whats wrong with my fish?

Question

My 20gal oscar tank got cloudy so i did a 30-40% water change. I put 2 tabs of ammonia clear and 3 teaspoons of easy balance in my tank. It's still cloudy and my fish looks as though it has ammonia burn what do i do? It's a white oscar and the fins on the bottom of it are black on the tips and from what i can see his gills are looking like a dark red...(ammonia burn?)

Answer 1

Those can be signs of either an ammonia burn or an illness. I would say odds are very high that you are correct and it's ammonia burn. In that case what you have done is an excellent start, but you will need to continue doing 25-40% water changes every few days or even daily until the tank completely cycles and the ammonia isnt' a problem any more. I would suggest you discountinue using the ammonia tabs as they will inhibit the natural function of the cycle in the tank and actually cause the process to take much longer. The only product for lowering ammonia without slowing the cycle that I know of is Amquel, so it would be ok to use.

If you start to see any red streaks in the fishs fins, assume you have a bacteria infection and treat with Furanace or Marycn for 10 days to 2 weeks. Don't treat unless you see more signs of disease as this treatment will require you to completely cycle the tank again.

The current burn you see will repair itself given time, but it will take quite a while.

You do know that fish will outgrow a 20 gallon very soon, right? An oscar will need at least a 70 to be comfortable once full grown.

Best of luck

MM

Answer 2

What is Ammonia?
Ammonia in a aquarium is caused by decomposition of fish waste, decaying food, and dead fish. Ammonia is the number one killer of tropical fish. Ammonia causes the blood of a fish to loose its ability to carry oxygen. This causes stress to the fish and lowers the resistance of the fish to bacterial infections such as fin and tail rot, eye cloud, mouth fungus, body slime, and body sores.
How do I test for Ammonia?
There are many test kits that are on the market. Some of the kits use test tubes and small bottles of chemicals or tablets others are paper strips that you dip in the water. Either way you go do not let the test tubes or the paper strips get in contact with the water that is in your aquarium. While you are testing you need take a sample of water out of the aquarium and put it into another small container and either fill the test tubes or dip the test strips from the small container. The chemicals used for testing any water condition is toxic to both fish and humans and should never be dipped in your aquarium.
What is a good level for the Ammonia to read?
A perfect aquarium will contain no Ammonia and will register a reading of 0 - PPM With readings as low as .5 - PPM some fish will start to show signs of stress such as clamped fins and rapid gill pumping. If you have readings of 2 - PPM or higher a partial water change is suggested for immediate relief for the fish. pH will also affect Ammonia. As pH increases the toxicity of ammonia will also increase regardless of the ammonia level tested.
How does high ammonia affect my fish?
Ammonia is very toxic to fish, it will irritate their gill tissues and cause severe damage to other body tissues. We call this Ammonia burn, because it basically burns your fish's sensitive tissues.
What precautions can I take to prevent the ammonia from building up in the aquarium?
Frequent water changes will help avoid ammonia buildup. Another things that can be done is to avoid overfeeding the fish as the uneaten food will turn into ammonia. Avoid the overstocked aquarium more fish mean more fish waste which will result in higher ammonia levels. There are also some products on the market that will remove ammonia from a aquarium. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals for example has placed AMMO-CARB and AMMO-CHIPS on the market to help keep ammonia from building up in a existing aquarium

Answer 3

by changing your water so much you are causing more ammonia build-up.
change only 25% of your water once monthly...
from the lower 1/4 0f your tank. ammonia is heavier than water- and sinks to the bottom.

Answer 4

keep going 25-30% water changes for a couple of weeks like every other day or even every day for the first three depends how bad it is. Remeber not to change your water to much though b/c you don't want to shock your fish. Just do it now b/c you have to.