Why did my fish die?

The article concerns the following question Why did my fish die? I know it’s a fairly morbid title to an article but it is not uncommon question. Fish can die for a whole variety of reasons. They can catch diseases, they can suffer organ failure and the can even injure themselves. However most fish deaths are directly related to the quality of water in an aquarium and there are three major factors that influence water quality. I tell everybody that keeping fish is easy. Change some of the water regularly, do not place more fish in your aquarium than it can comfortably hold and don’t over feed. Breaking these three rules are major contributing factors to the loss of fish.

Although aquariums have filters on them, there are waste products that build up in the aquatic environment overtime. In your home, you sweep or vac the floors on a regular basis. Although this helps to keep them clean, eventually they will need to a thorough cleaning. Imagine that to thoroughly clean your carpet you had to take all your furniture out of the house and rip up the carpet.

This would be very stressful for you. Many people believe that emptying the whole aquarium is great way to clean it. This process is very stressful for the fish and in the process you lose thousands of good bacteria that help to breakdown the waste of the fish. It is better to exchange about one third of the water in the aquarium every few weeks rather than the once a year clean out. Using a gravel cleaner will help to extract the waste out the gravel, come in and we will demonstrate one for you.

Having fish can be very exciting and many customers comment mention that they find themselves watching the fish instead of the television. This addiction to the fish often leaves them with the desire to add just one more fish to the aquarium, which in many cases can be one too many. Extra fish add extra waste to the system and the filter may not have the capacity to cope with this. Remember when adding fish to an aquarium you also need to allow room for the fish to grow.

The number one killer of fish in an aquarium in my opinion is over feeding of the fish. This is not because the fish become big and fat as a result of eating too much but rather the excessive food breaks down into ammonia, which is toxic to the fish. If you are feeding flake food to the fish, as rule, what ever goes in dry will expand to three times that amount when it is wet, so take this into consideration when you are feeding the fish.

Many people come in say that they will try their luck with a small tank and if they are successful, they will spend the money on a larger tank. Small tanks are difficult to maintain as the small body of water in it changes in quality very quickly. Always purchase the biggest aquarium that you can afford and make sure that it has filter on it. If you follow this advice then hopefully you’ll never to ask “Why did my fish die?”