Hi,

Just did a 50% water change on my 90gal tank.
My lutino oscar is sitting on the bottom near a filter intake and not really moving.
It is breathing and fins are moving, but it isn't moving much at all.

Its tankmate is fine, swimming at the top chasing bubbles etc.

The oscar was fine before and during the water change.

Is this normal? Really worried as these are young ones.. less than 3".

Did a quick test of the water.

Ph 7.5
Ammonia < 0.25
Nitrite < 0.25

Thanks

How long has the tank being running? Even though your ammonia and nitrite are not dangerously high, you certainly don't want to have it like this for too long. I don't think that these levels would cause too many problems with your fish, especially as your pH is particularly high. See what he's like tomorrow, the chances are he will be swimming around as normal, Oscar is often behave strangely after tank maintenance, they do get a little bit stressed and will often sit motionless for a while.

The tank has been running for two weeks. I test the water a couple times a day and have been doing daily water changes. First time I've seen this behavior and it has me a little scared.

Thanks for the quick reply!

just checking - but did you treat the water when you did the water change (i.e. Prime or other water conditioner)? most municipal water sources have chlorine and other chemicals that can be harmful/lethal. Using a water conditioner will remove these harmful substances.

It sounds like you are at the beginning of your cycle. Unfortunately I would never recommend using Oscars to cycle an aquarium. Prime is definitely a good product to use as it will detoxify ammonia and nitrite and make the environment that little bit more safe for your fish. Just remember that you need ammonia to cycle a tank properly. If you keep doing big water changes when you haven't got a lot of ammonia present, it's going to take for ever to cycle. If your ammonia is no higher than .25% do not do a water change.

do you have a friend nearby who happen to have establish tank?
if so, you can barrow some established media and use it as seeding
media in your filter... it will help you fast track cycling.

this show that your cycle is just starting.

If i were you i would feed your fish as normal and do a daily water change of 25% until your tank is cycled. Your tank will be cycled once the ammonia has risen and then fallen to zero, nitrite has risen and then fallen to zero and your nitrate has started to rise. DO NOT clean your filter during this time. Please the section of the site about cycling

I've been doing a 25-50% water change daily. Not cleaning filters. I have an Aquaclear 110 HOB on back and Rena xp3 canister. I moved a sponge filter from an established tank when I set it up.

The ammonia and nitrite levels are staying the same <.25... But today, the second of three fish is acting sick. Laying on its side on the bottom, near the filter. They are eating. One or two Hikari pellets each feeding. But not acting active at all.
Really not sure what is going on, but very concerned. I don't want to lose these guys.

What's your water temp? Maybe boost it up to like 80º-82º and see if that helps improve their behavior. My Oscar sulks at the bottom for awhile after water changes too. He doesn't like it when I mess with his tank and then acts like a total baby for about an hour.

Just to update:
The water conditions stayed about the same but the little oscar wasn't improving.
I watched closely for a few hours and it seems it was stress from another fish. He was being beat on quite a lot.

I removed the bully and he seems greatly improved. He has come out of hiding, eating regulary, chasing bubbles on the surface, etc.

Tall Len wrote:


Bullying can indeed change an Oscars behaviour drasticly.
Glad to see some improvement.
You gotto watch the testresults though,to get your tank cycled properly!

yeah man glad ur gettign sorted, make sure u keep us updated and dont worry yr tank will be cycled in no time!