Hi Newbie Here I brought a used 75 gal tank for my oscar Nemo. I wanted something different looking so I used playsand instead of gravel, because as we all know oscars are messy. Well, to make a long story short my tank is cloudy. Before anyone ask why did I use playsand at all? I did my homework first and every source said it was ok to use{playsand} just rinse it very well. My husband trying to suprise me for X-mas bought 50 lbs of playsand and did not rinse it first; so I came home to a cloudy mess :angry: . I drained the tank and used my gravel cleaner and later a garden hose to get the sand out and into a bucket I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed the sand. I rinsed the tank as well  after thought Should I have rised the filter too? the water was nice and clear so I put the sand back in the tank and still the water was clear. I add the usual stuff: water conditioner, anti-stress, and aquaium salt. (My Nemo just got over a case of pop-eye 2 months ago) (my fault the other tank was too small and I was out of town for a month and relied on some one else to do work ) Then I went to pet smart and brought some nice fake looking coral; I rinsed them off good and put them in the tank I then checked the water temp and it was still fine so I then introduced Nemo to his new home with some feeder fish after Nemo's house party was over the water was still clear and I went to bed. I woke up about 4a.m. x-mas eve to wrap gifts and the tank was a cloudy h8ll hole As soon a day light hit I called psmart and took a water sample. The lady told me my water did not have a P.H. number  and I needed to do a 25% water change and add some p.h. up and water conditioner. I did a 50% for good measure and the water looks even worst than before I started right now it looks like a early morning fog thick as pea soup  Guys I'm afraid my Nemo will die if I do not do something. I thought about putting him back in his old tank It was nice and clean; water was so clear looked like he was swimming in mid-air but that tank has since been drained of water however the gravel is still in that tank and it was only 30 gallons. I have had Nemo for over a year now I can not bare to lose him or put him back in that little tank. plz Help me I'm at a lost. .

enviromental stats:
playsand bottom 50lbs
4 fake corals
Tank :75 gallon us with canopy
Lighting: white floresence(sp)
Water: Fresh
Temp: 80 degrees f
Filter system: penguin bio-wheel 350 Changed pads 12/24/07
Heater: whisper calentador
Food: Oscar pellets not given since 12/21/07 feeder fish ate about 25
update  Nemo top fin is fluttering and his gill are stretch out is he choaking to death?

Okay, let's try and help you. First of all, you can't have a pH of zero so I am not sure what this lady is talking about. She should have tested for ammonia and nitrite as well. I would advise you to go and get a test kit so you can do the water test yourself. Don't worry, it's very easy to do. You need to get ammonia, nitrite, nitrates and pH. It does rather sound like you have put your Oscar in a tank that is not cycled yet. I suspect the reason the water has gone cloudy is because you haven't established the biological filter (bacteria colony in your filtration system) what happens is because there is no bacteria in your filter to cleanse the water of toxins, ammonia builds up in your main tank water, free swimming bacteria start to multiply trying to keep up with the ammonia that is being produced. This is why the water goes cloudy. At this stage in your aquarium set up it is vital that you had some way of testing your water for toxins. Until you can get yourself a test kits, or get your water tested properly, I would suggest you do 30% water change every other day. I would also recommend that you feed your fish extremely sparingly. In fact, feed him every other day. You want to try and reduce the amount of waste that is going into the water. If you have got another tank that is cycled, I would suggest putting the fish in it.

Also, if you ever clean your filtration system, always do it in existing tank water, never under tap water. This is often a mistake people make. If you don't understand anything, don't hesitate to ask, we want to do everything we can to divert a catastrophe.

There are various reasons why fish breathe heavily. In your case, it could be because there are toxins in the water. Fish will breathe heavily in these cases. They will also breathe heavily if they are stressed, this could also be the reason your Oscar is doing it. Lack of oxygen in the water can also cause Oscars to breathe heavily. Just check to make sure that when your water comes back into the tank, it causes a disturbance on the surface

if I take some gravel from my old tank which was doing very well and put the old filter pads (remember I put new ones in)back in the filter itself will that help my new tank cycle faster?

Usually it's a good idea to use filter media or substrate from an established tank, but I take it your old tank has been drained of water already? If that was more than a few hours ago, the bacteria have probably died off, and using the old stuff now would probably give you even higher ammonia readings, so I would say no in this case. Same goes for putting the Oscar back in there.

What Penn said sounds best to me, keep changing water and test it asap, cut down on feedings.

New sand can make the tank cloudy but since you said it was clear already after yoou rinsed it and put it in, it should not be that (and also would not give your fish breathing trouble).

Strange about the pH ... what is that coral stuff, is it plastic or dead corals? Dead corals can raise pH with time and also hardness, I think. Which doesn't have to be bad unless your pH was really high before already.

Update
Thanks all for your help you guys rock to the 10th power!!!!
I did as everyone suggested I was able to use some gravel from my old tank; I drained the old tank but not completely just alittle above the gravel so between that and my filter pads the tank cleared up and Nemo is back to his old greedy self. Oh I went to the lfs and brought some bacteria in a bottle just for good measure. Once again Thanks I will post pix soon . Now I am going to do a community tank with cichlids(any suggestions) but this time I will cycle the tank before I buy the fish.

good on ya mate