New 55g w/Oscar

[MorganAshleyInc]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I'm completely new owning such a large tank.

I have a 55g (stock filter that came with it, says compatible up to 75g)

ONE Oscar about 7in.
ONE Plecko about 3in
3 tiny feeder fish
No plants

Readings as of 10/21 -
Ph 7.8
Ni 0.0
Nh 0.0
Am 1.0
Water Temp 80

Ammonia was high but was able to bring it down to better levels after the water change.

The tank has been up and running for exactly two weeks now. The water is a thick milky white and has been since day one. One week ago I did a 25% water change and it seemed to make it worse, you can't even see the back of the aquariam.

Furthermore the Oscar has barely eaten anything. He does move around the tank but ignores all food... floating pellets, sinking pellets, shrimp, feeder fish, whatever. I have only seen him eat once since we introduced him to the tank.

I know the tank is cycling but is what im experiencing normal and should I do a larger water change? Clean the filters? Or will this cycle out with time?

Also, someone suggested that I get ANOTHER filter and run the tank with two?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I don't want to harm the fish or do anything unnecessary

 

[gman42]

my suggestion is to do more, and larger wc's. i would say 50% or larger wc's a week. added filtration would also not hurt. the larger wc's should help with the milky water, and will help your levels stay down.
also, do you have a dechlorinator? if not, prime would be a great choice.

 

[rocksor]

You want to keep the ammonia and nitrites no higher than 0.25ppm. Keep doing 50-75% water changes until you get the ammonia to that level. Whenever both readings get to 0.5 ppm, time for a 50% water change. Test every day with a liquid test kit like the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. It is cheaper to buy online. Test strips are not that accurate.

Be sure to use Seachem Prime or Kordon Amquel during the cycling process. It will neutralize the ammonia and nitrites for 24-48 hours.

Cycling will take 4-6 weeks.

What filters do you have?

 

[Malawi Freak]

I would do a water change every couple days. Make sure you are using a dechlorinater like mentioned above. Many of us here swear by seachem products.

What type of water do you have, well or from a public utility? Have you tested your tap water yet? What type of test kit are you using.

 

[cichlidcasey]

Up the filtration...make sure you read filter directions and have the knob turned up so the filter is pumping at max compasity.

 

[MorganAshleyInc]

update New tank w/Oscar

Thank you all who responded with help!!

After I posted I came home from work and the tank was MUCH better with regards to the milky white water!! Most suggested I do a 50% water change but with the improvement I decided to do a 25% change and cleanned the gravel. My test results afterward (1.5hrs) were ..
AM 4.0 (Which I added AmmoStop)
PH 8.2
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 0.0
Water Temp 80

Most of you asked what filter i'm running which is a Aqueon75 (came with the tank) and I added a Tetra Whisper20 which I had extra because everyone said it definately wouldn't hurt.

The Oscar seems much more active since the water change. He still won't eat the pellets, shrimp but is chasing the feeder fish around quite often.

I plan on doing another water test this evening because the AmmoStop says it will still test positive although the AM is neautralizied

Any other suggestions would be appreciated !!

 

[phishfriend]

I would goto anglesplus.com and look into their "active" sponge filters. They run them in their angle tanks so they are loaded with BB. Cost is like 18 bucks. I used one an fishin cycle was two weeks. It will also up your filtration. Speed up your cycle. Saving you some headache. The link is my signature.

 

[Malawi Freak]

While in the cycling process you need to stay away from chemicals besides a dechlorinater. All you are doing is stunting the process. It may seem like its getting better, but you really should be doing more/larger water changes

 

[MorganAshleyInc]

Update

O.K.

Thank you all for your help!

On a good note the Oscar finally started eating!! Whoever suggested the crickets thank you for an excellent idea! He's gobbleing them up like candy and also took care of the feeder fish that were left!

I did a 50% water change and my readings were
PH - 8.2
AM - 4.0 (used AmmoStop again)
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 1.0
Temp - 82.2

I don't understand why my AM is so **** high!! I'm using dechlorinator when performing the water change and following the directions. Added a second filter. I'm testing twice to confirm readings (no test strips). And only two fish in the tank ... the Oscar & Plecko

Should I perform another 50% water change? I'm new at this and getting some confusing advice ... Someone mentioned changing the filters ... they've only been in there for two weeks. If so should i change them completely or rinse them off? It was also mentioned (not on this site) to just let the cycle complete and the filters will take care of the AM over time.

Thanks again

 

[San Raphael Catfish]

You're welcome. My son has 11 reptiles, so we have to get lots of crickets and he likes to sneak them into the tank for my cichlids to eat. I figured it would spur his natural predatory instincts. All that wriggling and kicking and moving shadows would get his attention and he'd know what to do.

SRC <><

 

[San Raphael Catfish]

It is tricky on the filters. You need a certain amount of crud to get your beneficial bacteria going. You are not trying to have a sterile tank. When I do the water change, any left over food or junk on the bottom I would want to make sure was sucked up to not add to the ammonia. At most, I would rinse, the filters just to get some of the food or waste matter off, but leave some on for the bacteria. Part of the filter system is biological so you never want to completely starve or kill it with heat or cleaner. Just a gentle rinse a most.

