact harbor some other organisms that you cannot see. Do not wrongfully assume that clarity = cleanliness.

I would top off the AC110 with some poly batting or some cotton felt to help "polish" the water even more as they are both ideal at absorbing pollutants. I also recommend water changes of 50% 2X a week.

Since the diseases are internal, it is necessary to medicate internally. The easiest way to do this is to mix 1% metronidazole in fish food (25g food for one 250mg metronidazole) and feed it to the fish. Feeding sparsely before feeding the medicated food can help guarantee that the fish eats the medicated food. It is also recommended to medicate the water as well by adding 12 mg metronidazole per liter aquarium water to make the treatment more effective. Repeat the water treatment every other day until you have treated the water three times.
 
Check your nitrAte level to be sure it's under 20 ppm or so. My guess is it's not if you're only changing 30% a week. Just a thought. Those nitrate levels can creep up fast and that's one of the most talked about causes of HITH.
 
Thank you! I am going to try and take a picture tonight so you can meet my guy, aptly named Ichabod (get it? Ich!) Thanks again!
 
what are you feeding the oscar? feeder fish are notorius for diseases, the meds i used to clear up hith is made by aquarium pharmacuticals (not sure if spelled right) it costs some money but it works. i would put the oscar in a hospital tank (meds are expensive smaller tank less meds). make sure to take out the carbon. for the ripped fins try using some aquarium salt. good luck
 
jri4 said:
I feed him a diet of Hikari Cichlid Gold Pellets (about 15-20 in a sitting) once daily, 1 veggie wafer each day, and either 1 freezedried krill and some freezedried bloodworms as a treat at least once a week.
Click to expand...

:)
 
Oscar0003.jpg

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Oscar0006.jpg

Oscar0007.jpg

So how bad does he look? Notice his tail, left nostril, and in the middle of his head. What should I do? Buy Metronidazole? Thanks for all the help everyone!
 
Do a google pic search for 'Oscar HITH' and you'll see that your case isn't so bad. ;)

Treating with the Metro for 10 days will most likely help, but improving water condtions and increasing vitamin intake is also very important to reverse this. Many aquarists recommend water changes in the 25-50% range twice a week - maybe even three with HITH. Also, a product like Vita-Chem or similar is important to get him healthy and reverse this syndrome. Some just grind up multivitamins and put them in the tank, but I've not tried that. Keep your nitrates under 10 for the foreseeable future, but those water changes are important whether your nitrates are good or not.

As mentioned, there are many theories as to the what and why of HITH (Hexamita, electrical probs, bad diet, high nitrates, etc), but I'll leave that to others or you can just research it.

Also, as I mentioned that tank is underfiltered for an adult Oscar IMO. That possibly could contribute to the problem. Get another AC110 if you can as you would like to have at least 700GPH being filtered with a HOB filter.

It is also a very good time to vary his diet to the max. It looks like you already have a varied diet, but even more so can only help. More vegetables should help should he not be too picky.

I have a good link for HITH somewhere, but it eludes me for the time being so I'll post it later.
 
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