My adopted tiger oscar not eating :(

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Bacteria that consumes ammonia will produce nitrites.. A fish in cycle can take 6-8 weeks to complete, which is why you have to test for ammonia and nitrites everyday.

If he doesn't eat the floating pellet or 2 within 20 minutes of you leaving the room, remove it.
 
Rocksor said:
A dip bath would require that you take tank water, and place in a separate container like a 5 g bucket. Add 1ml of methylene blue per gallon of water in the bucket, aerate the bucket with an airstone, and place the fish in the bucket for 30 minutes.

Do not put any of the methylene blue water into your tank. This has a high chance of killing any bacteria that is growing in the tank.
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Yes, sorry I should have explained the dipbath process as well.
 
George+Sherbert said:
he still hasnt eaten yet :( will he eat a pellet that ha sunk to bottom if he is hungry? I just want to keep the tank clean as possible, need to do a nitrite test today too, what builds nitrites? In old tank my ammonia was higher than my nitrites (which were in safe range) the two times i tested in old tank.
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go buy some seachem stability at petco or petsmart. It will jumpstart your cycle way faster than waiting for the bacteria to develop on its own.
 
does some food float better than others? I have Tetra JumboMin large floating sticks( nutritionally balance food for monster fish), and they sink pretty fast, just had one sin in under five minutes after the filter hit it.
 
George+Sherbert said:
just tested nitrites, o ppms! This tank with two filters appears to be staying clean alot longer :) Anyway to test for good bacteria count?
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When ammonia and nitrites are 0ppm, and nitrates are above 0ppm, daily, then you have a good bacteria count. This assumes that you have sufficient filtration with enough surface area to produce the 2 types of bacteria that consume either ammonia or nitrites.

Since you are doing a fish in cycle (keep ammonia and nitrites between 0.25-0.5ppm daily through water changes), you will have ammonia go up first, and weeks later nitrites will go up. Neither will go down until a sufficient bacteria colony is in place. Once both stay 0ppm without a water change, nitrates will rise. The easiest way to remove nitrates are through water changes, and should be kept below 20ppm.

Hikari Gold floating type (red bag) and Hikari Bio-Gold does not sink unless crushed.
 
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i need to get a new tank heater, i haver a 50 watt heater, think its only good up 20 gallons, cant get tank above 78, and the stick on thermometers are hard to read...
 
George+Sherbert said:
i need to get a new tank heater, i haver a 50 watt heater, think its only good up 20 gallons, cant get tank above 78, and the stick on thermometers are hard to read...
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For a 55g, I would get the Aqueon Stealth Pro 200 watt heater.

I would get a digital thermometer with a probe. You can get one from Petco for $6.

Stick on thermometers can be influenced by the temperature outside of the tank, and when you are trying to get the temperature to a specific number, a thermometer that reads the temperature from inside the tank is best.

I do not recommend the old style glass thermometers, since Oscars are notorious for breaking those.
 
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I missed the part about ick? fish has ick?
 
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