~Why Do Fish Die Suddenly? Common Mistakes Beginners Make
The most frustrating situation for a beginner fish aquarium owner is waking up with dead fish in the aquarium for which there is no reason at all. The aquarium is fine, fish are swimming, and when waking up, one realizes that some fish are dead.
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The fact is, fish don’t die for no reason. This is mostly because fish die because of a few small errors that a beginner doesn’t even know that they are making. Now that you are aware, it’s very easy to avoid this problem.
1. Stocking Fish Too Quickly in a New Tank
This is error number one for a beginner.
An aquarium takes a certain amount of time to develop beneficial bacteria that can convert fish waste. If fish are introduced to the aquarium too soon or simultaneously in large numbers, ammonia, a toxin, is produced in the aquarium.
What happens:
Fish feel stressed
The quality of the water deteriorates quickly
Fish can die in hours to days
Solution:
Cycle the aquarium correctly, adding fish gradually, a few at a time.
2. Abrupt Water Changes
Changing too much water at once may shock fish.
New aquarium owners believe that a complete change of the aquarium’s water is necessary to make it clean, but in effect, it reduces useful bacteria with a sudden change in the chemistry of the water.
Common errors:
The amount of moisture varies from
Reusing cold or untreated tap water
Clean the filters, tanks, filters, tanks, filters, tanks, filters,
Solution:
Change only 20-30% of water per week with treated, temperature-matched water.
3. Overfeeding
Fish don’t require a lot of food.
The extra food contributes to sinks, rottening, and pollution of the water. This generates ammonia that is known to kill fish quickly.
Indications of overfeeding:
Food that is on the bottom
Cloudy water
Odor from storage tanks
Solution:
Give only what fish can eat within 30 to 60 seconds, once or twice a day.
4. Poor Water Quality
“Clear water is not necessarily clean water.”
Nitrosamine, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are invisible but highly harmful chemicals. Fish may look healthy but still be harmed.
Common causes:
No regular changes of aquarium water
Weak or dirty filters
Overstocked tank
Solution:
Use a filter, change the water once a week, and, if possible, test the water.