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I am at wits end

2K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  iamntbatman 
#1 ·
Hi,
Today my last baby oscar fish died, I had 2 at first but one died from what I think to be a swim bladder disorder, but this last one was acting normal, didn't have any external parasites or fungus, was eating fine, has hiding spaces, the pH is 7.2(same pH as in the petshop which I try to keep it around that number so thy don't get stressed) and the ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites are at excllent levels, I also have a pleco who was there when first set up the tank(with differant fish now in a new tank) altough back then I also had a mysterious death, my blind cave fish who after dying showed some signs of internal bleeding, I have no idea why this is happening and why everyone dies but the pleco, the pleco never acts agressive towards anyone and stays on the heater or in it's cave all day, is it possible for the oscar to have died of deppresion? The two oscars where very close and ALWAYS stayed together, they where never apart, even when it died the other oscar was by it's side in the gravel and followed my net when I took it out of the water. Any help would be wonderfull since I love fish and aquariums but I feel like givine up al together.

Thank you,
Christian
 
#2 ·
Welcome to the forum, Christian. I'm not sure what's going on with your tank but don't give up!
How long has this tank been set up? Can you post your exact water parameters, what type of test kit you're using, water change schedule, what size tank, etc??
 
#7 ·
I second that, sounds as if your tank isn't quite finished with the cycling process. Your fish probably died in a spike of some sort, most likely the nitrIte. Your nitrAtes should be reading at around 5-10 and nitrItes should be 0, as stated, in a fully mature tank.

How long has this tank been set up? Can you post your exact water parameters, what type of test kit you're using, water change schedule, what size tank, etc??
I think giving us all of this in, like, a list form would be best to help us understand more and help you out :)
 
#3 ·
do not give up! you can always try again! i know how you feel, i had 8 guppies that were all in pairs and were all happy, but then everyday or so one would die, i didnt know what was happening and sadly by the time i stopped this problem there was only one guppy left :-(

you might want to try changing the water, only leaving 15% of your water, that should get rid of any parasites that can be living in your water. That should work.... and im sorry about your loss. :-(
 
#4 ·
Awww, don't give up hun! It can be hard at first, I know. I had a very difficult time with my 20 gallon and almost threw in the towel a couple times, but I kept at it and now have everything in order.....except for that darn algae <.<

I second aunt kymmie's questions, in order to better help ya out we need as much info you can give us :)
As for the Oscar, from what I understand they are solitary fish by nature, correct me If I'm wrong though. So it probably wasn't depression.

you might want to try changing the water, only leaving 15% of your water, that should get rid of any parasites that can be living in your water. That should work.... and im sorry about your loss. :-(
Just a simple water change won't get rid of a parasite I'm afraid my friend ;-) IF it is some sort of parasite infecting the tank(we can't know for sure without more info)then special meds should be purchased and then directions on the box of said meds/directions from a far more experienced fish keeper should be followed. Meds do not fall within my field of knowledge as I have had very few problems with sick fish and have only ever medicated a tank once for a bacterial infection.;-)
 
#8 ·
Not to jump the gun here (we really do need specifics such as how big the tank is, how long it has been set up, how long you had the fish before they died, etc) but oscars, while normally quite hardy fish, are often sold in pretty miserable states. I often see them riddled with ich and hole-in-the-head at pet stores. It's likely that, if these were new fish, the nitrites (and perhaps ammonia before the nitrites showed up) in your tank contributed to health problems that already existed, which could have led to their deaths.
 
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