Fish die in home aquariums by the millions every year. While keeping aquarium fish is fun, and it is one of the most popular hobbies among pet keepers around the world. It is not so funny when the fish die so fast. The truth is that the average fish only live for three weeks after leaving the shops. Most fish species can live a natural lifespan of several years to even decades. What can cause the fish to die so quickly in home aquariums?
In at least over 90% of the cases, fish die early because of the following beginners’ mistakes:
1. Fish Died to Untreated Tap Water
You must know that fish can’t survive in untreated tap water. Tap water contains chlorine and chloramines. Water companies use them to disinfect. Both chlorine and chloramine can and will kill the fish. While Chlorine can evaporate slowly if you let the tap water sit for a few days, chloramine is a different story, and it is there to stay. Untreated tap water is one of the leading causes of fish deaths in new home aquariums.
The solution to this problem is straightforward. Buy a bottle of aquarium water conditioner. Years ago when I was a kid, people used solid crystal like water conditioner. Nowadays, most water conditioners are in liquid form.
I have used Seachem Prime, Kordon NovAqua+, Tetra AquaSafe, and Hikari Ultimate.
While they are all good and work just fine for their primary purpose, I recommend Prime for new tanks. It can also detoxify ammonia and nitrite for up to 48 hours. It can come in handy for a new tank.
2. Fish Die to Shock From Sudden Changes in Water Parameters
Do Not Skip New Fish Acclimation
Most fish can adapt to a range of water chemistry (PH, hardness, etc.) and water temperature without a problem if given time. However, many new fish keepers do not know this. They will just “dump” newly bought fish into their fish tanks immediately. The water in the tank obviously has different chemical makeup and temperature compared with the water in the plastic bag that came with the fish. Unlike the human being, fish are cold blood animal, and they can’t regulate their body temperature as we do. A sudden change of water temperature can “shock” the fish and even cause them to die! The water PH and hardness are also critical; the sudden drastic change in either of them can cause fish to die.
Solution: You must acclimate the fish. Before opening the plastic bag, you should put the bag into the fish tank water. Let it sit there for at least 20 minutes for the temperature of the water in the plastic bag to become the same as the water in the tank. Many novice fish keepers do that after listening to the sellers at the fish stores, however, what they miss is the next step.
Now the water temperature is the same after the fish bag has been sitting in the fish tank water for over 20 minutes, but the water chemistry such as PH and hardness are still different! What now?
I usually do the following. Use a plastic fish container, and dump the fish & water from the plastic bag into the container. There is no need to transfer all the water if the container is not big enough. Then get rid of some water (around 25%) from the container (throw that water away, do not put it into the fish tank), and refill the container with water from the tank.
Wait for 10~15 minutes, then get rid of some more water from the container, and refill it with the water from the fish tank. Repeat that process every 10~15 minutes with no more than 25~30% of water replaced each time. Until the water in the container is almost all from the fish tank instead of the pet shop water from the plastic bag. In this way, the fish have the time to get used to the new water parameters slowly. The whole acclimating process usually takes me about 1.5~2 hours. For more sensitive fish, it can take 2~3 hours before I feel safe to add the fish to the tank.
Aquarium Heater is mandatory for tropical fish
We based the above scenario on the assumption that you have an aquarium heater if the fish you keep are tropical. It does not matter how slowly you try to make the fish adapt the new temperature, tropical fish (such as betta) will die if there is no heater to keep the water at the tropical water temperature which is usually around mid 70~80F+.
Most aquarium fish sold at the shops are tropical. If you are looking for a heater, I would recommend EHEIM Jager Heater. I use a 50w heater in a 40-gallon tank, and the temperature is very stable since I have good water flow around it.
The shock from water changes
Fish tank maintenance might also cause shock to the fish if the fish owner did it wrong. Some new fish owners would do 100% water change, or even take out the fish. It is a bad idea. A lot of fish died because of this practice. If you change all of the water, there has to be a significant change in the water parameters. It is exactly what we must avoid. Typical aquarium maintenance should have a (partial) water change of no more than 30~50% each time. The water should come from the same source every time. It is also critical to make sure the new water has similar water temperature compare to the water in the fish tank. You can say every water change is also a form of fish acclimation. Without doing it correctly, fish die quite fast.
3. Fish Die to Ammonia and Nitrite Poisoning
Ammonia and nitrite poisoning is a more complicated problem. First, you MUST have an aquarium filtration system running 24/7 if you plan to have fish. Without a filter, no fish will be alive for long. That is certain, and there is no way to get around it. Second, you must understand the Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle.
Now let us talk about why we need a filter and why there are ammonia and nitrite poisoning.
Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle
Fish produce ammonia as a natural waste. Ammonia is toxic, and it will harm the fish. In a natural environment such as a lake or a river, there is so much water, and it removes ammonia quickly, but in a closed system such as in a fish tank, ammonia builds up and become more and more concentrated! It burns the fish’s gills, and it can kill the fish when the concentration is too high or exposed to low concentration for too long. Usually, in two to three weeks, the level of ammonia concentration in a fish tank will be sufficient to kill the fish.
Now what? How do we remove the ammonia from an aquarium?
