Help Me

[seanpatrick]

ok, so i have a kinda long story to tell u before i ask my question...ok so i have a 45 gallon tank with 2 small oscars, a small shovelnose cat, and a small pike cichlid(i know this tank is too small for these fish when full grown, but dont worry i am saving money as we speak for a 180gal)...but anyways, so ive had it for a while and i do bi-weekly water changes with it, and have been fine...then 3 days ago my heater broke...i didnt find out until like 11 at night, so there was no way i could run out and buy a new heater...so i waited til the morning, upon which i found one of my oscars dead, and the other floating, hanging on to life(the water temp went waaaaay down)...so i ran out and bought a new heater...i installed it, and did a 50% water change.the heater doesnt have the temp numbers on the top, so i had to guestimate where to set it...so this next morning i noticed the oscar doing better, but still not even close to 100%, the water was a little hot..i turned the heater down a bit...also the pike and the shovelnose are swimming around a lot(im thinking this might be a sign of stress, or maybe because the water is too warm?)whereas they usually arent very active...and the water is cloudy white(i think this is a bacterial bloom)...
so i want to know what i can do(if anything) to help revive my oscar...and also about the other fish...is it stress because of the bloom, or something else?..what can i do for them...and how can i clear this cloudy water?and is the cloudy water harmful to the fish?
also what is the best way to set a heater to a desired temp when it doesnt have the temp-numbers on the dial(im having trouble with this because i need to set it...then wait like 24 hours to read the actual temp, and i know a huge temp change is not good for fish)

ugh im sooo stressed out about this because i dont want to lose these fish, as im sure u know, these are more than just pets...thank u sooo much in advance for any information u can give me

 

[WILDER]

Increase aeration, the cloudy tank is due to the bacterial bloom with the temp going down, watch out for whitespot and other deseases with the temp going low.
Is it a juwel heater.

 

[seanpatrick]

no its a neptune submersable heater by marineland..i will toss in more airation...will this bloom kill my fish..or should i just put in more airation and wait it out?...what are the symptoms of whitespot? cause i did notice like 2 or 3 tiiiny spots on the pike...but ths might be nothing...ive also seen him swim against the rocks a couple times...ughh please tell me im not gonna lose another fish...and is there anything else i can do?

 

[WILDER]

Sadly it sounds like if they they look like grains of salt, and the fish is flicking and rubbing against objects.

Right turn temp up to 30 gradually, increase aeration as with the high temp and med it will reduce 02 in the tank, check whitespot med that it can be used full dose if you have any scaless fish.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=128879

The tank has gone cloudy as with the temp going down the bacteria would off die off abit, what are your water stats in ammonia,nitirite,nitrate,and ph.

 

[seanpatrick]

ok will do...and as far as the bacterial bloom?...do i just keep the airation up, and the temp as well?...and what about my fish swimming around everywhere? what does this mean?

im sorry to be such a pain with all my questions...im just really stressed out over all of this..hope to hear from u soon...thanks again, i really appreciate this
-sean

 

[WILDER]

Well we needs water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, if they are acting weird you need to do a water change.

 

[seanpatrick]

so this morning, i discovered that my other oscar had passed....sucks!...but i did the 50% water change, upped the temp, and added salt...and now the water is crystal clear, and the fish seem to be a lot happier and less stressed out.
thanks soooo much
-sean

 

[tttnjfttt]

Have you checked your water stats yet? (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH)? These are very important to check when your fish are sick, as alot of times when fish are sick the water quality is poor.

Sorry for your loss.