CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Hi all, we have a beautiful Lutino Oscar named Topaz. We bought her when she was just a little thing, 2". She is now 8" and growing. A little history of this fish might help with the answer to my question. She was purchased when my husband and I were clueless about fishkeeping. She came home with, our now deceased, Red Tiger Oscar, Hannibal. Unfortunately, we had them both in the same tank, a tank that was not cycled. Mainly because we did not educate ourselves first. Anyway, Hannibal contracted HITH....we believe from poor water quality. (at least that is what we have been told) He lost weight from not eating, he went through hell. We used the medication that is used to treat HITH, we educated ourselves, big time, and he still died. Now, during all of this, Topaz was with him. She quickly deteriorated as well. Wasnt eating, lost weight, etc. We quarenteend her in a sick tank, medicated her and brought her back. She is now a happy fish, in a big tank with her new Oscar buddy, Jingles. She went through a period of erratic swimming, banging into the side of the tank, slamming into the gravel, hitting decor, etc. She managed to take a nice chunk out of her head. This all occured after Hannibal died. Now for my question: She does have an area on her head, above the left eye that resembles a HITH wound. However, she is NOT exhibiting any signs of being sick. She eats well, she is human friendly, and she is growing. I am wondering if this area is an old scar from her days of being in the poor water, or could she be infected with this as well. I have tried numerous times to take a picture of this area, but she's smart....it's not her "good" side, so she turns away. We believe this area is getting bigger, and want to treat her if we should, but with no signs of illness, maybe we should leave it alone and see what happens. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.....

First an observation: You've been through HITH hell already. If you suspect what you're seeing is an early form of that, trust your instincts until proven wrong.

A couple of questions:

What size is the tank?
What are the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings?
How big is Jingles, and how do they interact?
What do you feed them, and how often?
What is your water temp?
What is your water change routine?
Same question for gravel vacuuming and filter cleaning?

I know, that's more than a couple, but the answers might be helpful.

Dan

Hi thanks for responding: the water readings are great, all 0 with n-10. Jingles is as big as Topaz, if not bigger. They reside in a 150 with one other small pleco. They interact great...they love each other. No fighting, no turf wars, nothing. They eat Hikari gold large Oscar pellets, brine shrimp, krill, plancton, pellets usually once or twice per day, treats maybe 2x/week. Water temp is 80.6. We do PWC 1x/week or as needed. Usually 20-50%, depending on how dirty it is. A good vaccum at least once per week with the PWC. We clean the filters every 2 weeks or as needed. So, i'm perplexed at what is wrong with her. Absolutely, no signs of this fish being sick. Thanks for any help you can give. As for starting a medication tx, should I take her out, or tx the whole tank?

Everything sounds pretty good. What filters are you running? Are you using carbon in them? If so, try removing it for awhile. Some folks suspect a link. I'm not sure I do, but once your tank is established the carbon isn't really good for much anyway, so it can't hurt much to try. Have you checked your pH lately? Is it about what you expected it to be?

We run 2 AC 110's on this particular tank. There is carbon in the filter, but i'm going to remove it and see what happens. The Ph is 7.2, this stays pretty standard. the ph from our tap is 7 on the nose. Guess I will have to wait and see what happens. I did notice that she is not eating her pellets today>???????

OK. Not really much solid to go on. See if you can get a good look at the area you're concerned about. I don't know that I'd do much with meds yet. Maybe do an extra water change for the next couple of weeks. Keep us posted, and good luck!

I just posted on a HITH heading towards the top of the list. I am thoroughly convinced that at least SOME cases of HITH are directly related to activated charcoal. You don't need it in a filtration system. As long as you have enough filtration media in the tank to harvest beneficial bacteria and do regular water changes you'll be fine. I have a few bio wheels and a canister of porcelin "bio media" in a magnum 350. Works for me...

Another thing I think people don't do enough of is "vaccuming" the gravel enough. Get the hose-to-sink setup. You can rig a cheap setup using a waterbed fill/drain system. If you don't connect to a faucet you will not get enough suction to thoroughly vaccum the gravel.

Thanks for all your help guys. I removed the carbon, did a good, DEEP cleaning, and 50% H2O change. She seems to be eating well yesterday and this morning. I check the area a few times per day. It does not appear to be getting bigger, but then again I see it all the time. I will continue on as you all suggested, will keep you posted, and will continue to try and photograph this area so you can see it. Thanks again....this site is by far the best site out here in cyberland. I have been to another site, that shall remain nameless, and they treat you like your and animal hater, give rotten advice, and I've even seen the WRONG advice. So, keep up the good work guys.....