The answer is you do not need to remove it physically. In a well-established aquarium, there are naturally occurring bacteria that feed on ammonia as food. Most of these bacteria live on the filter media where there are lots of surface areas. (These bacteria only colonize on the surface areas)! The ammonia feeding bacteria will convert ammonia to nitrite. However, nitrite is even more toxic than ammonia!
Now what? There is a different type of bacteria feeding on nitrite, and convert it into a much less harmful form – nitrate. The second species of bacteria also colonizes the surface areas in the fish tank, and just like the first type of bacteria, they mostly stay in the filter media because that is where the most surface areas are in a fish tank.
Nitrate is entirely harmless to the fish until there is exceptionally high concentration. Ammonia and nitrite must be kept at 0 at all times if you want your fish to live.
However, it takes up to 6~8 weeks for these two types of bacteria to grow into sufficient number to keep the ammonia and nitrite at 0, if…and only if there is a constant source of ammonia. In other words, these bacteria won’t grow if there is no fish. On the other hand, by having fish in the aquarium, there is a continuous source of ammonia, but the fish will usually die before the 6~8 weeks is up!
What did I say? You will never have remotely close to enough bacteria to feed on ammonia and nitrite if there is no fish (source of ammonia). But your fish will also die if you add it to the fish tank before there are enough bacteria. It makes no sense, does it? It sure sounds like nobody can keep fish alive at all if the fish tank is newly set up.
There is a solution to it. You should not add any fish to a new aquarium until you do a fishless cycle! It is something every fish keep need to know before getting any fish at all.
To test your water chemistry for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and PH, you need a liquid water test kit. (Paper strip kits are not accurate at all.)
I use API freshwater master kit. It is far more accurate than paper strip test kits. And it is, in fact, more cost-effective due to you can use it for over 100 times.
For saltwater aquariums, you need a different test kit called API Saltwater master kit.
Aquarium Filtration System
As mentioned earlier, the aquarium nitrogen cycle requires a filtration system running 24/7. Every home aquarium must have a good filter, or the fish will die.
If you are looking for advice on a filter, I recommend AquaClear power filter if you are on a budget. They are very reliable.
For large fish tanks, I recommend canister filters. They are more efficient at biological filtration, and they make no noise at all, but they cost more. I use an EHEIM Classic 2213 for my 40-gallon tank, and I am pleased with it. It is a high-quality German brand.
4. Fish die to Overfeed
Overfeeding is a source of many problems. Fish do not need to eat remotely as much food as humans. They have no need to burn calories to keep a constant body temperature. Many new fish hobbyists have no idea. They keep feeding fish a large amount of food multiple times a day. Too much food can kill the fish directly with the digestive problem. Uneaten fish food will rot and pollute the water. It will cause ammonia and nitrite spike, which will indirectly kill the fish.
The ideal feeding routine for aquarium fish should be once a day, with no more food than the fish can finish within a minute. Uneaten food must be removed as soon as possible. Stop overfeeding fish can also solve a lot of the aquarium problems such as pest snail infestation and algae overgrowth.
5. Fish die of Diseases and Parasites
There is also the fish disease problem. A lot of fish farms, wholesale warehouses, fish shops, have poorly managed fish tanks. Many contagious fish diseases and parasites run rampage. Fish ick (also called fish white spot disease); fish mouth rot (also called fish mouth fungus), just to name a few. They are often deadly if not treated immediately, and they kill a lot of fish in the hobby.
Because most fish shops have the centralized filtration system, a single infected fish can spread the disease and parasites to every fish tank in the system. The likelihood of getting a fish with a disease is extremely high every time we buy new fish. Purchase fish from a reputable source is a good idea to ensure you get high-quality fish to begin with. Purchase fish from a poor source is asking for trouble. It is also when you need a quarantine tank to separate new fish from the fish you already have. All new fish should be in a quarantine tank for at least 2~3 weeks for observation. Or you might risk losing the whole tank of fish.
Some fish hobbyists use a mild general purpose fish medication such as Paraguard in the quarantine tank for all newly arrived fish whether or not they show any sign of a problem. It is one good way to minimize the chance of new fish dying to possible diseases and parasites.
Conclusion: Most aquarium fish only live a short, and miserable life, because most people did not get the right guidance before they started. Let us hope more fish keepers do things right, so there will be less fish die in home aquariums. Please share the article to spread the word, if you like to contribute to the cause.
I’ve done all these steps and sometimes they live over a year
Over a year is definitely not enough for most fish species. Most fish can live for much longer than just a year. Depend on the actual fish species, the typical aquarium fish’s life span is anywhere from 2~10 years. Some of them can live much longer. If only sometimes your fish live over a year, then there is definitely room for improvement.
I had 8 gold fishes in my tank… Among them 3 were newly introduced and smaller when compared to old ones. Yesterday I found 4 of my bigger fishes being sluggish and dying within a day… I am not finding an answer why only bigger fishes are sick ?
How big is your fish tank? Got a filter?
How long have you had them?
I bought some new fish today 9fishes and when I brought them to my new fish tank and they were all ok but few hours later every single fishes are lying down on the gravel and 11hours after I bought the fishes they are dead I don’t know how it happens maybe the water level.
Hi Fazil,
Did you read the article? Have you made any of the mistakes mentioned in the article? Come to the forum for more help. Make a thread under the Fish section. We need more details to pinpoint the possible problem.
