My fish suddenly died.
Why did this happen?
This is a difficult question to answer without knowing
anything about your aquarium. Here are some questions
for you to ask yourself:
1. Have you checked your water quality recently?
Most fish death can be attributed to poor water quality.
High nitrates, improper pH levels, and ammonia are the most
common causes. If you bought a new fish and took it
home to an aquarium that had one of these problems, then you
might have lost the fish to poor water quality. Be
sure to keep up the maintenance on your aquarium.
Remember that just because the tank "looks clean" does not
mean the water parameters are healthy for your fish.
2.
Do I overfeed? Feeding once
every other day is generally sufficient for most fish.
If you are feeding multiple times a day or pouring fish food
into your aquarium like it is in a salt shaker rather than
adding it by individual pinches, this is a possible cause.
It can pollute the water and it can cause fish to die from
complications of obesity.
3.
Are my fish compatible? There are a
number of rules governing the successful addition of fish to
any aquarium. If you bought a fish just because you
liked it and added it to your aquarium without knowing
anything about that fish, then this could be the reason it
or your other fish died. The new fish could have been
very aggressive or very docile and a fight might have
occurred. You would never consider putting a tiger in
the same room as a newborn kitten just because they are both
types of cat. Always do your research first!
4.
Do I dechlorinate my
water? If you are using tap water in your
aquarium and you do not add something to it each time you
put in new water, then this could be your problem.
Many people add "stuff" to the water because it came with
the aquarium, but they do not know what the "stuff" in the
bottle does. Inform yourself. Read the label.
It may not be a dechlorinator. Chlorine destroys gill
tissue and causes fish to die of suffocation.
Also, most municipal water sources
use chloramine, which is a molecule similar to
chlorine. The difference is that chloramine doesn't
evaporate like chlorine. That means that leaving water
out for a few days doesn't mean it is safe to go in the
aquarium. We recommend Prime by Seachem. One
capful treats 50 gallons which makes it the most cost
effective water conditioner on the market, and it treats
chloramine, chlorine, and ammonia. Be sure your water
conditioner treats all three. If it only treats
chlorine and you have chloramines in your water, the
resulting chemical reaction produces ammonia!
5.
Do I have an
adequately sized filter that is populated with good bacteria?
Without a filter to remove poop and bacteria to process
waste, fish can die of ammonia or nitrite poisoning.
Like chlorine, ammonia and nitrite destroy the fish's gills
and cause it to lose the ability to breathe. Breathing
is important to fish, so make sure you have a good filter
for them.
6.
Do I keep my
aquarium free of decaying food? Decaying food
and other debris, especially in large quantities, release
toxic gasses that can kill fish. You would not want to
live in a room full of rotting hamburgers and glasses of
milk that had gone bad, not to mention piles of human poop
all over the floor. Do your fish a favor and vacuum
the gravel.
7.
Am I feeding my fish
the right food? Not all fish foods are created
equal! Be sure that the food you are feeding your fish
is the right one. You wouldn't feed your child "Cheesy
Poofs" every day of its life, just because it is a type of
"human food". Ask about the nutritional value of what
you are feeding. Also, provide a variety of foods that
mimic the fish's normal diet.
A very common cause of
fish death is constipation. Often this comes from
feeding a cheap food full of filler material that can't be
digested. It can also be caused by feeding too much
protein to a vegetarian fish. Also in reference to
feeding, remember, no fish eats
goldfish as a natural food source! They are toxic, as
are many other "feeder fish". Do your research first!
Feeder fish can also carry disease to your aquarium.
It's just better to buy frozen.
8.
Is that air freshener
(or other aerosol) really so important to you?
Many people do not realize that what is in the air around us
such as room fresheners and scented candles actually gets
into the water of the aquarium. While many of these
things are not always terribly harmful to us, they can be to
fish. Please smoke in another room and if you can live
with the wall color, please don't repaint while the fish
tank is in the room. 9.
Have I replaced my heater within the last year?
It is a fact of life that aquarium heaters fail. They are
much like light bulbs - expendable. Even the good ones
break. Typically when a heater breaks, the thermostat
is the first thing to go. That means the heating
mechanism continues to heat unregulated. By the time
you notice, it's usually too late. Replace your heater
around a holiday so you can remember to do it every year.
