Test Results for the Following:
Ammonia Level? "safe"
Nitrite Level? 20
Nitrate level? 0
Ph Level, (If possible,KH and GH and chloramines)? 7.2
Ph Level out of the Tap? dont' know
Tank size (How many Gals) and How long has it been running? 10 gallons running since Jan.
What is the name and size of the filter/s? don't know..it has a bio-wheel
How often do you change the water and how much? 30% twice a wk.
How many fish in the tank and their size? black moor
What kind of water additives or conditioners? de-chlor
Any medications added to the tank? newly salted to .3%
Add any new fish to the tank? no
What do you feed your fish? pellets, sometimes peas
Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt", no
bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus? no
Any unusual behavior like staying
at the bottom, not eating, ect..?


HELP, for a few weeks Oscar has been swimming on his side and laying on his side. He isn't very active. I don't know if he is blind too. He has a very hard time finding the food and I basically hand feed him. I salted the tank gradually to .3% to see if that would make him feel better. Now he is floating on his side, not at the top but close to the bottom of the tank. He is barely moving. Is he dying? I don't want him to be suffering.

Sounds like swim bladder disorder. The swim bladder is the air sac within the fish that they use to ascend and descend in the water.

As long as he's somewhat active and eating, he's ok. Don't worry I don't think your fish is dying. I might suggest you not feed floating pellets (if you do, soak them for a minute first) and keep up with the peas. I'm not sure what medicine you'd use to treat this, hopefully an expert will be along shortly.

Best of luck to you and Oscar.

Sorry to say that Oscar died this morning.

oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.

If there is such a place as the Rainbow Bridge, I'm sure there's water under it, and that's where pet fish go when they pass on.

Sorry to hear about your fish but from your test results your problem was down to poor water quality. Nitrites of 20ppm is toxic . Your tank from those results show it wasn't cycled.

We have an obituary page here at Koko's

I guess I typed it wrong.
NitrATes were 20
Nitrite were 0

Oh, he still went to Fishie Heaven even with good water!