Confused about Oscar death?

[Zak03]

First, I am very sorry you lost your Oscar. That's a bummer. They're wonderful fish.

Picking apart some of what you offered for clues.... Why did you cycle the tank with an Oscar in it?

Thank you, and the reason I cycled my tank with an Oscar in it was that I wasn't aware of the whole culture system in a tank. so when I found out that my tank needed to be cycled, I did daily water changes and water tests every 3 days until my tank was cycled.

Do you know why your other Oscars died? That's a red flag right there that something is probably wrong in the tank.

I have stated this in the very beginning. I don't know why my oscar died. that's why I made this post.

African dwarf frogs only get about an inch long so everything in there would eventually eat them. These are the little bitty guys, right? Not African clawed frogs (totally different species and problematic for entirely different reasons).

again, this was discussed before, but thank you for your advice. I do understand that the frogs won't grow big and will be eaten if left with the fish as they grow bigger.

 

[Zak03]

Did you look in the stomach to see if he swallowed a frog or something obstructive?

my oscar is less than 3 inches long. there's no way he could have swallowed a grown dwarf frog. but no, I did not check his stomach. i just flushed him down the toilet (he was dead, in case anybody missed that)

 

[philipraposo1982]

40ppm NO3 aka nitrates are BELOW THE LEGAL amount stated gov of Canada. For human consumption.

By our standard here 10ppm NO3-N is the max limit before action is taken. And even then it's only really a concern for infants.

Many fish keepers with monster tanks will admit to having 80ppm or higher on a regular basis. Ray keepers are known for keeping very high nitrates.

I highly doubt a fish drops dead from nitrate poisoning overnight..

 

[philipraposo1982]

40gal seems risky. Too much chance of a swing/spike happening quickly. As well as water changes any gravel needs to be cleaned very often. Best with each water change. I have been admonished more than a few times (on forum) for my "overstocked tank". Generally the criticisms are well founded. Oscars need room and big clean tanks and fresh water.

How is a 3" fish too big for a 40g? Your post doesn't help the op find out why the Oscar died. Simply telling the op his tank is too small when it 100% not is just your opinion.

 

[skjl47]

How is a 3" fish too big for a 40g? Your post doesn't help the op find out why the Oscar died. Simply telling the op his tank is too small when it 100% not is just your opinion.

He has lived through an ich infestation,

lived in a tank while it was being cycled

fed him pellets a few times throughout the day,

i still sprinkled several pellets every evening for the sun catfish

every once in a while, I would cut up a small frozen shrimp and put in the tank for the fish to eat. all the shrimp bits would be gone in a couple of days).

Nitrites were just starting to go up, and the nitrates were below 40ppm

even for juvies that tank is too small and the water changes too infrequent

some heavy wasters in there, mostly the Oscar and catfish. I would suggest changing water every couple of days if you don't have a much bigger tank. Oscars are dirty birdies. They are both messy eaters and pooping machines

2 days is also too long to leave food in the tank. It would have started to rot by the time your fish ate it, contaminating the water and making your Oscar ill when he consumed it.

result from ammonia toxicity doesn't always surface immediately.

I believe it may have been one of a combination of stresss factors, nitrate being only one.

nitrate has always only been meant to be used as a benchmark for overall pollution in an aquarium. Typically when nitrate levels rise, so does the level of organic compounds, bacteria, etc, none of which produce a healthy environment for a fish in captivity.

 

[Ulu]

You grew up watching Perry Mason didn't you?

 

[Coryloach]

Sorry for your loss mate.

As stated previously here, the consequences of subjecting a fish to a cycle(ammonia and nitrite) are delayed and end up in premature death, often from "mysterious" causes or full blown disease in some cases.

Chronic exposure to ammonia and nitrite can cause irreversible damage to the fish's organs. Even if the fish survives due to subsequent excellent care, the fish will have a weak immune system and be a magnet for diseases, hence they don't last.... I'd never subject a fish to a fish in cycle for those same reasons but I understand that it wasn't your intention too.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

I agree with RD and duanes on this matter.
What makes me smile is people who have had constant fish health problems and carry out risky cycling techniques are carrying on like bloody experts. Your history suggests otherwise.

 

[duanes]

It's not that a 40 gallon tank isn't enough space for a 3" oscar for a while to swim around in, its that a 40 gallon tank without attention to water quality, (plenty of regular water changes), it becomes an un-flushed toilet, very quickly.
And with other fish in it, even quicker.
The rule I hold myself to, is a "minimum" or 10 gallons per inch of adult cichlids, so with that in mind, a few months down the road (had the oscar lived) it would need somewhere between 125 -200 tank tank (and even then), lots of water changes would be needed to keep it from deteriorating into the kind of space where most oscars endup scarred for life with HLLE, or dead.
I don't believe new fish keepers should be coddled into thinking half assed water quality is acceptable.
The average person (without sufficient knowledge) keeps a tank no more than a months, because he/she gets discouraged by what eventually happens if they don't hold to a few general conepts.
High water quality, quarantining new arrivals, and being realistic about what size fish fits in what size space.

 

[LBDave]

How is a 3" fish too big for a 40g? Your post doesn't help the op find out why the Oscar died. Simply telling the op his tank is too small when it 100% not is just your opinion.

IMHO