I back a new little catfish .that is getting red welts done ph netrual now dosnt seem t b improving.
Ive had my fish for ten years got a bigger tank put some of their old water and new water.i have done this many times. Today i did the same and they all died. They were so big n beautiful im just heart broken!
Maybe there is too much new water? If the water hardness and PH had changed too much, the fish would not be able to adapt and it might cause them to die.
Whenever you do water change or tank transfer, it is the best to keep at least 50% of old water. The fish should be given time to adapt…instead of just dump them in.
why do fish die my other fishes did not die i got 7 fishes
You have to be more specific about your situation. Please come to our forum to give more detailed information such as your tank size, filter type, how long have you had your fish, how often and how much do you feed them etc. Without any information we can’t answer your question.
and i got some girl and boy fishes
This information is not helping at all to find the problem for you.
Well that’s rude… It doesn’t have to help. Your comment didn’t help at all either.
If you looked at the previous posts, he/she/or maybe you have asked why did your fish die. Without further information on what you have, and what you have done so far, there is no way to pinpoint the specific cause. I did ask for some more information in details in order to answer the question. The “further information” he/she/you replied was “I got girl and boy fishes”. That was indeed not helping to fill me in on the situation.
I have had a well established 100 litre tank for nearly a year. It’s beautiful. Until today. Last week well 6 days to be accurate I Brought a nee fish to join my panda moor and black moor.I choose a pearl fin gold fish *the puffy looking ones as advised by the pet store. However today he was bobbing about the top at first I suspected swim bladder but within an hour he was dead. Tested waster with a liquid testing kit and levels were OK. Did a 40% water change after removing him and retested a little while later still all OK. So why did he die?
Perhaps the new fish was not able to adapt to the new water in your aquarium. The introduction of new fish is one of the hardest part. If the fish can adapt, they live. If not, they often get sick or die.
I had a shrimp in my fish tank for over a year. I changed the water in the tank several times. The shrimp developed bumps on the back and died. Any ideas why it died?
Sorry, there can be many reasons for the shrimp to die. I am unsure of the actual cause without a lot of details such as fish tank size, the filter you use, heater you use, the food, and the actual species of your shrimp. How often do you change the water, what water conditioner do you use, etc.
I brought new fish tank stones and 6 fishes starting 2 day my fishes are good i give them 1 time food in a day but my 2 fish die early morning after that i think reason will be food is not sufficient for theme then i give them food 3 times in a day after five day 1 more fish at evening day im change water every 4-5 days
Hi,
You only need to feed your fish once a day. Feed them no more than what they can finish (all of it) within a minute. Overfeeding is one of the most common problems in fish keeping and contribute to a lot of fish deaths.
Only now do I know what were all the reasons behind my fish sudden death everything I bring new ones. Thanks to the admin for the detailed analysis of the problem. Got a question here. How should we feed our fish. Can there be any variety or it should only be the same packaged food we were given during our purchase.?
Hi Naveen,
Thank you for reading the article.
It is the best to get some high quality fish food. We also have articles about fish food on our blog. You may check them out to find your answer. If you still have questions, feel free to ask them on our forum. 😉
My guppy fish die lately and i search in internet and i found this i think this would work ^_^
Hi,
I am glad the article is helpful.
Which mistake have you made? 🙂
I have had my guppy and platy fish in my pond(which also has a water Lilly) for nearly 11years and they multiplied really fast. But when I put new goldfishes in it (25 or sthg, my cousin bought me), both the goldfish(in gps of 7) and guppy and platy are dying after 3/4days… Pls tell me why… can’t bear to lose more…😞
Hi Jane,
How big is your pond? Do you have a filter system running 24/7?
Goldfish are known for their messy eating/pooping habits and the large amount of ammonia they can produce. It is very likely the newly added goldfish have overstocked the pond. It is causing an ammonia spike, which will eventually kill all fish if it is not fixed.
It’s an average pond and no I don’t have a filter system… now there’s only some 5/6 gold fish in it (rest died)… will that help?? Or should I remove the goldfish??
Without a filter system, ammonia will build up and eventually kill all fish.
You first need to figure it out how big your pond is, then get a filter system for it accordingly. Please check out our article on Aquarium Filters to see why you need it. No fish can be kept alive without a filter. Unless your pond is huge with tons of aquatic plants while having only a few fish.
You don’t necessarily need a filter for an outdoor pond, as long as you do a water change regularly and have a few live plants. We have raised fish for years in many outdoor ponds from 150 gallons to 500 gallons and never used a filter. These fish have been living long health lives without fail or a filter. However, I will say that adding a filter does improve the water clarity if you’d like to see the fish even when they’re deep below the surface.
If you have enough plants and algae to the point they will absorb all the ammonia produced by the fish, then surely you do not need a filter. In most cases, we do not know the “break even” point for ammonia. It is safer to use a filter system.
Hi admin,
I had 4 Gold fish 2 tiger fish and 2 big shark fish they were about 2 weeks then the started dying any reason why they died and after my Gold fish started dying my shark fish were eating them.
Too small of fish tank perhaps? What filter system are you using?
