Okay... soo...

I'm new to fish. I didnt really ASK for fish... my uncle just kinda showed up with a bucket and i got stuck with them because i was the only one with an aquarium (it was used for my snakes).

So anyway... I had cichlids and shark fish and an Oscar... I went to the pet store and spent, like, over $100(money i didnt really have) on a filter, air pump, heater and all that necessary crap... not to mention an algae eater cuz... algae sucks and they're cool, heh heh.

Anyway.... All my fish started dropping like flies. every time i would come home from work a new one would be dead...

So now all i have is one Oscar, so i thought this was the best site to go to...

This morning i noticed, like, fuzzy looking balls on the bottom of the tank and my Oscar had some long ass stringy tube or something hanging out of his... uhm... "lower region"....

I'm panicked. I don't want him to die and i don't know what to do...

What could the things i saw be? and how can i help my lil' fishy?

Yes, he's very little.. like... about 2 inches. He's a baby! SAVE MY BABY!

firstly welcome to the site.


in order to help you we need to know the answers to a few question like how long as your tank been set up for? your water readings ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph and temp? how large is your aquarium? what kind of fitration do you have? and finally how often do you do tank maintenance?(water changes vaccuming ect..)

when you can get us these answers we can begin to diagnose what your problem might be

Well I've never had fish until now and I only have them cause my uncle stuck me with them....

I know nothing about water readings, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph and temp. I have a 10gal tank and i got a heater, filter and air pump for a 10 gal tank... I know nothing about vacuuming... I've been changing about 25-50% of the water about once a week, or if it seems cloudy or funky or w/e...

I set up the tank and let everything run for about an hour.... When my uncle gave me the fish, they sat in a bucket on top of my mom's fridge for 3 days with no food or anything... it was kinda hectic cuz my grandma had just died so i just tried to get them set up in a tank and feed them as soon as i could.

I feel horrible because i don't know what to do and i don't know anyone who knows anything about fish.

sorry to say there isnt much hope in your current circumstances.your tank isnt anywhere near large enough for a oscar, you need 55gallon for one fish. that leads me to think your filter isnt much use too. the fact you have not cycled your tank will be why your fish died. all tanks need to be cycled, this is where the filter builds up bacteria to break down the fish poo. this takes about a month before you can put fish into a tank.

to keep fish you need to know what is going on with the water inside the tank. you do this by testing the water with a test kit. your fish needs the water to be of a certain kind,this means NO ammonia & nitrites, and very low in nitrates (below 40pph) temperature need to be around 28c and a stable PH between 6.5 & 7.5. To be honest to you I think you need to return your oscar to the shop or buy a much larger tank and filter. But before you do this you need to spend time learning how to care for them and understand about water condition. for me to tell you all you need to know will take a fair amount of time. i would advise you to read as much as you can on this forum and ask for help where you dont understand. I would also say to return your oscar and get much smaller fish, if you tell the shop your tank size and filter type they will advise you on what to buy. please dont be put off, everyone must start somewhere but you started in the deepend so to speak.

Well i would return him but i dont know where he came from. My uncle lives in Albion NY and i live in Buffalo... its like a 2 hour drive...

I would love to buy a big tank and take good care of the fish, but i dont have that kind of money. I had just enough to get the filter and heater and ect....

I'm sooo sad now... i feel horrible. I wish i could do something...

>.< Uhg. My uncle's stupid.

Find a local store and try to do a deal, your fish and a little cash for something that would live in your size tank. A oscar can grow to over 35cm in 9 months. it would be like keeping a dog in a cardboard box. sorry hope you work something out.

Well... He's surviving... The local fish store said they wouldnt take him... iono why...

I'm hoping to get a tank for x-mas, and if i dont I'll be spending my money on one...

He's survived about 4 days longer than all the other fish, do you think he'll be able to make it another month or two?

since you have a very small tank, i suggest you
take out the substrate gradually so that you will
have easy time to clean the system. what kind of
filtering system do you have? if you can run any
filter without the top cover, the better. evaporation
in the filter process helps to lessen the ammonia & nitrates.

take out the substrate? You mean like the gravel or w/e?

Okie i can do that...

And i would leave the cover off, but my cats like drinking the fish water and I'm scared they might look for a snack, lol...

The lid i have on is mesh and it seems like the water is evaporating cuz the water level is much lower.

the top cover i am referring to is the top cover of the
filter, not the lid of the tank itself. your oscar might
jump-off the tank or might be taken off by your cat. the
filtering box is something like this:

for the best chance for your fish to live a month you will need a test kit. test your water for ammonia,nitrites,nitrates,PH. Without this info you will not know whats going on with your water so we cant help much without guessing and thats not good. you will also need some treatment to make tapwater safe for fish.tapwater has chlorine in it that will kill fish "aquasafe" or something like it. you will now need to start doing water changes,as your tank is small i would do these every other day, remove about 25% of you tank water, put new tap water in a bucket and treat with chlorine remover. Try to make this new water the same temperature as in your tank. lastly as Paul has said remove your gravel. this will make it easy to see poo. remove poo as much as poss. you can make a vacuum cleaner from a small drinking water bottle and a bit of hose pipe, to do this cut bottom off bottle fit 2meters of hose to the top after removing the screw cap top.you put bottle in water and then suck on hose end until water comes out(keep hose lower than bottle for syphoning to work). once you have a test kit you can test your water,(post results on site) from this we can tell you if you are doing ok or need to do anything else.from this we could tell you if you are doing to much water changes or need to do more.

once you have a new tank you will still need a test kit and chlorine remover so this will not be wasted. you could buy a vacuum too if you have trouble making one.