This page contains information about a fish disease
called Hole in the Head that sometimes infects large Oscars,
other big Cichlids, Gouramis, and other tropical fish.
Here is a picture of a large Buttikoferi Cichlid with Hole in the Head Disease. This picture was sent to us by
William of Michigan.
Reply. Hello Shane. Thank you for your email. We agree
with you. The fish in the picture, shown above, is a Buttikoferi
Cichlid from West Africa not a Green Terror from Central
America. Thanks again.
1. Hole in the
Head
is a disease of
tropical fish which
starts with smalls sore
on the head above the
eyes. These sore grow
and eventually penetrate through the outer layer of skin.
Hole in the Head is most often seen in large Cichlids or other large fish. Oscars are large Cichlids and are often infected with Hole in the Head. Click here
for more information about Oscars. Jurupari Earth Eaters, are a species of Cichlid that also often show signs of Hole in the Head.
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2. We think Hole in the Head ...
is the result of poor water quality over a long period of time. It's best to prevent Hole in the Head by
doing the proper maintenance schedule. Click here for more information about a Maintenance Schedule.
3. Hole in the Head often occurs ...
in aquariums with under-gravel filters, and sometimes in aquariums with canister filters, but rarely
in aquariums with a BIO-Wheel filters. Click here for more information about all of these types of Aquarium Filters.
4. How to Treat Hole in the
Head ...
you should
immediately begin the
recommended Maintenance
Schedule and get the
properly size aquarium
filter with a BIO-Wheel.
Then begin cleaning your
gravel with a gravel
washer. When the gravel
is clean, remove most of it and
remove the undergravel filter. Click here
for more information about gravel and gravel washers.
5. If you have an Oscar, ...
be sure it has a large enough aquarium. One large Oscar 8-inches in length needs at least 80-gallons of
water. Two 8-inch Oscars need at least 150-gallons of water. More Oscars and larger Oscars need even bigger aquariums with more water.
6. If you have an Oscar or other large fish with Hole in the Head, you should give that fish all six steps of the Recommended
Treatment. Click here for the details about the Recommended Treatment.
7. However, the Recommended Treatment usually will not cure Hole in the Head. It's worth a try, and it may work, or it may arrest the
disease, so the fish can survive.
The combination of Flagyl (metronidazole) and Chloramphenicol (Chloromycetin) usually does work to cure Hole in the Head. But these are both
pharmaceutical drugs that require a prescription to obtain.
At one time
you could buy medicated flakes, and one type of those flakes contained these two drugs. But I haven't seen any of the medicated flakes offered for sale in
several years.
8. I have been told that Hole in the Head is caused by a combination of flagellated protozoans and bacteria. Flagyl is a treatment for
flagellated protozoans, and Chloramphenicol is a powerful antibiotic.
We do not have any more
information about the
availability of these
drugs or any other drugs.
Hi, Great site! I am an Oscar owner myself--sadly I must have been doing something wrong b/c at the age of six,
about 1 yr after transferring him from a 40 gallon tank to a 75 gallon tank, he succumbed to Hole-in-the-head.
But I have taken my aquarium apart and am currently reestablishing it so that I can raise another. Anyway-I went through many avenues of finding help for Oscar while he was
sick--I mainly did water changes, dietary changes (no feeder fish), and Paragon II.
I really don't want this to happen again!!! One owner of a fish store told me that the number one cause of death for all fish was using Windex on the outside front of the tank.
Is this true?
I've never heard that anywhere, and I Windexed my bow front about once every two weeks--only the front though. He did not attribute that to the hexamita of course, but he did say
that it was deadly. Could reply either directly to me or post something on your website about that?
Thank you,
Ashley
Reply. Hello Ashley. Thank you for your complimentary comment. We are glad to know that you enjoy this web site.
Sorry to read about your Oscar. The comment about Windex is speculation, but we recommend using only products that are labeled for use in and on aquariums. Click here
for more about avoiding contamination.
We recommend that you use the cleaner named Safe & Easy Aquarium Cleaner. Click here to buy it.
Here is some more advice.
(1) Get two Penguin 330 filters for your aquarium. Click here for more information about this filter.
(2) Have at most 1/4" of gravel. Click here for more about Aquarium Gravel.
(3) Do a regular Preventative Maintenance. Click here for more information about a maintenance schedule.
(4) Buy a very high quality Oscar. Be sure it shows none of the Signs of Stress and Disease. Click here for more about those signs.
(5) Feed flake food then feed pellets labeled for Oscars. Click here for more about feeding fish.
We hope your experience will help other Oscar Keepers and their Oscars to avoid Hole in the Head Disease.
Books about Fish Disease
The books shown below are listed on Amazon.com. You can click on the image of a book to go to the page at Amazon.com, where that book is
listed and discussed. In some cases you can preview several of the pages in that book.
Click
here for a complete list of
books about Diseases of Tropical Fish at Amazon.com.
Click
here to go to another page in this web site with Customer Comments and our Replies about
Hole in the Head Disease.
Click
here to continue on to another page in this web site with
Customer Comments and our Replies about fish diseases.
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