CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Hi,
Can anyone give me any advice on this please?

My Oscars are getting white patches mainly on their heads reguarly. The patches are about the size of a pea or so, and usually flat but one was a bit furry a few days ago. They usually disappear on there own but last several days, the fish seem healthy and are eating well.

Main details -
450 litre tank
2 Oscars about 9 or 10 inches long
2 Plecs (they don't get the white patches)

Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 10-20 ppm (usually lower after a water change)
phosphate = about 4 ppm
pH = about 7.6 (not sure what this should be)

I feed the Oscars once a day on pellets and give them worms/prawns/beef heart about once a week or so.
I was using salt as a general tonic but have stopped as the pH was getting quite high, well over 8.
I clean the tank well every week, clean all filters and vacUum gravel, changing about 80-100 litres of water per week.

One other thing - I have a structured background in the tank which allows some debris to gather behind it which can't be removed, could this be a problem? I hope not otherwise it will have to come out.

Here are some pictures but they aren't great as they won't keep still long enough to take them.

Any ideas would be great thanks.

It could be bruses if you have anything they could be hitting their heads on.  Mine get spots like that all the time from chasing the pleco and running into his tree in the prosses and from running into the fiter intake,  If this is what it is I would just make sure thers nothing sharp they can cut them selfs with and they sould heal in 3 or 4 days.
If one went fuzzy it could be some form of funges.
Is it on both Oscars or just one? Normaly one will show sighs of ilness befor the other as every fish's amunsystem is difrent.
Keep in eye on them and if you see alot of fighting or roughhousing its a good bet thats whats causing it.  Also with alot of parisites ect. the fish rub against decorations and rocks ect. to try and scatch I guess you would call it.  If you see your fish doing this alot (more then normal as some do it for fun ect.) you can probably asume you have a parisite or funges.
Hope that helps some and good luck. 

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.

There are things they can bang into but I personally think it's some sort of fungus.
What I'd really like to know is if there is something fundamentally wrong with the water chemistry which is making it happen as it has been happening on and off for months and I'd like to stop the route cause.

The 2 Oscars get on very well and have no obvious stress.
They haven't been rubbing against things especially.

They both have this a little bit but the red Oscar is usually worse.

Cheers,
Stacy

What concerns me the most here is the indentions in his head. THAT is HITH and you need to get this tank cleaned up ASAP.. YES that means removing your background and possibley NOT placing it back in.. IF debri and waste get behind this and you can not clean it out, then this is WHY you are having problems.. That white place on his head could be a HITH place coming up.. this is a deteriation of the head region and later it affects them internally. NO cure when they get that bad.. CLEAN water is needed and a CLEAN filter.. Here is a artical on the HITH and shows more detail on the HITH pits..

http://www.worldcichlids.com/diseases/Adamhith.html

I always thought that the 'holes' were the sensory pits that eveybody keeps telling me not to confuse with HITH.
The pictures are a bit blurred but the 'holes' are lots of small pits - not sure it is normal to have this many.

Most tini  holes around his head are normal, but the ones right in the middle are NOT.. That is HITH a deteriation of his head region.. YOU can really see them in the first two pics.. 

Did you remove your inside back ground yet??  You did state that this is a concern as waste/food can build up behind it and this is what is causing your problems.. You can clean the tank all day long, but one place that is not cleaned can cause lots of promblems, especialy with Oscars.. NO test can detect when HITH is going to start..

Some say high nitrates (which is not your case) to the Carbon in the filters NOT being replaced every 15 to 30 days.. (canisters here mostly as some ppl dont' clean/replace carbon in them for months).. THIS I am unsure of,  is your problem, you did not state what kind of filters you are using..

IF you have not treated them by now, and YOU have not removed the background, then are the places on his head worse or about the same??? 

IF you start treating them  NOW, then maybe you can prevent more deteriation... IF it goes on, then it WILL KILL them eventually.. 

Taken it out and cleaned everything well.

Using a broad anit-bacterial for a few days... so far so good.

Sounds good stacy.. How is the middle of his head looking?? I read where YOU can soak some pellets in  childrens LIQUID vitamins and DRY THEM COMPLETLY.. and feed them that to help combat this too.. Seems to work.. This is like scurvey in ppl.. so Vitamins IN THEM, NOT in the WATER, should help heal him up better..

A broad spectum med is OK but the only med that helps to KILL out the germs?? other, is Metronidazole in PURE POWDER FORM.. But dont' change that right now.. Do thou, please try the childrens LIQUID Vitamins and soak the pellets/dry and feed them to him and this should speed up the recovery faster.. Keep me informed on how AND WHAT YOU USE to treat him with and HOW he is doing.. Barb

Haven't been here for a while, hope it is going well for you.

Here is a close up of my O with 'healthy' pits