Please help with my Oscars

[GEV83]

Yea youll also need a good water conditioner which youll use with every water change. Chlorine and chloramines are present in the public water to kill harmful bacteria that may find its way into our homes so water conditioners help remove both chlor's so it wont kill the beneficial bacteria. If you dont use conditioners youll just restart the cycle process. Prime is the one you should look for. It will help also with the ammonia in the tank.

 

[excuzzzeme]

You will need to change as much water as need to drive down the ammonia. There is no magic in how much is enough. Water testing will tell you. until you get the larger tank you will need to change water often. 2-3 x a week or more to keep the ammonia down even after the tank has cycled. Not only with their waste, there will also be food waste in the tank that you cant possibly get all of. You will need to vacuum the tank as well as do water changes.

 

[monsterfishlove]

when i do my weekly water change approximately how much water will i need to change? i have hear many diffrent things on this too, i been told 50%, i been told 10% and i been told 35%, im sure if i asked more people the number will change some more, what is a good percentage to change? (in my 45 gallon).

 

[monsterfishlove]

i seem to get a good portion of debris out of the tank when i vacuum. im sure its not everything, but is water changes that often good for the fish?

 

[Wyomingite]

i seem to get a good portion of debris out of the tank when i vacuum. im sure its not everything, but is water changes that often good for the fish?

There are no issues with making large-volume water changes that often. I rescued four oscars from 5" to 9" and kept 'em in a 90 gallon tank for four months until my 225 was set-up after this last move (it was 'sposed to be a two or three week stay in the 90, but that is another story). I did 50% water changes every day during that time. It was necessary to keep 'em healthy and keep the water clean. Not only did they survive, I cleared up severe HLLE on all four and each managed to grow an inch or two.

The 90 gallon was cycled and I was concerned 'bout building nitrates and metabolites that would slow healing and stunt growth, not ammonia. In your situation, failure to do water changes will result in ammonia poisoning to your fish. Ammonia can be fatal at 1 ppm within 96 hours for smaller fish, at higher concentrations it will be fatal sooner. In addition, you'll hafta be concerned 'bout nitrites later on as the tank cycles. They are as lethal as ammonia.

I would suggest buying a nitrifying bacteria supplement and adding it to your tank fairly soon. This will help establish a bacteria colony sooner. Add the supplement after completing a water change, so the bacteria have time to attach to a substrate. If ya add it before a water change, the bacteria will not have settled in and will be sucked out with the water ya drain off the tank.

Good luck.

WYite

 

[jpappy789]

Some great advice here...I'll echo what has been said about the water changes, enough to keep the ammonia (and later nitrite) as low as possible. As mentioned, it'll come down to persistent testing to make sure the water stays in good shape.

 

[excuzzzeme]

Any ammonia above .025 can be toxic to fish depending on their health. A trace amount of ammonia will always be around and that is quite normal. As JpPPY mentioned, Nitrites are also toxic. Your final stage of water cycling is Nitrates. Again, they are toxic in amounts above 80ppm and anything less than 40ppm is acceptable. Some fish can suffer stress at 40ppm although they may not die from it, it can effect their health. Ideally, you want your nitrates to be as low as possible with 20ppm being your target. As long as you stay below 40ppm you will be OK.

 

[monsterfishlove]

I have Prime, it was actually less expensive than start right. i always use this when i replace my water.

 

[monsterfishlove]

I will look into buying this.

 

[monsterfishlove]

Thank you for you help Jappy.