HI
im carrie
I just bought my first oscar
now im reading and boy is there a lot to know
im getting a new tank for christmas because
mines a 20gl and i got my oscar from wal mart and they said that would be fine so im getting a 55gl if anyone has advice on anything im all ears im busy reading up on my fishy she is def mopey right now so i feel bad....

Welcome to OFL and the world of the Oscar. Unfortunately, a lot of these places don't know what the hell were talking about. Don't worry, you'll get nothing but good advice on this website;) no need to go anywhere else if I do say so myself

Okay, the best bit of advice I can give it the moment is to keep a very close eye on your water. I expect your Oscar is fairly small at the moment, even so, it will still produce a lot of waste for its size. It's good that you are getting new tanks in, 20 gallons is definitely too small. Just remember that 55 gallons is only big enough for one Oscars don't be tempted to get another one. If it is possible to get a bigger tank, then do. If not, you'll just have to make do with the one Oscar. Anyway, he'll keep you amused all on his own.

Have you got some water testing kits? Also, did you cycle the tank before putting the fish in? If the answer to these two questions is no, get yourself a kit quickly and do a small water change every day. Also, if you are not cycled, don't be tempted to feed too much. Although babies do need to be fed quite a bit, you can't afford to introduce it to poor water conditions at such an early age. Don't be afraid to ask any questions, however trivial they may seem

thanks

I cant get her too eat anything actually accept an algae wafer that was supposed to be for my algae eater and shes not exactly eating it shes pushing it around i put 2 baby guppies in the tank hoping shell eat them because i have enough guppies but shes not there swimming around her and following her hoping shell play and the gold fish i bought are eating all the tropical flakes and playing with each other im not convinced shes a baby eacher shes about 4-5 inches long so maybe a year and shes very mopey and skittish

phosphate is high 2.0
ph 7.2
ammonia high 1.0
nitrate is 0
nitrite high .50
I did a water change again today
Ill do 25-30% water change tommorow does that sound good
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Welcome to the site Carrie!

As it looks from the parameters you posted, the tank hasn't been cycled yet, so yes, it's a good idea to change water daily. Ammonia should be zero soon hopefully with nitrites rising, and then it would normally take a long time still till nitrites read zero too.

I'd recommend not to put all those other fish in there since they might pollute the water even more, plus feeder fish you buy can easily introduce some disease to your oscar. It isn't that bad if she doesn't eat for some days - needs to get used to the tank first, and neither she's that small anymore. Would say way under a year though at that size. Uneaten food will worsen the water conditions. Oops just seeing Penn said that already, but can't hurt to reiterate

Else have fun here, lots of info and helpful people around.