“Tiger fish” can be many different fish species. I need the exactly fish species to be sure. Same goes for “big shark fish”. They might not even belong in the same fish tank since their natural habitat are different.
I have a new tank . Set it up 4 about wk b 4 buying my fish. I have a tank heater , checked everything , the PH , alkinity, chlorine, ammonia & all b 4 I bought my fish. I bought 2 tiger barbs , 2 clown loaches , 2 angles , 2 sharks and 1 sucker. Brought them home let the bag sit in the water 4 -2 hrs then put them in the Tank. 3days later my sucker fish was dead.
The next week we went and got another sucker fish and 3 dalmatian mollies. Did the same with the bags. Did not add their water to my tank tho. We noticed that one of my clown loaches had ick . We treated the tank , both my clown loaches died that day . Then the next day 1 of my shark fish was dead and my sucker that I had for 2 days was dead . I cheked all my levels and every thing was spot on . Would you know why they all died at once. I had already put my filter back in and took out 25% of water and treated it b 4 adding new water to tank after ick treatment. Plz help me . I love fish and fish Tanks. This is my first attempt at owning one and I really don’t want to give up. Thank you for all the help you could give me .
Maybe the treatment you used was too harsh on the fish? Treating ick can be done without using medications. Check out our article on ick.
We have all kinds of fish. But we get new ones, and we float them, then the water thing, guess what the new ones die. The water is conditioned. The others dont die and they was new once upon a time. So what now!
Did you acclimate the new fish well? They need more than just the same water temperature. Other factors such as water PH, hardness, and even nitrate concentration can affect fish if it changes all the sudden. You need to add fish tank water into the new fish container little by little until it is almost all fish tank water in the container. Fish need time to adapt.
i got 4 new fish got it all set up and the fish died in 4 days i had a filter in the tank hust fed them once a day whats wrong
Hi,
Many things could have gone wrong.
We need more information to pin point it. Such as the actual tank size. The fish species. What water conditioner did you use. What filter do you have.
i have a flat fish tank outdoor my house with a capacity of 1000 litres. i have put around 120 pet fishes (the gold, gold with black shades, black and white pet sharks). Everyday one or the other fish die wen i see in the morning. I add additional water to the tank if the level is below the normal. Can u plz help to my fish sustain in the tank.
Do you have a filter system in your fish tank? If so, what filter is it?
Are you using an aquarium water conditioner? If so, what is it?
Have you added water conditioner to the new water and let it sit to have the same temperature before adding it to the fish tank?
I had two black moore fish in my tank which were perfectly fine until a couple of day back.I did my usual (50%) water change and my black moore suddenly started to fli-over and both of them died.
I have been using the same water source. This is a fairly new tank.Approximately around a couple of months old.
Tank Capacity: 40 Liters.
2 – Fancy Gold
2- White Gold
4- Bala Shark
2- Small Koi Carp
Maybe you did not acclimate them well during the water change? You can easily shock and kill your fish if the temperature, PH, hardness, etc. of the new water is too different from the old water from the tank.
I had 16 fishes in my tank and now I have just 10 remaining. The fishes are having a white border on their gills and fins I don’t have a filter system ..i donno how it happened overnight..can you explain the reason?!
How big is your fish tank? It is likely you are overstocking your fish tank.
Then you have mentioned “no filter system”. That is a big no in fish keeping. No aquarium filter = no way to keep fish alive for long.
I have a 29 gallon fish tank went to pet smart had my water tested they said it was great I even let it sit for 1 week like they told me to bought 10 tropical fish and 1 alg eater did what they told me to.After 1 day one died after 3 days another one after 1 week one more and last night my alg eater was dead I got 5 more left.what can I do for the rest to survive.
These chain pet stores never give the right advice. Their employees are simply not trained to answer professional questions about pet care.
If you read the article of “Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and fishless Cycling”, you should know the reasons.
Let the fish tank “sit” will do nothing.
Hi!
I have recently bought a fish tank
My fish all have died in a week or two until recently I bought new fishes and they seem to be doing pretty well! Your article helped a lot. Its been 3 weeks All still happy and active. I just need tips to make sure they survive Should I do very partial water changes or complete water changes? I also have guppies in a fish bowl Tips for them? My fish tank is 30 gallons. Anyway thanks after all
Hi Faris Ahmad,
Never do 100% water change. Fish will get into shock and die easily if you do that. They do not like large swings in their environment. Stick with 30~50% partial water change weekly. Make sure your filter system and heater are running properly.
I got 2 fishes 5 days ago 1 is female and other 1 is male today my female fish dead.why is it(tiger barb fishes)
Hi chanula,
There is not enough information for me to find out the cause for your loss.
You need to tell me more details first. 🙂
Okay, I realise I may be doing the new hobbyist obsessive thing (which has brought me to this thread!) but I’ve got my first aquarium fish today (cardinal tetras) and for like 15 seconds or something I failed to realise that one was left in the bag after I released them. Now, I won’t ever release them the same way again (I’ll lower the bag so they have to swim up and out) so that’s a lesson learned, and I did the water temp/ph thing but I’m so worried that I might have stressed or harmed this little fish. He’s swimming along with his buddies now and looks perfectly okay but I feel terrible. 🙁
Hi Elle,
If the fish is fine, then there is no need to worry about it. The fish will act weird almost immediately if they are in shock. Otherwise, they are most likely fine.
i have 5 fishes and one of them died this morning i dont know how but she was not eating anything and whenever i gave her food other fish ate all food. can you tell me how to give them food and what must be the reason behind her death
hi abhishek,
How long have you had your fish? Size of the fish tank? What filter system and heater? What exactly fish species are they?
