Oscar acting weird

stlrsfan

New Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2003
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
New York
I have one large 3 year old Oscar and one medium sized in a 45 gallon enclosure. I usually change 1/3 of the water every 2-3 weeks. My previous 45 gallon tank sprung a leak last week, so I needed to start fresh with a whole new tank. I couldn't save any of the water as I had to drain it quickly to keep it from ruining the floor! I temporarily put them in my tub and bought new supplies from the local pet store.

Filled new tank, put in new gravel (rocks) & put in a new 200 watt heater and waited for water to level off at about 72 degrees (which is what my Oscar has been at for past 3 years). Got the PH within range as well.

About 2 days ago my large Oscar started acting strange, as if he is *gasping* for air. He just constantly swims around flapping his gums, and he's never done this before. He's still quite active, and he is eating. He likes minnows the best, but he's eating Hikari Gold (large pellets) as well.

Anyone have an idea what he is doing? Is he sick? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
 
Hi Stirsfan

It is probably ammonia poisoning, as you do not talk about the tank/filter cycling.
Check the water parameters.

If the ammonia and/or nitrite levels are high, change as much water as you can.


Dolphin
iru.gif
 
Stlrsfan,

Firstly welcome.... :D

You mentioned about moving the gravel etc from the old tank. What about the filter, did you manage to keep any of the filte media from the old tank? If you did was it kept damp? How long was it between the old tank going down and you getting the gravel etc in the new tank....

Have you got any test kit's ie, ammonia, nitrite etc. If you have can you let us know what the readings were on them?

The reason for all the questions is that I think your "new" tank is cycling & am just trying to establish whether any of the nitrifying bacteria required for the cylce made it over to the new tank.....

Let us know about the above if you can, in the meantime go for the old favourite & do another 25% - 30% water change. Once you can let us have ans to the above the advice will prob get a litle more specific.....

HTH.... :D
 
While I can add nothing to the above advice, I will add this..........

A large 3 year old oscar and a medium size oscar are way to much for a 45 gallon tank!! If they must be kept in such a small tank IMO you should beef up the water changes to a minimum of 50% weekly!!!

How big is the 3 year old oscar and how big is the medium oscar???

A full grown adult oscar can reach a size of 16", although 12-14" is more the standard. Even so a 12-14" oscar needs a minimum of 40-50 gallons each to thrive!!!

CM
 
I don't have any ammonia/nitrate test kits, but gonna guy buy some in a few minutes since it sounds like that can be a large part of my problem.

I just changed 50% of the water, and in doing so the water felt unusually warm, and warmer than it was yesterday. Appears my new heater stinks and I just put the old one back on. Replacing 50% of the water seems to have *cooled* it down a bit as well. What would the optimal temperature be? And can too high a temperature cause the symptoms I've described?

I did keep the media from the old filters. I am using a Fluval 404 inside corner filter and an Eheim 2026 canister as well. They were still damp after the change. The entire change left them sitting for about 12-15 hours. I didn't save the gravel. I found it to be filthy underneath and felt a change was in place. I guess I am guilty of not cleaning the gravel properly prior to this. I used medum size rock gravel this time.

I agree about the size. I am moving the larger Oscar to a 75 gallon in a few weeks, and I'll leave the other guy by himself in the 45. The larger is about 10 inches and the medium about 5. I'll change the water properly until that change.

Thanks for the help guys!
 
Stlrsfan,

I sure the temp is not exactly helping the cause, however the real concern as I see it is the ammonia / nitrite levels. I think you are experiencing a small cycle whilst the amount of waste produced by the Oscars (messy buggers at the best of times) outweighs the nitrifying bacteria available in your filter. Once the bacteria colony has had a chance to re-establish in the gravel / rocks etc you will be all set. At least you managed to keep a certain amount of them in the filter media (which will decrease the impact on the Oscars)

In the meantime get the test kits and keep the ammonia levels down by cutting back on feeding a bit and frequent water changes.....

Also if you haven't already got one can I suggest a gravel vac? Makes water changes and gravel cleaning soooooo much easier....

HTH, if you need more info shout.... :D
 
Actually thinking about the temp thing a little more, do you have an air stone or anything similar in the tank?

Edit: Spelling & grammar was way out
 
I just got the testing kits and here are the results:

Ammonia - 2.0-3.0 mg/L
Nitrate - .25 mg/L

I don't have an air stone anymore, the Oscar kept charging into it and messing with it too much. Should I put it back in?

I'll continue to change the water more frequently, and monitor the levels in the meantime...
 
Ok first things an apology, next time you are out and about get a nitrIte test kit a well as a NitrAte one. You will need one but it's not essential right now. Again apologies I should have mentioned it earlier. :(

It does look like you are going through a cycle. If you cannot move the Oscars out of the tank and do a fishless cycle my advice would be to keep the ammonia levels down with regular water changes. Eventually you will see Ammonia levels drop, NitrItes start to appear and then drop and then finally NitrAtes. Once Ammonia and NitirIte show 0 on your test kits and Nitrates show (keep these below 40ppm with water changes) your tank is cycled.

