new tank, possible problems

[oracledba72]

I'm not sure if I should post this here or not, but I have a small problem and could use some help. I was at *****, and they told me that my 7 gallon tank would cycle better if I purchased a few freshwater oscars and put them in there. Well, that was last night, and now I have 4 oscars floating, and 1 oscar nippin' at the other 4. It's real gross. There were fish parts everywhere. What should I do now? My tank was almost cycled, 4 weeks into the process, and now I have eyeballs and crap floating everywhere.....I"M SO TICKED!!!

Any advice ?

 

[jmick]

I’m a little confused here….
This is a saltwater tank right? If so, that is the worst advice I’ve ever seen on cycling a tank and I advise you remove the dead Oscars and take the living one back (all I can say is shame on them for telling you to do that—it makes no sense to me that they’d tell you to do that)!
Second, is this your first saltwater tank? If so, you will probably find a small 7gal nano to be very difficult to maintain. IMO, these tanks are not for beginners and can be very challenging to maintain because keeping the water stable can be tricky if you don’t have much experience.
In any event, take all the Oscars back (dead and alive) and demand a refund…I would give them hell for it.

 

[hedonic]

Even if it is freswater, Oscars are south american ciclids and can attain a size near 20"!!!! even young and small they release a ton of ammonia as they are very dirty fish (heavy bio-load). All that be as it may, even four tiny osacrs is way to many fish fro a seven gallon tank. You got hosed all the way around, if they don't refund threaten to report them to corparte, ***** is supposed to train employees before they work in the fish department, who ever you talked to may not have even been allowed to work in that area. Raise hell man, that is the worst advice I have ever heard.

 

[tim_12]

I agree. Take them all back and demand that they refund your money. On the bright side, your tank now has the ammonia needed for your cycle. In future, use a raw cocktail shrimp to cycle your tank. LFS usually have a bad reputation for giving bad advice. If you do go to a LFS for advice, try to go to a fish specialty store instead of a general pet store.

 

[ezee]

oracledba72,
You are in for a longer wait while your tank's catches up to the ammonia. You may just want to dump that water and start over.
E

 

[treybomb]

Originally Posted by Jmick
I’m a little confused here….
This is a saltwater tank right? If so, that is the worst advice I’ve ever seen on cycling a tank and I advise you remove the dead Oscars and take the living one back (all I can say is shame on them for telling you to do that—it makes no sense to me that they’d tell you to do that)!
Second, is this your first saltwater tank? If so, you will probably find a small 7gal nano to be very difficult to maintain. IMO, these tanks are not for beginners and can be very challenging to maintain because keeping the water stable can be tricky if you don’t have much experience.
In any event, take all the Oscars back (dead and alive) and demand a refund…I would give them hell for it.
ive seen oscars used for cycling b4 cuz they are so cheap(usually like 99 cents) but almost everybody despises the practice fo cycling with live fish (just use lr or dead cocktail shrimp)