JD OSCAR

ShaynaB

Did you cycle your tank before you put the fish in?

If you didn't, it's most likely an algae bloom and the tank is still cycling.

JD OSCAR

Shawnie

Welcome to fishlore!!!!

You have whats called "new tank cloudyness" aka bacteria bloom, and im sure you are not cycled after a week..so heres what you gotta do now that your fishies are in there...

what test kit are you using ? and what do you meant tests are "fine"?

DAILY water changes of at least 50% a day and treat the tap water with some conditioner if you have city water..alot of us love prime, but certainly you can use whatever you like...you have to do this until your cycle is complete which no one knows how long it will take...I have two oscars in a 75 gallon and it took me 9 weeks...so hopefully yours wont be that long...

heres a link for the nitrogen cycle, which is what your tank is going thru now http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm goodluck!

JD OSCAR

Shawnie

no JD you should have 0 ammonia and nitrites and under 20 for nitrates...so you are still cycleing..so do as above, with daily changes, until your tank is cycled...goodluck!

JD OSCAR

Shawnie

keep the air on ...the cloudyness is from a bacteria bloom from starting up a new tank...the airstone helps circulate the water and the fishies love that

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore.

I would recommend moving the airstone to the opposite side of the tank as the filter and leaving it on.

They lied to you (as they tend to do to most customers) about cycling and EVERY tank has to cycle. Since you have fish now, you'll want to use Prime to condition your water. Prime helps lock the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates for about 24 hours to protect the fish. Do about 40-50% daily water changes and test the water before water changes to track your progress on cycling the tank. I'd recommend the API master freshwater test kit if you don't have it.

pepetj

JD Oscar: Don't panic, there's a huge team in fishlore ready to help you.

How big is your Oscar? I don't want to sound hostile in any way, but you will need a bigger tank for an Oscar. 55gal minimun if he/she will be the only one there. Don't worry about it now, just keep it in mind for later.

IMO you have a few options:

a) If your Oscar is still young (less than 9") I suggest you take it back to the LFS while you go for fishless cycling (make sure the Oscar gets acclimated by being there while it's done, these guys lied to you in order to make a sale). They should hold it for you for a couple of weeks (purchase some large cichlid pellets and leave it at the LFS, visit daily if possible, even tip an employee). Young Oscars may not be as hardy as adult ones with water parameters (I'm no expert, just heard that info recently, and haven't confirmmed it yet).

b) Keep the Oscar in your tank, but get Prime to lock-up toxic ammonia, and add it daily as you do 50% daily water changes as Shawnie clearly says. Do not clean the filter media. Test for water parameters at least daily (I would do that twice, before and after water changes) with a liquid reagents based test kit (most use API master test kit, but there are other good brands too, like Tetra Laborett -this one does not measures nitrates but has GH and KH reagents), do not use stripe tests, those lack the accuracy you need.

c) Get the Oscar to the LFS for a couple of days (again, be sure of acclimation), put Bio-Spira in your tank, and bring the Oscar back after at least 24hrs of adding the Bio-Spira. The water may look bad, but your fish will be fine. I have never used Bio-Spira, but have read a lot of posts about it, in situations like yours, Bio-Spira really works great (if not frozen), it may save your Oscar. If you go for Bio-Spira you may not need to add Prime (not sure but the veterans will know, for sure).

Good luck. We are with you in this emergency.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

Shawnie

I dont think our LFS will let us keep fish there like yours does pepe ...I know none around my area will ...not to mention the ones around here, arent the best in fish keeping

JD OSCAR

Shawnie

Hi jd..dont use cycle..just daily water changes ...treat the tap water every time you change it with the amquel...if you start using cycle, you will have to continue to use it thru the life of the tank...hows the boy doing today?

COBettaCouple

Cycle is a product that will keep your tank from really cycling and require a never ending supply of Cycle.

Amquel+ is a good product. I didn't find it works as well as Prime, but it is a similiar product. I haven't used Stress Zyme, but I think the main thing is daily water changes and using the Amquel+ for now to help with what water toxins are in the tank.

JD OSCAR

jdhef

I would try either netting the leftover food out, siphoning it out or using a turkey baster to get it out.

Until I got a feel for how much my fish would eat, I put very little food in the tank. If they ate it all quickly, I put a little more in the tank. It's better to let them go a little bit hungry than to over-feed them

COBettaCouple

With our Angels, we do feed them a bit of their meal at a time so that they end up eating most or all of the food.

Redtail_Shark14

your overfeeding thats why your tank is getting cloudy make sure you feed them correctly and dont overfeed. it also could be that your tank is new but that should of gone away soon. my best guess is your overfeeding

JD OSCAR