Hi everyone! Decided recently to get back in the hobby and had a few questions. I used to have oscars about 15 years ago and really want to get another one. Im basically a complete noob when it comes to fish now, so bear with me please. I currently have a 75 gallon tank which is brand new. I setup the aquarium on Thursday and have had it running since than. The only thing I added was Prime. I have been reading alot from this site and a few others and decided to go the route of getting some small fish to help me cycle the tank. I put some decorations and 20 guppies/mollies and 5 tiger barbs in yesterday. The tank has since become cloudy (not milky white, but it is definitely not clear).

Is there something I can do to ease the cloudiness or will this work itself out by itself. Am I on the right track to have a successful aquarium?


My ultimate goal is 1 oscar and some other tankmates. I really like the pictus catfish also.

Thanks in advance!

It sounds like your on track here. However You might have over did it on the cycling fish. Really you only need about 5-10 fish. The idea is to keep enough ammonia/nitrite in there to let bacteria grow but not get so high it will kill the fish. By putting that many fish into that tank you have turned it into a cesspool. Honestly you have 2 options. You could return the majority of your fish or do daily water 20-30% water changes. This could however slow the cycling process down if you get the water too clean =P

What would really help is your water parameters. Do you have a test kit? These are the levels we need to know

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
pH

Welcome to OFL!

ok just did a test

NO3-0
NO2-0
ph-7.5
KH(carbonate hardness)-240ppm
GH(general hardness)-30ppm

Hardness is not really an issue for freshwater tanks, and doesnt need to be tested. You are missing an ammonia test. Ammonia is going to be what builds up and with a slight high pH it doesnt take much to be fatal to fish. The fact that you have 0ppm NO3 means your not cycled at all. when you start to cycle you will see your NO3 levels start to raise. >40ppm NO3 is fine above 40 is not great, and 70+ppm is starts to become toxic.

JamesS wrote:


Yea I didnt get an ammonia test. Ill get 1 tomorrow.

Any idea how long until I can put an oscar in?

how many pictus catfish can i add?

Most likely it will be 3+ weeks until you can add your O. You could add 3-4 catfish maybe more.

Hi, And welcome.

You should be all cycled in about 5 weeks...

Then you can add an Oscar, and if all you are going to have is an Oscar and few pictus you could add 4 or so Pictus Cats.

Nicki--Sue wrote:


Awesome sounds good! Do I wait until I add the oscar to put in the catfish? Or do I put the catfish in before the oscar?

what about the cloudiness that i am getting?

The cloudiness is normal.. Just keep an eye on your water.

As for adding the fish, if you find a small O, and some good sized Pictus Cats you will be just fine. Just remember that anything that will fit in an Oscars mouth, WILL BE EATEN! LOL

I had almost the same situation...once my tank was cycled I added the small Oscars (1.5" about) and 3 small pictus catfish about the same size all at once...haven't had any problems at all so far and the oscars don't even pay attention to the catfish...the pictus move so fast I don't think they really care about them...haha!

you had been covered thus i won't comment anymore except
"welcome on board"!.