I need more information to try to find out what’s wrong.
Thanks for the great information here. I followed the steps between you, the pet store and the pamphlet. I have a 20 gallon tank, it’s been cycled and I have existing fish who have been around for several years and almost entirely bottom feeders. Yesterday I introduced 3 guppies and 4 tetras. One guppy died overnight, 3 tetras died this afternoon (although 1 was eaten by the filter so doesn’t count) and I think another guppy is on the way out. I let the water acclimate about 40 mins for temp, and swapped in new tank water for about another 40 min. All of my existing fish and fine and we’re not abusing the others. (All community fish, tank 78-79° F) Any suggestions?
Hello Erin,
Did you also acclimate the fish with the tank water when you introduce them to your aquarium? The temperature is only one of the things they must get used to before being released into the fish tank.
Have you tested the water for ammonia, nitrite?
Please come to the forum to post a thread under the fish section for further assistant. 🙂
Are plastic plants good for my ten gallon tank ???
Sure, if they are made for aquarium use. Regular plastic plants might leak harmful chemicals if they are not manufactured to be used in the water.
Why is my fish at rhe bottom of the tank on its side and dont move i tried to move the fishbowl but didnt move
How big is the fish tank? What fish do you have? What filter? Any water conditioner?
Please come to our forum and post a thread there with all the information. We will be better help you there. 🙂
Hi my name is pj and i went to the store and i got 5 guppies and 1 angelfish and a bala shark and the angelfish had no problem with them no fighting or picking a fins. it a 30 gallon tank everything is fine! i woke up and feed them and 1 guppy was in a plant died i dont know what happen? they were fine swimming on top of the water and eating! please help
Hello PJ,
Guppies might not be the best tank mate for the larger fish. There is also not enough information. Please come to our forum and post a thread there with what setup you have, and what exactly you did. 🙂
About a month ago I got a Flame Angle, a cardinal, a Carpenter Wrasse, and a blue spotted puffer. In this past month all my fish looked fine, then on Saturday my Wrasse died, Sunday my flame angle died and on Monday my cardinal died. Each morning one died that fish has not eating and it was swimming funny when it did swim, then about an hour later it died. My puffer seems to be doing finer at the moment and I hope it will live.
Hello BlueAngel,
How big is your fish tank? What kind of filter do you have? Need all the necessary information to figure out what might have gone wrong. Please come to the forum to post a thread there. 🙂
hi there,
I have a fishtank prob like 25/30L, we have 2 sucker fish and 4 tetras and 2 angel fish, we have lost two of our tertras Monday and Wednesday, but it seems the fish are starting to act weird, like not eating properly where they where super exited if its feeding time, they look a bit stressed do you think its the ph levels or what do you tink is our problem.
regards
Schultz
Hi schultz,
You have overstocked your fish tank. 25/30L fish tank is not enough for even one angelfish. By the way, what kind of filter do you have?
It is most likely there is ammonia and nitrite spike in your fish tank. Both substances are toxic to the fish. It is what happens when you have a undersized fish tank with too many fish, with no filter, and not cycled the fish tank before getting the fish. If you come to the forum, and post a thread under the fish section, we will be able to better help you. 🙂
I used bottled aqua culture pre conditioned water in my tank , aquasafe conditioner , safestart in 30gal with a 20-40 top filter, and a bottom gravel filter. Why do my tetra fish keep dying and my placo lives? 100w heater keeps water at 78°-80° 2 air pumps uv light. Have 2 plants that are fine in there. What am i doing wrong? I don’t want to get anymore fish till the problem is fixed. I match the temp with bag float for 20mins or so, i don’t spill bag water into tank. I use the float method and add 0.5 cups of water to bag every 4mins then dump half out into bucket, and repeat this 10 times. I don’t want to injure anymore fish. PLEASE HELP ASAP even the beta died. Only thing living is plants and placo. I’m more stressed than the fish. 🙁
Pleco is a hardy fish. Other fish dying left and right could mean there is something wrong with the water. Have you tested the water for ammonia and nitrite? Please come to the forum and post a thread there for further assistance. 🙂
Hlo sir I bring 3 gold fish and 2 black fish (gold fish type ) from the same aquarium of the seller but next day one gold and one. Black fish died why i have a filter also but tehen i saw gold fish who died the colour of the gold fish in their tale has been somwhere removed so plz tell me plz i want tthe fish to live
Hi Ajeet,
What size of fish tank do you have? What kind of filter? The type of water conditioner?
If there is damage to the fish, then it could be aggression.
