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I have an O that’s about 6-8mo old in a 55gal tank. He has stopped eating like a pig, he will not eat his food. (oscar show, frozen shrimp, hotdogs, peas and spinach) Whenever I approach his tank he will hide at the bottom he stays there most of the day. Tank mate is a Plecos about 8” my O picks on him a lot my o seems to be unhappy. I’ve also notice he has 3 small holes on the right side gill just below the eyes. Question, is this normal will my O be ok

it sounds to me like ur oscar has hole in the head its common in oscars go to ur lfs and get a remedy or him

locobass wrote:I have an O that’s about 6-8mo old in a 55gal tank. He has stopped eating like a pig, he will not eat his food. (oscar show, frozen shrimp, hotdogs, peas and spinach) Whenever I approach his tank he will hide at the bottom he stays there most of the day. Tank mate is a Plecos about 8” my O picks on him a lot my o seems to be unhappy. I’ve also notice he has 3 small holes on the right side gill just below the eyes. Question, is this normal will my O be ok

It's possibly HITH. Go visit the Adamhith website and compare pictures and read the artical. The link is in the "Oscar Disease References" thread that is stickied here in the Oscar forum. --Mark

I agree, possibly hole in the head. Check all your water parameters carefully before you commit to treatment for HITH. I have an O who has what looks like a divot just above his gill opening and i watched him carefully to see if it was HITH. It wasn't. its been almost 2 years and he is still perfectly healthy. And anyway, HITH treatments require large water changes everyday. So be sure its not another problem with your water.