Hi, this is my first time to try oscar fish (tiger oscar particularly) before i keep a flower horn and i grow him up to 12 inches long.

I bought 2 baby oscar yerterday (oct 28). This morning i gave food (pellets) to them and they did not eat it. and in this afternoon (oct 29) one of my oscar died. the other one is timid. he just hungs in the corner of my 50 gal tank. I dont know what to do with this one? how can i save the last one?

1st, Did you cycle and treat the tank and filter for about 6wks before you put your fish in. 2nd,Test water for ammonia,nitrates,nitites,ph. POST RESULT. there maybe a problem with your water conditions. 3rd can you give more detail on filter.

It could have just been stress from buying,moving, and putting the fish into new tank. did you float bag and fish a adjust temperture before you put them in??. a new fish in a new tank would hide,Thats not really a consern at mo. it will probley come around in a few days. turn lights out on tank and give some hiding places. lastly a 55g tank may seem big but its really only enough for 1 oscar when its full grown.

sorry you lost one of your oscars, lets hope the other one gets on fine.

i lived in a tropic country. since i started to keep an aquarium I am only particular in chlorine level. and that anti-chlorine solution is the only available in our market.

I set my tank 2 days before i decided to try Oscar (before i was considering cichlids) I let the water stand for fourty eight hours. i put 1 janitor fish. The type of filter im using is overhead.

I checked my baby oscar this morning and he seem fine.

Another question is it ok if i put my 1 inch oscar to full 50 gal tank? i temporarily put my oscar in a 1 gallon bowl.
and yes i float my fish before i out them to adapt the new temp of water.

it sounds like your tank is cycled yet. there is an aarticle on how to prepare your tank for fish (cycling an aquarium) on the website homepage.

give this a read and it might clear things up

www.oscarfishlover.com/index.php/Cycled-...cle-an-Aquarium.html

hope this helps

If you have no means to get a freshwater test kit. Then this is what I would do in your situation.

50gal tank means one oscar only. zero tankmates.

Filtration: overhead means hang on back or do you mean those filters that literally are placed on top of the tank? You need to filter 500 gallons per hour. Find out what is the flow of your filter or post its brand and model number.

Cycling with fish without testing water parameters:
Do a 50% water change every day, using of course treated tap water (to remove chlorine/chloramines). If you are able to find Seachem's Prime get it. It will lock up ammonia and nitrites into "non-lethal" levels for 24 hours. If not, then use what you have.

Keep on doing 50% water changes daily for up to four full weeks. Every week do a substrate vacuum of half your tank. Don't clean your tank's interior wall, and gently rinse your filter media in treated water as seldom as possible, say every 4 weeks.

By weeks 5 and 6, do a water change every-other day.
By week 6, do a water change every third day.
By week 7 do a water change once a week. Your tank should be cycled by then if you are careful enough.

Signs to observe: your fish behavior will tell you if you have ammonia or nitrite poisoning: gasping for air, staying lethargic, refusing to eat for days on...

There were no test kits in the old days, so if you are careful you can pull this one through. Good luck and welcome to Oscarfishlover.com

Pepe
Santo Domingo