Come to the forum for further assistance. 🙂
All fish are died when will u rply
Plz rply i want to buy some more but plz answer me to protect the fish from dying 😔😭😥😪😢
Hello Ajeet,
There is not enough information to provide you with help. Please come to our forum and make a thread under the fish section with all the information on what setup you have, and what exactly you did. We will be able to help once we have enough information. 🙂
Hi i added a new fish to my tank today and added him like you say to and he looked fine then the timer went out and the lights go out i was layinv in bed worrying because my angle fish was schocked by my anenome and he looked a little hurt (I had to pull him out of the anenome because he was getting schocked) and i came back out turned the lights on and boom all my were dead but one and he looked hurtin. Yes i have a filter yes i have lots of live sand well grown live rock and obiously an anenome what did i do wrong did the angle fish release a toxin did the new fish have a diesase… pls help
Hello Alex,
A lot of things could have gone wrong. We need more details to be able to help. Why don’t you come to the forum and post a thread there with more details on exactly what setup you have, and what exactly you did. 🙂
hi…i brought two fishes and after a week one of them die what to do to save another……
Hello caroline,
There is not enough information to give you an educated guess.
Please come to the forum and post a thread under fish section with more details on what exactly you did before the fish died. Along with all the information including the fish tank size, what water conditioner, what fish species, filter type, etc. We can help you better on the forum. 🙂
Hi,
I recently got a new tank and one of my beginner mistakes were adding new fish immediately after i bought it (with the shops water, wich was bad aswell) now , my fish all died (9 of them) in 2 weeks
ph 7.1
kh 3°d (the° needs a line under it)
gh >16°d
NO2 0
NO3 25
I do know that my ph is good but i’m a little worried about the rest.
when some of my fish were still alive , my aquarium was developing this brown/yellow substance on the soil (white gravel). i got told these were biatoms that grew and it was fairly common to find in newly set up tanks. Then the other forum told me its part of the cycle? i got really confused.
I hope you guys could help me out!
Thanks in advance.
Hello Simon,
You are missing the ammonia reading. It is toxic to the fish. PH is not much of a concern as long as it is stable and the fish were gradually introduced to the new water. They can adapt. The most important thing about the water is to keep ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm. If you come to the forum and post a thread under fish section, we are able to better help you. 🙂
oh i forgot to add that it kinda like started with one fish just casually laying at the bottom , and when i dragged my hand across the glass it just started swimming normally for a good 10 minutes. so one fish died , a week later another 3 did and only got worse. so i later found out they had the white spot dissease. Well i cleaned my tank , gravel with hot water and a small amount of dish soap , fully cleaned my filter and the decor pieces. It has been running fishless for about 4 weeks now , still creating the supposed biatoms (on gravel , plants , glass) i tested the water a small week ago with the values above. Now i noticed small white organisms on my glass , filter , plants wich seems to be hopping arround in my tank. My question is now, are
are the values good?
what is the green substance that is creating?
what are the tiny small organisms ?
Is it safe for me to add new fish in it ?
Thanks in advance,
Simon
Hi Simon,
Come to the forum and post a thread there. We can help you better on the forum. 🙂
I kept 12 fish for around 7 years some time back (without water treatment). All I had was a filter and air pump. It was my first tropical tank, so I was very pleased with the success. However, I now have another tank with other fish in which all but the larger ones died suddenly after a while living with me. Within minutes they would turn black and die. Anyone know why that might be?
Hi Bastian,
It can be many reasons why your fish died. Need more detailed information on what exactly you did before the fish dying to give an educated guess. 🙂 Why not come to the forum and post a thread under the fish section with more details? So people there can help you out.
I lost my fish because it got dead in few days
But i dont know why it happened
Well there are still four fish left
And i need your help
Please give me some idea to save them
i will be very thankful to you
Hi, Taranjeet,
You might want to use our forum and post some more details of your setup, and what exactly you did. We can’t even begin to guess if we are left with no information other than the number of fish still alive.
I bought 5 mollies and 5 tetras yesterday and this morning they are all dead. Thecwater was tested yesterday and was fine. What do you think might have caused this?
Hi Kim,
When fish die so quickly, they must be in some kind of shock from the change in water conditions. Fish can easily die from large and sudden changes in water temperature, PH, and hardness, etc. Have you acclimated them properly when you introduce them to their new home? It is recommended to add the tank water into the fish plastic bag little by little every 15 minutes or so until it is almost all tank water.
Hi,
I brought 4 big Gold fishes and some small gold fishes, also some angel fishes recently in small plastic tub. within 3-4 days 3 gold fishes died one by one. i was using to keep in the filter water, might be PH value 7 or less. what is the cause of sudden death of these fishes.i did not keep any filter in the aquarium.my question is can i keep the fishes in the normal water or filter water?how many times i need to give the food per day?filter is necessary for this small aqaurium?what are the things need to be consdiered to save rest of the fishes? please help me.
Hi jainu,
No fish can stay alive in captivity without a filtration system running 24/7. Ammonia poisoning will eventually kill them.
Thank you!!!!!
Goldfish can, they are nearly indestructible
Hi Regan,
While goldfish are indeed very hardy fish compare to most tropical fish, they can still die if they are mistreated for a long period of time or live in less than ideal conditions.
I’ve tried several times to keep guppies. I’ve had my tank cycled (19 gal) and all of them have died 24 to 36 hours afterwards. Any idea why ? It would really help. Also they never want to eat the ignore the food completely.