SRC <><

 

[phishfriend]

I see that when you do a water change you use ammonia stop. You have to stop doing that! Your tank is in cycle. The only thing at this stage that you use In the water is declorinator. With a 7 inch fish the bio load is large. Doing 25% WC isn't enough with Amm reading 4.0ppm. With that reading. You need to change water 50% back to back. I see a lot of good advise being given to you and when your responses show your only take some of it. I'm sorry. But, when you need to do 50% and decide that 25% will do. That's not responsible fish keeping. Then you say
"I don't know why the ammonia is so high" reread this thread. Everyone has told you why.
Don't mean to be mean. Just think if you want your fish to make it thought the tank cycle your going to need to do a lot more.

 

[rotorhead22]

You do need to keep an eye on your Ammonia levels. At a pH of 8.4 and a temperature of 80 deg F the lethal amount of Ammonia is reported to be less than .1 ppm.

Edit: As temperature or pH increases, the amount of of ammonia determined to be lethal decreases.

Suggestion: drop the temperature to 78 a this will reduce the effects of the ammonia, kind of. You definitely will need to keep ammonia under .25 by doing lots of WC. It is math. If your levels are 2 ppm and you do a 50% WC your levels will be 1 ppm, still too high. Another 50% will get you to .5 ppm and yet another will get you to .25 ppm.

There are many articles out there but I have provided a link to an article that talks about ammonia levels.

http://www.cs.duke.edu/~narten/faq/cycling.html

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[Apoc2k8]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I'm completely new owning such a large tank.

I have a 55g (stock filter that came with it, says compatible up to 75g)

ONE Oscar about 7in.
ONE Plecko about 3in
3 tiny feeder fish
No plants

Readings as of 10/21 -
Ph 7.8
Ni 0.0
Nh 0.0
Am 1.0
Water Temp 80

Ammonia was high but was able to bring it down to better levels after the water change.

The tank has been up and running for exactly two weeks now. The water is a thick milky white and has been since day one. One week ago I did a 25% water change and it seemed to make it worse, you can't even see the back of the aquariam.

Furthermore the Oscar has barely eaten anything. He does move around the tank but ignores all food... floating pellets, sinking pellets, shrimp, feeder fish, whatever. I have only seen him eat once since we introduced him to the tank.

I know the tank is cycling but is what im experiencing normal and should I do a larger water change? Clean the filters? Or will this cycle out with time?

Also, someone suggested that I get ANOTHER filter and run the tank with two?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I don't want to harm the fish or do anything unnecessary

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html

 

[Malawi Freak]

Stoooooopppppppp using ammonia removing chemicals. All they do is mask them temporarily. You're just making this process take longer while wasting money.

 

[oscarchic11]

i have a 10 inch oscar and 7.5 inch pleco in a 40 gallon breeder, and yes, ur tank is mid cycle. the cloudiness is the bacterial bloom. as suggested before, STOP using chemicals other than ur dechlorinator in your tank and just do more, bigger water changes! it a pain, but if done proberly the cycle can be done with fish in, and without them being harmed. here is a link to a great article written by a mod i trust with my own fish's lives on a regualr basis as he and a few others are who i go to for all my fish/tank problems. i know its hard work, but its worth it when i have a healthy, cycled tank with beautiful fish in it. good luck, and here is the link.... Fish-in Cycling: Step over into the dark side - Aquarium Advice

 

[RAH]

Yeah do as everyone else said. I prefer the fishless cycle anyway. Try doing those water changes at least 50%. And yes stop using AmmoStop your bacteria will kick in and the Ammonia level will fall and if I'm right your nitrite will rise next. (Again correct me if I'm wrong)

 

[MorganAshleyInc]

another update

And thank you all for reading and helping!!

Last Monday did 50% change ... Am was still at 4.0
Wednesday did a 60% change ... AM was still at 4.0 (vac gravel real good)

Water was cloudy but had been lightening up a bit. Oscar is eating crickets like popcorn (Thanks San Raphael) as well as the feeder fish.

I told the lady at the fish store and the lady said that because im using the AmmoLock it is locking the setting in the water until the filters can get rid of it. She also mentioned that with that high level for so long the fish should probably be dead by now or I would have noticed burn marks around his gills, etc ... which I have not. So essentially I'm getting a false reading from the AmmoLock
Later that evening I took a water sample up to be tested and the night shift lady practically freaked out at my AM levels! I explained everything and she still insisted on a 90% water change
So who do I believe???
Anyways ... I said screw it and did 100% on Saturday... only adding the dechlorinator to the water. I also added an Ammonia reducing filter (Acurel Ammonia reducing pad).

So far my AM is between .5 & 1.0 and the water is pretty clear so far.
I also have a Fluval 306 arriving this week so hopefully that will help

 

[rotorhead22]

Added filtration will help but that is not your problem. Toxic Ammonia only gets converted by bacteria that lives in your substrate and filter media into toxic nitrites and then to less toxic nitrates. You need the ammonia to feed the bacteria and yet, you need to keep it below .25 ppm or else you are hurting your fish. Ammonia at 4.0 or even at 2 is not aceptable, recommended, or humane.

Lots of folks have chimed, repeating the same thing: Watch the ammonia levels and don't use any thing to reduce ammonia (media, additives). I hope you heed the recommendations of some of the folks on AA that are trying to help. So far, I don't think the forum has helped you since the recommendations are being ignored.

 

[rocksor]

The Ammolock is converting toxic ammonia to non-toxic ammonium. Ammonium can still feed the bacteria. You have not seen ammonia burn because Ammolock has turned the ammonia to ammonium.

Remove the ammonia removing pad. Just use water conditioner and Ammolock after a water change.

Keep doing a water change until ammonia is 0.25ppm. If ammonia hits 0.5ppm, time for a 50% water change. If nitrites hits 0.5ppm, time for a 50% water change.