Oscars Acting Weird

[dcj38]

Last night I was outside, and looked into my pond, and my oscars are all laying on their sides... I put my hand in and they all swim away pretty fast. I sat back down and then a couple of mins later they are all laying back down. The red tiger oscar, is breathing hard out of one gill, and so is the albino red, and the red oscar is just laying on his side. I test the water, and the results are 0 ammonia 0.5 nitrIte, and 5-10 NitrAte. I add some powder stuff which came with the pond package called aqua clearer, which brings down ammonia and nitrItes. In the morning they are swimming around looking fine, however right now the red tiger and albino are playing in the water fall, and the red is just laying down but not on his side... One minute they are completely fine, and the next minute they are not... Also I called one of my lfs this morning and he said it may be a mini cycle, but the nitrites have been 0.5 for a couple of weeks now... Any suggestions?

NOTE: I dont have a cycled tank, so they are going to have to stay in the pond, and if worst comes to worst I will put them in the HUGE lake in my community.

 

[diademhill]

Do you know anyone with a filtered pond?
What you need is some of the gunk from a mature filter to boost your filter.

 

[dcj38]

Do you know anyone with a filtered pond?
What you need is some of the gunk from a mature filter to boost your filter.

thats actually a very good idea i didnt think about that.... Since my dad is a pond contracter he knows quite a lot of people with ponds. What kind of gung would I need or could I get a used filter pad?

 

[Paul_MTS]

you need a few litres of there media.

Rather than adding this powder do water changes. The reason it's been going for weeks is by adding th powder your not letting it do it's cycle.

 

[dcj38]

you need a few litres of there media.

Rather than adding this powder do water changes. The reason it's been going for weeks is by adding th powder your not letting it do it's cycle.

Ok, so if I do a water change do i have to add a chemical... You see this is meant to be a natural ecosystem without adding chemicals.

 

[tttnjfttt]

If you do water changes, make sure you are using dechlorinator. Also check to make sure that your water doesnt' have ammonia in it, or if it does, use something to neutralize the ammonia.

 

[freddyk]

and if worst comes to worst I will put them in the HUGE lake in my community.

Of course you don't mean a natural occuring lake where the introduction of foreign species can disrupt the ecosystem.

If the pond is cycled and the nitrites aren't going down then you may need to look at further biological filtration.

 

[Trance2006]

Why not use RO water with trace mineral chems added?

 

[OohFeeshy]

Why not use RO water with trace mineral chems added?

Why use it, is more the question... Still adding chemicals, might as well save your wallet and use tap water.