Please Help

Tank size: 55 Gallon
pH: 7.0-8.0
ammonia:N/A
nitrite:0.5
nitrate:20
kH:
gH:
tank temp:78F

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):it seems to be theres too much slime on my oscar and its peeling right off him. its a long story but here I go. Yesterday afternoon I bought the proper ph 7.0 to buffer the ph in my tank, I made a mistake I believe and also added 8oz of Colony freshwater bacteria at the same time to lower a high lvl of nitrites so anyways I did this and soon after my water became all cloudy couldn't see any of my fish or decorations after a few hours a thick coat of bacteria built up on the glass and made my tank even more foggy and it was rare that i would see my fish up against the glass... this morning the water was horrible it had a thick white milky look to it so I panic'd and did a 75% water change to dilute the chemicals and now I can see some of my fish cause the waters not so foggy anymore and just now I have noticed its only my oscar but he has a slime all over his body and its peeling, im new to this guys i dont know what to do anymore anytime I listen to anyone who works in a fish store this happens I should also mention though that after I put the chemicals the water condition is better other then excess fog and bacteria

Volume and Frequency of water changes:just did 75% water change and a 25% water change before adding chemicals and bacteria as suggested by the store clerk

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: API Poper PH 7.0 & Colony Freshwater
Tank inhabitants: 1 oscar 4 silver dollars and 1 Pleco

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):Oscar

Exposure to chemicals:

Digital photo (include if possible):

First of all if you have high ammonia or nitrite levels the best thing just to do is plenty of large water changes. you should look in the begginers section at cycling a tank and in your case specifically a "fish in cycle". it will explain everything about how to cycle your aquarium.

your oscars slime coat problem is to do with your crazy water issues im sure. high nitrites alone will cause the oscar to have issues with his slime coat let alone all the chemicals and things you have added.

you need to think about why your nitrite levels are high as only by solving this problem will you be able to sort your tank out long term.

never add things like aquarium ph buffer unless you really really understand it yourself and know what your doing because theres much more to it than adding ph buffer and most of the time it isnt even necassary as in your case im sure.

i would suggest checking fish cycles on this site and then posting again

Here is the link http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/224306-fish-in-cycling/

so the best thing to do to cycle is to just keep testing water and doing water changes? when appropriate

Duval49 said:

so the best thing to do to cycle is to just keep testing water and doing water changes? when appropriate

Click to expand...

Yes, and don't add anything to your water, apart from dechlorinator. You'll need to test every day and do enough water changes so that neither ammonia or nitrite ever go above 0.25ppm.

I would recommend you get decent liquid or tablet based test kits for those two (ammonia and nitrIte); the paper strips are not very accurate, and don't test for ammonia, which is a vital thing to be able to monitor.

thanx for the help everyone i just finished cleaning the excess chems sitting in the rocks the fish seem fine now. no extra slime no erratic behaviour and these are now my new test results


GH: 180
KH: 240
PH: 7.0
NO2: 0
NO3: 20

Duval49 said:

thanx for the help everyone i just finished cleaning the excess chems sitting in the rocks the fish seem fine now. no extra slime no erratic behaviour and these are now my new test results


GH: 180
KH: 240
PH: 7.0
NO2: 0
NO3: 20

Click to expand...

You need to check ammonia levels (NH3/NH4+) That is the first step in cycling a tank. Fish produce ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to fish. If you don't know how much ammonia is in you tank do huge water changes every day (80-90%) until you get a proper test kit for ammonia, and nitrite. And read up on cycling a tank/filter with fish in your tank here:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/224306-fish-in-cycling/
Hardness and PH are not the key test and not really what you need to worry about right now. Your LFS really can't be depended on to give good advice. They will just sell you tons of chemicals that really don't help and can make things much worse. All that PH adjusting crap is just that "CRAP"

maybe the product you added caused a bacterial bloom and thats what made your water cloudy? and made the fish's slime coat go funny?

im a newbie aswell though soooo

ya im guessing thats what happened.