# Oscar is Sick



## cichlid_maniac (Jan 23, 2019)

Tank is a 56 gallon and contains South American cichlids. 
The tank has been cycled for a while as it's been running for around a year. I have had these fish for 6months. I haven't introduced any new fish recently.
The water:
(NH3/4) - 0.25.ppm
(NO2) - 0 ppm
(NO3) - 80 ppm
PH - 7.0
I change my water weekly from 1/3 to 1/2 of the tank.

All of the fish are healthy except the Oscar who looked fine yesterday. I went ahead and pulled him out of the tank as the other fish are attracted to it. The pleco was sucking on it. Another fish (blood parrot) looked like it was attracted to it .... like a meal.


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## james1983 (Dec 23, 2007)

You shouldn't have any ammonia and your nitrate reading is pretty high. What else is in the tank? A 56 gallon is too small for an Oscar alone. I would keep up water changes until everything lowers, then do either twice weekly 50% changes or fin level once a week.


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## Old Newbie (Feb 18, 2017)

What is that white spot in the first picture? Agree with james1983; should not have any ammonia and nitrates are way too high. Nitrates should be 20 ppm or less ideally.


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## cichlid_maniac (Jan 23, 2019)

Thanks for the responses. The oscar croaked.
I don't know what that spot was. I didn't actually see it until the picture. 
True about the nitrates and the ammonia. I have a texas ciclid, 2 blood parrots, a jack dempsey and a plecostomus. 
I put a cap full of Prime in when I do weekly water changes. Maybe I need to cut down on feedings; I feed them once to twice a day.


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## ken31cay (Oct 9, 2018)

cichlid_maniac said:


> Maybe I need to cut down on feedings; I feed them once to twice a day.


How often do you do water changes? If weekly then I'd do a water change every day until the nitrates are under control, also vacuum the substrate. If you don't do weekly water changes then I'd still do much smaller (~5% to 10%) daily water changes so the fish can adapt to the cleaner water gradually or else the shock could kill them.


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## cichlid_maniac (Jan 23, 2019)

I change the water once per week ... usually 50%. I add Prime to the new water as well as some salt, stress coat and de-chlorination.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

I'm so sorry for your loss!

Are you actually using Prime, stress coat and another dechlorination product all at the same time when you add new water?


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## ken31cay (Oct 9, 2018)

cichlid_maniac said:


> I change the water once per week ... usually 50%. I add Prime to the new water as well as some salt, stress coat and de-chlorination.


If I were in your shoes I would start doing daily 50% water changes until the nitrates were below 20ppm, assuming your water source is suitable for your fish. I would use only the recommended dose of Prime (a little more doesn't hurt) and drop the other stuff you're currently using as Prime already takes care of the chlorine. If the substrate or decor is dirty I would also clean these. What type of filter and how often do you clean it?


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## cichlid_maniac (Jan 23, 2019)

Deeda said:


> I'm so sorry for your loss!
> 
> Are you actually using Prime, stress coat and another dechlorination product all at the same time when you add new water?


Yes. Is that a no-no? I don't treat it as 55 gallons but only for the amount of water replaced.


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## cichlid_maniac (Jan 23, 2019)

ken31cay said:


> cichlid_maniac said:
> 
> 
> > I change the water once per week ... usually 50%. I add Prime to the new water as well as some salt, stress coat and de-chlorination.
> ...


I'll do the daily. The substrate is clean. I have a eheim 2217 and I clean it with my tank's water every 2 months.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

cichlid_maniac said:


> Deeda said:
> 
> 
> > I'm so sorry for your loss!
> ...


Prime is a water conditioner that makes treated tap water safe by neutralizing chlorine and chloramine.

Stress Coat makes tap water safe AND adds aloe vera as a slime coat product.

I'm unsure if you are also adding a 3rd product to dechlor your tap water.

There is NO reason to use any more than 1 product to treat tap water before adding to your tank. Just stick with Prime as your primary water conditioner. If you are adding new water directly to the aquarium via a hose, add enough Prime to treat the entire volume of the tank as you are refilling. If you are adding new water with a bucket, add the proper Prime dosage for the volume of the bucket.


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## ken31cay (Oct 9, 2018)

I do 70% water changes every 5-7 days on both my tanks and change filter physical media (pads, floss) with every water change. But I'd recommend you be careful with this as I'm sure your eheim's filter pads, etc., contain alot a beneficial bacteria whereas I'd guess most of mine are on the bio media in my sumps. You want your tank, filter, etc., to be clean but you don't want to disturb your beneficial bacteria. I wish you luck with all of this.


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## cichlid_maniac (Jan 23, 2019)

Good info. I use a hose to fill my tank. Thanks for the info on using Prime only. I'll stick with that for my primary water conditioner. 
And yes ... the eheim pads contain precious bacteria, which is why I clean and fill the canister with the tank's water when I clean it.


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