Its always sad when an oscar dies. We did a 3/4 (55G) water change. 1st 3 days crystal clear, then cloudy, then yesterday nitrate tested hi. Did 1/4 water change, then 1 of 3 died. What can I do now to help other oscars?

sorry to hear about your loss.

the first thing we need to know is what your water parameters are. could you post your readings for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph and temp?

now how long has your tank been setup? also what size is the tank, type of filtration and what tankmates are in with the oscars. and when you do a waterchange are you using a declorinator and replacing the water at the same temp?

these answers will help us in determining what might have happened in your tank.

Water was tested @ home but wanted to be sure so tested again at Petco.Advised to do 1/4 water chg. results all good except nitrates hi. tank temp 75 degrees. set-up over 1 yr. 55 Gal tank with bio filter (330). always add declorinator (5 drops/gal added).

were feeding oscars 2-3 goldfish x/wk. was advised to wean them off so many and start feeding red worms and silver type froz fish bought at store. They didn't like it and have barely eaten. Now what to do?????

sorry about your loss. try your best to find the problem

iluvoscars wrote:


they will eat eventually... high quality pellets are usually rec. as a staple.
a 55 gallon is too small for 2 O's, you will never get your nitrates low enough...

sigh, Oh-no about nitrates! I love the Oscars and can't see being without them so have decided on looking at 135Gal tank, for 2 Oscars; that should be lg enough. Will get pellets, any particular kind? I have the ones that have vegetable in them; they look like peas but 1/2 as lg. I'm not at home now, can't look at brand name.

a 135 should be more than enough for 2 oscars, general rule of thumb is 55 gal per oscar .. you could even add a catfish or something that doesn't get too big...
i use hikari cichlid gold pellets.

Often fish shops will tell you that your water is ok, however what they say is ok doesnt always agree with what we would say is ok on here, so can you post the actual results for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate

Oscars mostly eat insects etc in the wild, not fish. If you feed them things like fish or even mice they can get health problems. Oscars cant process the fats in fish very well and it causes them health problem that can and often do kill

Keep doing daily water changes until the nitrates come down. Dont overfeed, only feed once a day what you oscars will eat in 2 mins

Thank you all, you're awesome... for advice/suggestions. What i thought i'd learn i'm finding out wasn't actually right. So, I've got changes to make; don't want to lose other O's.

About filters and sump pumps?? Acrylic vs glass tanks?? I'll get a newer testing kit. I'nm probably going to buy a used tank set-up. Any advice?

gold fish are not suitable live food they have a high fat content now and again for your own amusment maybe breed some guppys they are a better live food bye the way sorry about the dead one RIP

Thank you, I will continue with feeder tank supplied with guppys