joshthefisherman

My oscar has hith i was wondering if this disease would make him suffer and would it be better to just uthenize him

Shawnie

hith is an awful disease but curable...finding out how they got it and to not do it again is the first thing...water conditions , feeder fish, and lack of vitamins and poor diet are the main causes..although there are more causes, those are the two biggies..fresh daily water changes, stress coat + and some garlic juice will heal them up...but it has to be done daily for about 4 weeks....pooor fellas...hope they get better soon!

Dozey

I found this site, about half way down the page is "How to treat HITH". It seems fairly positive that your can treat HITH easily... Good Luck!

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

mathas

To add to what Shawnie said, more severe cases might require medication. From oscarfishlover.com:

soldieroffortune1974

At this point I would not suggest euthanising the fish. HITH can be corrected and reversed in MOST fish. Starting with a good antiseptic is called for. HITH is not caused by bacterial infections or parasites. It's due to many factors.Too many to go into detail here. When a fish gets HITH,usually an infection sets in as well. So many are under the impression that it is caused by bacterial infections or parasites. I would like to repeat that it is not caused by these factors.
Now,what to do about it.That's going to depend on the rest of the inhabitants,is the fish quarantined? If not,it should be to prevent the other fish from causing it stress and killing it.HITH CAN be reversed,not always,but in most cases.

So time for Q and A:

Water parameters.....no saying they're OK or good wont work,I need numbers (before and after onset of HITH would be good)
Inhabatants of same aquarium
size of aquarium
water quality from source (if possible)
meds treating anything in aquarium (everything used up until onset of HITH)
any new additions rock,decor,fish,etc.
water change schedule

There's a hundred other questions,but these will do.

Dozey that is an excellent website for info.

Here's another good site for disease and treatment: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/fish_...tion.html#HITH

shih-tzu mom

Joshthefisherman; i have a yellow c/t betta that had HITH and i just kept his water super clean and feed him high quailty foods-bloodworms and brineshrimp, and hakari betta pelletts and i also give him garlic-gard-once a week-all my fish get that lol good for them and he is completly healed and has been for some months now. But as Shawnie say's it is a strict regime lol. must follow through daily with clean water and good food. hope thid helps you bella

catbtony

Oscars are one of the few fish that can survive hole-in-the-head-just watch for secondary infection: best to prevent-water quality and poor diet main causes of this problem:
For my Oscars I do-75% water changes weekly sometimes twice a week depending on what I feed...messy guys....
mix diet of fresh seafood, FW fish (bass, crapie, perch) fresh caught then frozen for 14 days(parasite prevention) bananas, cucumber chunks, crayfish, red worms, ciclid sticks, I also use nourish FW vit. 3 times a week on the fresh/frozen fish (my fish eat better than me)
I have read that feeder fish can cause problems like this due to poor nutrition in them unless gut loaded, I worry about parasites and disease with them myself but I know lots of people that use them without problems
I hope to be breeding them this spring-nutrition and water are so important in disease prevention...good luck

soldieroffortune1974

B]Oscars are one of the few fish that can survive hole-in-the-head-just watch for secondary infection[/b] With treatment and good conditions all fish can survive HITH

fresh caught then frozen for 14 days(parasite prevention) Freezing doesn't kill all parasites or protozoa,I would seek another method.

HITH is a preventable and curable disease. Years ago it was not as well understood as it is today,but noone knows for certain what the actual cause is.It is known that improper nitrition and poor water quality can bring it out. The cause and the trigger are connected,but not necessarily the same.

catbtony

I follow USDA recomendation on fresh fish and deer meat...I never have had a problem with parasites from fresh caught fish only feeder fish.

also a great site for HITH-(Oscarfishlover.com) it comes from a bug normally in the fishes gut that reproduces when the fish is in a poor enviroment, poor water quality, poor diet, stressed-mild cases can be reversed with proper care and diet

soldieroffortune1974

I am not trying to turn this into a debate on guidelines,only trying to give info on the treatment and prevention of this disease HITH.Everything else is off topic.

I will say,however,that USDA guidelines for food for human consumption has nothing to do with adequate fish/animal care.The guidelines say it's fine for 40% of foreign matter (roaches,rats,mold,dirtetc) to be present in the factory AND in the food containers used for processing.......You can go by those guidelines if you choose,but that's a lot more roaches than I want in my food or fish food.

I am really not trying to debate the issue,but 1 has nothing to do with the other.