Hello melan,
Did you let the fish acclimate gradually to the new water when you introduce them to your fish tank? Fish die that quickly usually mean they were in shock from sudden changes in water conditions such as temperature, PH, hardness, etc.
Hello,
I’ve recently bought a 10 gallon tank had it a month now. I had 2 mollies when I started it, but one died after about 2 weeks. The other died today. After the first one died I bought 2 more mollies and a Plecostomas. The Plecostomas died the day after i got it. I went back the next day and got another plus w gourami. One of the gourami is acting really weird and I’m afraid its going to die as well. I didn’t know anything about fish until they started dying I realize I should have done a little bit of research befors I bought them, however I thought how hard could it be, my mistake. I’m hoping to keep the rest alive. I changed the water once, but I changed all of it at once not knowing that wad bad. Also not really sure when adding water shoyld I first take the fish out before I treat it with chemicals? I did the thefirst time because I emptied the tank but not sure if when I take out some of the water and add new.
Hi Andrea,
It is most likely your fish died to shock when you introduce them to your aquarium. The new environment is different from what they came from. The sudden change in water temperature, PH，and hardness was too much for them to handle.
There is also the problem of a uncycled fish tank. Please refer this to Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle.
Change all of the water in a fish tank is what you must avoid. Do partial water change instead. Usually it should be 30~50% to avoid too much change for the fish.
The only chemical you need for your fish tank when you already got the fish is water conditioner. It is for get rid of chlorine.
I assembled new fish tank 2*10inch and put 2angel fish and one other after t3_4days I put some fish on that the next day I remove some water from tank and fill with fresh water by putting 10drop anti chlorine and 10drop anti ich bt I observed after dat day my new fish die one by one. they move slowly and die. Bt the fish which put early they are healthy. What I do.
Hi Priya,
Sorry for the late reply. I have not checked the comment section for a while.
Your post is confusing. What is exactly the size of your fish tank? 2*10inch? That is not right.
You do not need to put any anti-ich medication in the fish tank. Meds have side effects. They are usually hard on the fish. The only thing you need is the water conditioner, and must be in the recommended dosage according to the instruction.
There is also a lack of details. Aside the fish tank size, we need to know what filter and heater are you using. How you have introduced your fish to the aquarium. Acclimate the fish is a must, or they might die in shock to the sudden change of water conditions.
If you are still around, please come to the forum to make a thread under the fish section. It is easier to sort things out there.
Hi! I recently got a tropical fish tank, with 2 platies. I have tested the water chemistry for 7 days now, which all seems pretty normal. Although, today I came home to find one of my platies (panda platy) laying on the rocks with a patch of green on her right side. The chemistry I found today are:
pH: 7.6
High range pH: 8.2
ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
Everything I found was the same or similar to prior testings except the high range pH. The pH’s before today were ~7.4-7.9
A family member told me that she was acting strange this morning:
– she was hanging near the top of the tank (like she was trying to get air)
– last night she was really hyper and was swimming quickly all over the tank
– the other platy (sunset) was also swimming a lot last night but she didn’t die)
Hi Leslie,
Have you recently done any water change? A lot of the problems occur when the new water did not match the old water in temperature, PH, hardness, etc.
If they are new fish, it can also be they might come with diseases, parasites. Internal parasites are hard to detect. They actually contribute to many fish deaths than we originally thought, because we can’t see it from the outside.
Hey, everytime me and my gf buy cardinal tetras or other fishes they all die ian a matter of hours , my gf always cries about this.
We have a filter running in the tank 24/7.
After we bought the fish (10 cardinal tetras and 4 pink danio, we placed the bags over an hour then just pour them in the tank .
Any suggestions for us to help us , so that next time if we buy our fishes wont die , it also is waste of money if fishes die in a matter of hours especially
Hi Mac Denzel,
You must acclimate your fish before release them. Water temperature is not the only thing they need to get used to. Other things such as water PH, hardness, etc. are equally important. They can’t get used to everything by just sitting in the bag. You need to add the fish tank water into the bag little by little. For details, please read the article.
If you have any more questions, please come to the forum to make a thread. It is easier to answer your question there.
Set up a new tank nearly a week ago. Let the water cycle over night along with the filter and heater. Bought 6 lemon tetra and 6 neon tetra and 1 bottlenose catfish. They were all good. Two days later bought two fancy guppies. Each time we introduced fish to the tank they sat in their bags. We’ve had the guppies for two days and one died this morning. Pretty much took him out of the tank as soon as he died. Is there anything we can do to prevent the other fish from dying? We have a 50L tank with filter and heater. Also tested the water and the pH level yesterday was a little high.
hi Georgia,
From your post, it seems you have not acclimated your fish properly. Water temperature is not the only thing the fish must get used to before being released into the fish tank. They must also get used to other things such as water PH, hardness. They can’t be acclimated by just sitting in the plastic bag. You need to add some of the fish tank water into the plastic bag little by little. For details, please check the article.
You might also want to do a fishless cycling before getting any fish.
I just bought a 20 gal long tank
I have a 50 watt heater set to 78-84
I have filter and light, I brought home 6 fancy guy pies 3 just died within 15 mins and now I’m scared the rest will to what’s wrong? I used Prime drops
Stabilizing drops, Quick start drops, water conditioning drops
Hi Ferena,
First, you do not need all the “drops”. The only thing you need is the water conditioner if you use tap water.
