OK so I just got some oscars recently as I had them as a kid growing up and really loved em. Anyways now I have 2 Oscars and an African Cichlid I am constantly testing the water and everything seems fine, but after an hour maybe 2 without fail they are gasping and need to be moved to another tank whislt I cycle the water...I've done this about 5 times today...they seem to completely recover in the second tank with just tap water and after the cycle they are fine for the hour or 2, but they keep gasping after time....It might be the temp..it's at about 78 degrees and I live in Hawaii so even with my AC on blast in my house it's still fairly warm so cooling the water is pretty hard, and just incase it might have been a water issue I bought a second filter just to make sure. I was even considering just buying lots of purified bottles of water and filling it this way. I don't know how safe that really is but it seems like it wouldn't hurt just cost me a little bit. At any rate what should I do? Just keep cycling the water and hope for the best. I have bought all different types of PH balancers and water conditioners and tried them all out, but it seems plain tap water is fine, just after a little time I get the same results....please help >_<

Hey there and Welcome...

I am going to throw a bunch of questions at you, and then see if we can figure out your problem...

1. Tank Size?
2. Filter size/Kind?
3. You said you tested the water, What kind of test did you do? And what were the actual readings?
4. How long has your tank and filter been running?
5. Do you have an air bar/stone running?
And lastly, What all chemicals if any have you added to the tank?

Lets see if we can sort this out for you!

1. 20gallon tank
2. I am running 2 filters an internal and external both are meant for 10-30 gallon tanks
3. right now I only have the strips, I can't seem to find the vile test kits other than online atm
4. I just recently set it up 2 days ago
5. Yes I have an air stone in the bottom under the gravel

Currently after the last cycle nothing is in the water, but I have tried TertaAqua's Aquasafe water conditioner, Jungles clear water, and Jungles Tank buddies Correct PH.

OK, several things here...

1. You need to properly cycle the tank. This means you need to get the good bacteria built up in your filters. This will require a 25% water change everyday, WITHOUT cleaning your filters for about the next 6 weeks.

2. Your tank is NOT big enough for 1 Oscar let alone 2. They will need 55 gallons PER Oscar. As adults if you don't have aggression issues, you can get away with 2 in a 90 gallon tank!

3. You need to find a Liquid test kit, The strips are NOT reliable..

But I can tell you that right now your fish are not feeling well as they are having a reaction to the Ammonia that is building up in the tank!

25% water changes EVERYDAY!

And ALWAYS use Water conditioner suck as Prime. It helps with the Ammonia.

Firstly, welcome to our community, I'm glad you've decided to join because you have got an awful lot to learn and we will be able to help you.

The first thing I am going to say to you is read what is on the website, especially about cycling an aquarium, I think you have got totally confused about what cycling means and how to go about it. You don't cycle an aquarium constantly, you only cycle an aquarium once and then it has set up and ready to house fish safely.

Okay, now onto the bad news, you haven't got a cat in hell's chance of being able to keep an Oscar safely in a 20 gallon tank, that is three times smaller than what you need for one adult fish. For this reason, we really can't give you advice on your situation apart from finding a new home for your Oscars until you have got a suitable aquarium for them.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but that is the situation you are in, and everyone will tell you exactly the same.

I have had the fish and the tank and the whole set up for 2 days..they are about 1.5 inches each and I have read about needing a bigger tank, I just got this tank at the store for fairly cheap until I can find a bigger one. Fortunately on craigslist people are selling 125-150 gallon tanks for 300-400$ for a whole set up which I should be able to take advantage of in about 5 days or so on pay day. But as I said I am having a difficult time finding the liquid test kits other than online which will take 1-2 weeks to get here (ordered). And can ammonia from that small of fish really build that fast within hours? Anyways truth is I got them because I felt bad for them they had about 10 crammed into a little box of a tank maybe 5 gallons. So I kinda jumped into this hastily but, I can afford to take care of them, just some help would be nice T_T

Just fallow what I told you Hun! 25% water change with water conditioner EVERY day!

Do you happen to know of anyone with a tank that has been running for a long time?

Im agree with nickisue, do as she says and your fish has a chance.

Or you can return the fish, get a bigger tank, cycle it with goldfish and then buy oscars!!!!