I thought I cycled my tank by putting stress enzyme and stress coat rounds in the aquarium for a month before adding 3 oscars to my 30g tank. I took a water sample to the LFS before adding fish. (No I'm not going to keep them in that tank) I am now concerned as my water is a little cloudy and I have learned I really didn't cycle my tank at all. My fish have been in there for 15days and I didn't see a problem until last night when I came home and one Oscar was floating. I thought he was dead so I went to scoop him up and he perked up a little. He is now back to normal swimming, eating and bullying. However the other two fish seem to have what looks like white spot to me. I did a strip test my pH is 7.2 hardness is 120 and nitrate/nitrite is 0 ). I have added another air stone, liquid cycle, and tap water conditioner. My water temp is 82. I have not changed the water yet as I don't want to mess with anything else until I get at least two of the same answers. Change the water leave it alone. Add salt just do a water change. Someone please help me!!!
Houston we have a problem...
- Thread starter zodiac0302
- Start date
white spots sound like ich. as far as oscars go they are EXTREMELY HARDY and by extremely hardy i mean they are the tomato clowns of freshwater. do some google research on ick and see if you can self diagnose it. the strip test are also very unreliable, dont trust them. the high temp is good in that it shortens the time that the ich is "free floating", leave it high;but after the ich is gone lower the temp to around 80 as 82 is pretty high for O's. Just pay attention to them and they will be fine. Also if you do have ick and you treat it your going to have to do water changes to reduce the amount of medication in the water. basically what im saying is that O's will survive cycling a tank and ich, your going to have to treat the ich anyway so you might as well do a water change, and finally i wish you the best of luck as we have all been in this situation which one type of fish or another. I went through it with a mated pair of beautiful pigeon blood discus and they survived the ich! keep us posted.
The white spots on your fish is called ick. It's an external parasite, can kill fish if not treated. You needed to get some Malachite Green from LFS and follow directions on bottle. Or some say to raise temp and add aquarium salt. It can take 2-4 weeks to get rid of completely.
PS. rid-ich is what i have found to be the best,quickest acting medication on the market. its my personal preference and fairly cheap if bought in the large bottle
here is a link, if you look around you can find it for cheaper. http://www.aquariumguys.com/ridich16oz.html
Thank you much for the advice and encouragement. Also, how often should I do water changes after the Ich? 25% weekly enough?
I'd do a 50% water change, slowly raise your temp to 85-86 and add some salt. Monitor ammonia levels. Not having a nitrate reading is a bit odd. I'd test again and be ready to do water changes if ammonia is present. Keep your airstones running during this.
Personally, i dont really like to use meds for ich. Heat and salt has always worked for me. I usually do this for about two weeks to be sure
Personally, i dont really like to use meds for ich. Heat and salt has always worked for me. I usually do this for about two weeks to be sure
I would crank the heat to 90 F and do 50% w/c's every other day untill the tank is cycled. You should be able to track the cycling process First amonia then nitrite then nitrate. they will all spike but oscars can take it if you do the water changes. Salt is up to you but not needed for this.