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I have had my tank up and going for a month or so. I have been monitoring my ph ammonia and nitrite levels most the time.

Now two days ago one of my puffer fish dissapered and the other on was showing signs of a fight so i just figured he was lost in battle.

than i noticed my albino oscar who is relatively small maybe 1.5" big is turning black with a tinge. it doesnt look like much he is swimming fine and maintaining a healthy appetite. none of the other fish are showing and black tinge to them.

i was installing an air bubbler in the tank when i found the dead puffer fish floating in the water i thought he was eaten, im not sure if he died in a fight or dissease.

my friend told me to do a 25% water change and add this "jungle fungus eliminator" that is suppose to clear unwanted fungus and bacteria. i did so

the ph level is 7.6 which i have figured is where i want it
the ammonia level is .10 ppm and i tested for the nitrite level is 3.0 ppm

Is the nitrite bad for the tank at such high levels?

any help or comments would be appreciated thank you all

Few things

1. You are cycling, this is not the best condition for most fish to be in. Many fish cannot handle the ammonia and nitrIte spikes that happen during the cycle and will die. Please read this FAQ on Cycling. If you have any questions or don't understand let us know.

2. What sized tank do you have? What fish, how many, what type of filter.

3. You mentioned puffers and oscars but didn't say if they were in the same tank. Oscars are not compatible with most fish unless you are buying them as the oscars lunch. Any fish kept with an oscar needs to be fast and agile enough to get away. Puffers do not fall into this category.

4. Adding medication without knowing what is wrong with the tank is really bad. You can do a lot more harm to the fish than good.

based on the ammonia of .1ppm and nitrite at 3.0ppm and the length of time your tank has been running it sounds to me like you are finishing the cycling process. Do a water change and run some fresh carbon through your filter to remove that "fungus eliminator" that you added. Many medications will destroy the biological filtration in your tank resulting in a cycle or minicycle which will stress your fish out.

At this point the only thing I'd suggest adding to the tank is a product called Cycle. It contains the good bacteria your fish need to survive.

Let us know a little more about the tank, hopefully we can get you sorted out .

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Yes lol i am keeping the oscars with all my other fish, i am well aware of the "oscar" and its reputaion that preceeds it. (when the oscars get to big for my tank i bring them to my local fish store) i have found that the aggresiveness of the puffer counter acts the ness of the oscar they generally keep there distance


I have a crawfish, catfish, figure 8 puffer fish, yellow lab,Pseudotropheus hajomaylandi, peacock cichlid, oscar, bristle nose pleco, and two black tetras and some where in there a koohlie loach.

i have been reading a few places that some albino oscars are actually la oscars and do darken around edges, it could be ammonia burns or fin rot. After a while of the product i put in serculated the blackness one his body and fins has lightened

it is a 40 gallon tank with an aquaclear 400 filter:

Fish need room to grow, just planning on taking them to the store when they get too big is a really bad idea . What ends up happening is that you stunt the fish causing the outside to slow down its development while the inside organs kept growing. Very similar to the chinese concept of foot binding.

Now I'm sure you mean well and didn't intend to harm your pets, but the stock you have is really not the best. You don't mention what type of catfish? Is it a cory? if so what kind. Corys should be kept in schools of 5 or more. Tetras are also schooling fish. Tetras should not be kept with oscars.

Additionally you're mixing fish that have different water requirements and temperaments together. Have a look at the profiles section on the site to brush up on the needs of the different fish you do have. If you plan on keeping all the fish you currently have I would suggest two more tanks. A 125 gallon for the oscar, and at least a 30 gallon for the tetras. The pleco and catfish will depend what type they are how big of a tank they need to go in.

Hopefully you read and understood the link on cycling I provided.

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Yes i read that, but the fact is my oscar is still black. This isnt my first time with fish, this is my first time getting technical with the water chemistry.

In the end the fish were 6 bucks and i bought them for my amusment. thus being said i take pride in having many different speciese of fish living in harmony in one tank. they do in the wild and your tank has to resemble there habbitat. for the water temps and ph levels of the diferent fish, i did look on the profiles pages and with the various scales that are provided i picked a median level. i have another 40 gallon at my girlfriends house which is cycling right now, i plan on using it to harbour a few fish.

In the past i have kept different fish together, my friend who got me back into the hobby has several pirrahnas with jack dempsys and crawfish and oscars. i find that is creating a healthy balance.

I have sorted out my water i put the charcoal back in and it cleaned up the water and the results from my water testing at my pet store said that my tank is at the end of tis cylce.

to ease your mind i do have a 200 gallon tank in storage but my living situation does not permit me to set it up yet. But i am looking to find a good filtration set up for it, for a good price.

Sorry but the fact that you say this is the first time you've gotten 'technical with water chemistry' as you say really shows that you don't really know what you're doing with your fish.

Understanding the cycling process is the essential first step to keeping fish, and the fact that you don't understand (other wise you'd have known what was going on in your tank) just goes to show that you knew less than you think.

That's not a problem so long as you're willing to learn.

If you've just come here to troll and insist that you are right about everything I feel very very sorry for all the living beings in your care.

I do hope you fix your tanks with the help of the extra tank at your GFs


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ou are right, nail on the head i dont really no that much, i had a tank put fish in, they lived. i bought more fish they ate other fish. i've learned from my mistakes i guess.

I simply asked a question about my oscar and you have to flat out rip on my set up say there is no way my fish are going to live. i get it you no alot about fish.

dont feel sorry for my fish, they eat better than half the people do in the contries they came from. ya the water conditions may not be perfect and they may get stressed, but it was 35 degrees when i went to buy there food and my air conditioning didnt work so i was stressed to, but like my fish i delt with it.

but all that is besides the point. My tank is fine now and the levels are all normal. as for the oscar i went to the pet store i got it from and some of there oscars turned black too, it is the breed of oscar. they simply answered my question with out telling me i was doin everything wrong.

One more thing I've talked it over with other people i know and we can't seem to find a reason that growing fish then moving them to a more suited aquarium a bad thing. when the fish gets big... move it. don't wait till its to big than wait another 4 months to move it. I know thats a bad idea.

I'm not sure on the cat fish you asked me about earlier it is not a cory tho it is spotted and frequantly swims upside down.

p.s the note about the corys and tetras needing to school and what not, what they need is to be free in thier native waters but since that isn't the case they're gonna have to make do with what they got and the friends they have. they were food for my crawfish but he hasnt eaten them yet

Glad to hear your fish are looking better. My guess would be that the hot weather combined with the ammonia and nitrite stressed them out some. How are the levels now? Feed them sparingly until the numbers are 0 again. How hot did it get in the tank?
Long term I would keep an eye on the nitrAte, because this will be a good indicator of whether there is too much fish/waste for the filtration to handle. I like to keep the nitrate below 20.
You can move a fish to a new tank whenever you find convenient, you are correct, but for a large fish such as an oscar it is good when they are smaller to lessen the chance of injury while being moved.
Oh and the catfish, look up the species synodontis. They might be what you have.

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