Sad Oscar Tiger

[Kai]

So, good news! My Oscar is still happy an not sulking much!
I am still going to the local fish store tomorrow to buy a water test kit, but I have done a couple ~20% water changes and so far he seems good.
One thing I found though is that he looooves this food!

I know it's not really meant for him, but I have some silver sharks that love it, so I gave him a tablet , he chomped it down and was the happiest I have seen him! lol

Is this okay for him to have once in a while?

I have been feeding him a combination of:
"Sera Vipan Staple Diet, flake"
"Nutrafin basix Floating Cichlid Pellets"
"bloodworms"
and a bit of the food pictured above. Is this a balanced diet? At what point should I start to include live feeder fish, and how often?

 

[joshrm115]

If I where you I would not worry about the size of the tank as long as the fish look conferable(if they look crowded or not). Oscars are what I like to call the mopey fish when transfered to a new place they seem to get VARY depressed and might ever start going on its side a bit give it a weak may be two he will come around....As fare as it being with the angel I recommend you separate them ASAP! the Oscar may seem nice now thats its depressed but once it gets out of that funk its going to start nipping and biting at the angels fins

 

[Kai]

GH - 170
KH - 150
pH - 6.5
NO2 - 0.25
NO3 - 120


My NO3 (Nitrate) seems alarmingly high?? Am I correct here? How can I lower this?
As far as I can tell, the other numbers seem alright...

 

[minxfishy]

The way to lower nitrAtes and ammonia and nitrIte is to do water changes, that is a high nitrAte level, however Id be more concerned about the NO2 (nitrIte), which in a fully cycled tank should read 0. I would do a 50% water change to get that down and lower the nitrAtes. You dont have an ammonia reading, do you know what it is?

 

[Kai]

I think that my NO2 level was actually closer to zero. I put 0.25 because it was not perfectly white like the zero rating on the chart, but it was definitely lighter than the 0.5 rating. I think it was just slightly darkened because of being wet it is almost impossible to get perfectly white. There was no pink tinge though, so I'm thinking it might actually be 0.
The guy at my local fish store said that high ammonia levels are a result of high nitrate (or maybe it was nitrite lol) levels. So as long as the NO2 level is okay that ammonia level should be okay. However, no I don't have an actual ammonia reading.

I did another water change just now, so I will re-test later and see if my NO3 level is better.

 

[BecciMac1987]

If I where you I would not worry about the size of the tank as long as the fish look conferable(if they look crowded or not).

What a rediculous statement.

 

[joshrm115]

Keep in mind Oscars are messy I do a 30 percent water change twice a weak.

 

[Jimbo1984]

Hmmm. You should really have spent time setting up the tank and getting the temperature stable before buying the fish, at least a week. Anyway, what other tanks do you have and how long have they been running? Does that other tank now not have a filter? Is it still running?

I'm pretty sure the ammonia reading has nothing to do with the nitrate reading. Why is the nitrate so high? Did you use tank water from your other tank?

Also, move the angels back into the other tank if it's still running. They will not be enjoying the oscars company and vice versa...