10.
Does my fish look
scraped or nicked somewhere? Fish often hurt
themselves swimming between rocks or through ornaments.
It happens. You can select decor that has rounded
surfaces and holes large enough for fish to swim in and out
of easily. That might help, but it's no guarantee -
much like there's no guarantee you won't break your ankle
walking through your own back yard. It's not likely,
but it can happen.
11.
Does my aquarium have
proper circulation? Good oxygenation of the
water is necessary for fish to be healthy. One way to
assure that your fish are getting enough oxygen is to
improve circulation. In saltwater tanks this is
commonly done using powerheads. They are also
appropriate in most freshwater tanks. The one
exception to that is a planted tank where too much water
movement can outgas the CO2 needed for the plants.
It is a good idea to have an intake tube that grabs water
from the bottom of the tank and returns it to the top while
rippling the top of the water. Water near the bottom
of the tank lacks oxygen and the water vibration at the top
of the tank infuses oxygen. You can also add a bubble
wand to the tank to get better oxygenation. While the
large oxygen bubbles that you see moving from the bottom to
the top of the tank don't add oxygen, when they pop at the
top of the water the movement causes infusion of oxygen.
12.
Are there
exposed wires that are rusting in the aquarium?
Many people get creative in their ways to hang lights,
powerheads, and whatever else is missing a hanger.
Oftentimes people will turn to a stiff wire such as a paper
clip or a coat hanger to do the job. Don't do this
because metal leaches out into the tank and gets into the
body of the fish. Metal is toxic. If this has
happened to you, NorthSide recommends Cuprisorb and/or
Purigen to help remove the metallic toxins.
13.
Have I tried to fix a problem too quickly?
Sometimes a well intentioned efforts to fix a problem in an
aquarium have ill effects. It is commonly understood
that taking a fish from a clean environment and putting it
into a dirty environment can cause harm to the fish.
What is not so commonly understood is that the exact
opposite is true. Taking a fish from a very unhealthy
environment ant putting it into a very clean environment can
cause it to go into shock and die.
What this means is that if you have
neglected your tank by not doing monthly water changes, have
been overfeeding, and have allowed the pH to drop because
you haven't been adding buffer you are in for a lot of
problems when you decide to really clean the tank.
Think of it like this: You have spent the last 5 hours
in a deep freezer barely surviving. Suddenly the door
to that deep freezer opens and you run out into the middle
of the Mojave Desert at midday. Your system is likely
to go into shock. That is what is happening to the
fish.
Instead of trying to fix things in one
afternoon, plan a series of water changes and gradual pH
adjustments by adding some buffer to the water. Your
fish will thank you.
14.
Is the decor in your aquarium
safe? It is a common thing for people to look
for unusual items to put in their aquariums. While
uniqueness is cool, the fact that many out of the ordinary
decorations are not aquarium safe makes for a lot of
trouble. Items can be metallic, they might be unwashed
from another aquarium, or they could contain other
contaminants that can leach out into the water over time.
Do your fish a favor and buy rock and decor from a reputable
aquarium store. Rocks and decor found there are known
to be free of unknown contaminants.
15.
Do you have stray
electricity? Believe it or not, stray
electricity is a very common problem and can kill fish over
time. A number of people are not sensitive to electric
shock in water unless it is very strong. If you are
having strange fish deaths, test your water with a
multi-meter. If you find stray voltage, start
unplugging items. You may find that more than one
electrical item is causing your problem.
16.
Did you medicate recently?
Some medications have the ability to hang around for longer
than you realize. Read all medication directions
carefully to make sure that they are safe for your tank
inhabitants. Always remove any carbon on the tank
while medicating and then replace it when you are done.
Don't forget to turn off your UV filter while you medicate.
It can make some medications toxic - especially those that
contain copper.
17.
Did
you remove that dead fish as soon as you found it?
Sometimes people get grossed out by
the idea of handling a dead fish and have, therefore, have
been known to leave dead fish in their tanks.
Polluted water from dead fish remains is full of toxic
ammonia. One dead fish left in the tank can cause a domino
effect, killing the other fish.
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