my oscars have hith!!!!

hi i have just encountered hole in the head disease with my 3 big oscars i want to try to get rid of it asap so i will need ALL the help i can get as i dont want it to get any worse as it is now. thank you for all your future input and i hope u have some info for me
thank you
jay

HITH is caused by flagellated protozoans and bacteria. What type of filtration and size of the tank? This is usually (not always) from bad water conditions. (canisters are not recommended for oscars as they can harbour HITH disease) The treatment is Flagyl and Chloromaphenicol (both perscription drugs not in any LFS) that you may be able to get from a vet. You must really clean the gravel well and keep up on water changes during treatment. A medicated food would help also during treatment. Hope this helps.

from my experience you can't reverse it you can only hope to slow it down or stop it Keep water really clean clean you know they're pigs.People say no carbon I never notice a difference just keep water clean

No carbon is recommended because sometimes it can cover up bad quality water by looking clear. General treatment may slow or stop it. The only real treatment at this point is the prescribed drugs. (they used to have medicated food with it but the FDA stopped it many years ago)

FishVixen wrote:

(canisters are not recommended for oscars as they can harbour HITH disease)

Mind posting a link to where this info came from.

This was info from back in the 70's and still here it now and then. I try to find a link on it.
This is just one quick article that mentions canisters.(they also mention that HITH is rare which it really isn't that rare)

http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/hole_in_head/

Thanks. I have a feeling that the problem stems from lack of maintnance on the filters, not the type of filter. I run canisters on my oscar tank and havn't run into any hith at all.

TF