NOOB!! Given wrong info to buy fish.

WisFish

How long has the tank been setup? I'd guess either high ammonia or, if the fish had been spending a lot of time up at the surface, they needed more oxygen.

Mazdamarc

OK the ammonia level the PH correct?

Byron

Ammonia and pH are different. The pH is the measure of the acidity of water, and in your case with a pH of 6.2 your water is slightly acidic. That is good, as there are a lot of nice fish that will thrive in that water.

Ammonia is produced by the fish when they respirate. It is highly toxic to fish and plants. Bacteria change it into nitrite, which is also toxic, and another bacteria change nitrite into nitrate which is basically harmless at normal levels.

A new tank, which is what this sound like, goes through a 2-8 week cycling period during which the bacteria I mentioned appear and multiply to handle the ammonia and nitrite. I suspect ammonia is very high in your tank, and that is what likely killed the two fish. Do a daily partial water change of 30-50%, using a good water conditioner, and wait it out.

The Oscar is too big for a small tank, and I agree with previous advice to take it back to the store.

Byron.

Mazdamarc

is there a certain kind of test kit i should buy?? my test strips do not have one for just ammonia.

Angel079

The most common one you'll find at given petstore's is the drip test set from API, very accurate and the set comes with all you need.

Mazdamarc

OK i bought a ammonia test and the ammonia level was in the harmful 3.0 level i did about a 30% water change and it came down to the stressful .5. i also noticed there was a bunch of old food and water that got stared up when i added the new water so i think i am going to buy a gravel vaccum cleaner. The tank has been set up for about 3wks is there anything else i should look out for?

Angel079

Cleaning your gravel (left over foods and what your fish produce) via the vacuum should be done weekly.
In your situation now, I'd keep retesting ammonia daily, if level goes up again, water exchange again and so on.

SinCrisis

Stick with the liquid kit, trash the strips, most strips on the market are very inaccurate except when it comes to testing ph.

1077

You mentioned ,or asked ,is there anythingh else that you should look out for.
Overfeeding the fish will also cause ammonia levels to increase in new or mature tanks. When tanks are maturing, or(cycling) it is best to feed the fish sparingly once a day or every other day. Food laying on the bottom indicates too much food is being offered.
The gravel vaccum is a wise purchase and the use of it will only help with water quality. It is possible however in new tanks,,to get too aggressive with the vaccum. The good bacteria that consumes fish waste,poo,and food also lives in the gravel and by vaccuming say,, one end of the tank one week, the middle of the tank the next week, and the other end of the tank the following week,, we can remove waste while preserving bacteria. Again ,,by not overfeeding, we can cut down on the waste significantly and vaccuming the gravel becomes less of an issue.
Excess fish food = excess fish poo = excess ammonia = sick fishies.

WisFish

All good information about cycling a tank, but you'r eleft with the original problem. That fish will get too big for the tank if it isn't already. You really need to return it and restock with something else.