You may get varying advice on this as some people believe that bacteria you are trying to cultivate live in the water column & therefore by removing water you are removing the bacteria you need and slowing the cycle period down. In fact most of the bacteria you are trying to cultivate live in the substrate, filter media and on any fixed surface with-in the tank so water changes will not affect them that way.

In your situation ie two fish you obviously care for I think it is better to keep the ammonia at levels that are bearable for them even if you do possibly pro-long the cycle slightly.

If you do want / need more info on the cycle have a look at this site, prob one of the best sites on the net, well worth bookmarking. Look in the folder marked Nutrient Cycles & then the folder on Nitrogen Cycles. The site is:

Skeptical Aquarist

As for the airstone, if the heater (72 - 75 is good for the Oscars) is fixed & you have some surface agitation with out the airstone don't worry. If however either of these is not correct I would recommend putting it back in (maybe hide it / protect it using a rock or an upside down small terracote pot??) until you can get it sorted.

My fingers hurt now so I am gonna stop rambling, but if you have any more questions I am gonna go grab a B+H & a coffee so will check back in a bit.

Hopefully we can make the Oscars life a little more comfy until the cycle is completed.....

HTH.... :D
 
Another update:

Things seem a little better today. Water temperature has leveled out, and my Oscar "gasping" for air seems to have become less frequent. After letting the water go through filtering process I changed another 1/3 this morning.

Another problem has reared its ugly head though, at least it could be a problem. The water seems awfully cloudy. It was crystal clear 24 hours after setting up the tank, but has slowly gotten more and more cloudy (whiteish in color). Could this be because of high ammonia or nitrate levels?

Last but not least, how long should I wait before changing the media in my Eheim filter? It's been awhile, probably about 6 months. I figured it would be good to leave it so that some of the remnants of the old tank still existed, but on the other hand, maybe the new media would help? Which do you think would be better at this point?

At least the Oscars seem to be better now, so I thank you all very much for the great advice!
 
Glad to hear things are getting a little better with the Oscars. :D

The cloudy water (looks like some-one poured milk in the tank?) is just a small bacteria bloom. Basically the enviroment in your tank is a little out of whack at the moment, this should subside naturally within a couple of weeks once things find a natural balance. I know it is unsightly but it is nothing major to worry about.

As for the filter media most people don't actually change the media itself that often, just rinse it clean in the tank water you have removed from the water changes & put the media back in the filter (if you have household plants pour the now dirty water from the water changes on them, the best fertiliser on the market) The bacteria you are trying to cultivate for the cycle are farily hardy and can survice this, just don't allow it to dry out or rinse it under the tap.

I will be honest I don't have that much experience with Eheim filters so will need some-one else to chip in on that bit. If no-one has answered back in a couple of hours PM on of the mods and ask them to take a look at this thread.

Again glad things are getting better for the Oscars, just keep an eye on the ammonia levels....

:D
 
that is called a bacterial bloom it is normal your tank is cycling I hope I spelled that right, sometimes it will look like someone poured a glass of milk in the water that is normal I hope your fish is ok today wnd by the way welcome to the forum.
 
Yes, the cloudiness is a GOOD sign.

Without it, you probably aren't getting the exponential growth of the nitrifying bacteria needed to detoxify ammonia. This is necessary in the situation that you are in since the bacteria came in primarily only on the fish themselves. You need to have this "bloom" or you won't establish the correct "flora" for your tank.

It will clear within two to three weeks usually, and I've found that if you can find a bacterial supplement that works (I've used several and found that Cycle seems to work) can speed up the process. I'm not sure how others feel about an ammonia lock, but supposedly Prime locks the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate into sulfer complexes, rendering them less harmful to fish until the bacteria can break them down (supposedly it still allows the cycle to go on unhindered). Perhaps worth a try. My bottle cost $19 and should be good nearly forever (very small amounts needed). For a precious member of the family, not a bad price for a low risk product.

Good luck.
 
Hopefully last update!:

My apologies if these questions seem repetitive, I just want to assure myself I am doing everything I can for my tank. The tank is still a *milky* cloudy, and I've been changing out about 20% daily. After I change it the ammonia levels drop to 2-3 mg/L and then slowly rise back up after about 18 hours (after the water change). Is this a normal part of the cycle, for the ammonia levels to fluctuate so much before and after water changes?

Am I correct in assuming the levels are rising faster since I have the 2 Oscars in there? I'm going to continue to make the water changes to keep the level down until the tank can complete it's cycle.

Thanks Guys!
 

Most reactions

Back
Top