Help (Hole In My Oscar's Head)
- Thread starter FishyFish
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What size tank is he in? Does he have tankmates? What are the water parameters? (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia) What type of food do you feed? Cichlids are especially prone to a condition commonly called hole in head disease or head and lateral line erosion. You may wish to post a question on the cichlid forum on this site for more qualified answers.
It's a syndrome (not a disease) called "Hole in the head." It's caused by poor water conditions. Larger fish, such as large cichlids and Oscars get it all of the time due to tanks that are too small for them, which facilitates poor water quality. I'm not saying your tank is too small, but it soon will be. In the meantime, I would focus on doing 50% water changes twice weekly and reduce your feedings to once per day, and only enough food the fish can consume. Fish can go long periods of time without food; when my Jaguars spawn, they don't eat for well over a week. To help heal the wound, get some melafix and dose as recommended. If you see other problems, such as fungal growth or a bacterial infection, you will need to get some medication to treat it--just post back here and we'll help you out on that.
I cannot stress enough how important frequent water changes become when you keep large cichlids. I see tons of Oscars that have been sold/traded to the LFS, and almost all of them show signs of poor water quality. Provide plenty of filtration, and change the water often and in large quantities. That's all you have to do!
I cannot stress enough how important frequent water changes become when you keep large cichlids. I see tons of Oscars that have been sold/traded to the LFS, and almost all of them show signs of poor water quality. Provide plenty of filtration, and change the water often and in large quantities. That's all you have to do!
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Dr.Gonzo