Second, you must acclimate the fish when you introduce them to the aquarium. Your fish are most likely die to the shock. For details, please read the article.
Third, while it is definitely not the reason this time since your fish died within 15 minutes, you must do a fishless cycling before getting all the fish.
If you have any more questions, please come to our forum. It is much easier to discussing back and forth with you on the forum.
I’ve set up my 40 gallon tank, ensured the water is warm and around 76 degrees with a water heater, all levels are safe, tested with a kit. I put the plastic bag in the water for about 30 minutes before putting the fishes into the water. I have a filter that was recommended by the store. The water has the 5ml of water treatment added initially which made the water safe per the test. I added the new fish to the tank around 9pm, we went to sleep at 3am, they were doing great, I turned off the aquarium lights and we went to sleep, we woke up around 10am and 6 of the 8 fishes were dead, no idea what happened. I had 1 neon tetra, 1 platy, 1 angel fish, 5 glow light tetra, 2 golden snails, 2 black snails and 1 tiger snail. The neon tetra and the 5 glow light tetra were all dead overnight. Everyone else is doing fine. What did we do wrong?
Hello Nick,
Although you have given time to the fish to get used to the water temperature, you have not let them to acclimate to anything else in the water. You needed to add some of the tank water into the plastic bag every 15 minutes or so, while getting rid of a little of the water from the plastic bag each time. Until almost all water in the plastic bag is from the fish tank.
Fish can get shock and even die from the sudden change in the water chemistry such as PH, hardness. You have to acclimate them when introduce them into a new fish tank.
By the way, from the sound of it, you have not done any fishless cycling before you got the fish. It is highly recommended for starting an aquarium.
Hi
I brought a aqua one 22l tank last week this week I got on test everything good to go so today I got my fish I got a gupie few neon few shrimp few mix penguin etc 1 maybe shrimp dead 1 neon 1 of the mix its my first tank I followed all advice was given help please
Hi Will,
We need more information to pin point the problem.
If you please use the forum section, and provide all the details of your aquarium setup. Information such as what filter, heater, as well as other equipment and supplies you use for the fish tank. Then we might be able to find the problem.
By the way, have you done a fishless cycling before you get all the fish? It is highly recommended to get the fish tank cycled to add any fish or shrimp at all. Or the ammonia will build up over time and the toxic will kill all live fish.
For more information on fishless cycling, please check the article of Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and Fishless Cycling.
I recently bought a few fish (a baby shark, 2 catfish, and an angelfish), both of the catfish died at the same time. One of them was just laying on one of the decor upside down, while the other one got caught in the filter. Now my angelfish is constantly swimming up.They died after awhile, the tank had everything pre-set up, we let the fish stay in their bags and put them in the water so they can adapt to the temperature more easily. We feed them as required, the water was filtered, and since we just got them recenty we didn’t have to change the water.
Hi Ang,
Without knowing more details of your setup and what exactly you did, it is hard to pinpoint the exact problem.
If you can come to the forum and please post some more details on your exact setup, such as fish tank size, filter model, water conditioner you use, etc. it will be a lot easier for me to help you to find and prevent the exact problem next time. 🙂
My all fishes died suddenly.it was living from the last 3 years without any problem.cant understand the reason.mine is cement tank it can accomodate 2000lr water.more than 50 fishes died within one day mrng.no one is remaining.highly disappointed. kindly tell the possibilities
Hi Seena,
Sorry to hear your loss. If you can please come to the forum and post more details on your setup and what exactly you have done before it happened, we might be able to pinpoint the exactly problem for you.
Hi admin, I’ve read your article, it may help me to know what will be the problem.. i have 6 small koi fish in 20 galloon aquarium. they all died.. 2 days ago i general cleaned it, change the water. 50% new water and 50% old, put 8 bottle cups of antichlorine and setting it up in 4hours before putting back the fishes. Have I done something wrong? Did i put too much antichlorine that might killed them? Im planning to buy new fishes, what can you recommend me to do so that the new fishes will not die in the same water? Should I general cleaned it again and put new water? Thank you so much!!!!
Hi, Lou,
Are you sure you used the right amount of water conditioner? Check the bottle for instruction. 8 bottle caps sounds a lot for just 10 gallon of water (50% of your 20 gallon).
By the way, did you say you put the fish back? Did you mean you have removed the fish during the maintenance? You should not remove the fish. They can get into shock from the sudden change in water conditions. You also need to let the new water to have similar temperature first before using it.
For more details, please use our forum.
We are beginners, for fish. We bought a 29 gallon tank over the weekend, had it set up for 2 days and had our water tested at our local pet smart, all was good. We added 2 platys yesturday morning that we had in another tank had them for a few days, and they are doing great in the 29 gallon. Last night, we bought 5 neon tetras from a different store, so far I’ve lost 2 and a 3rd one is barley hanging on.othe 2 seem to be doing good so far! Any suggestions at why this happened?
Hi Louise,
You did not cycle your new aquarium. Ammonia builds up in new aquarium unless you have cycled it before adding the fish.
There could also be a number of reasons why it happened. Including weak fish (some fish farm mass produce weak fish in antibotic filled water), or/and shock due to sudden change in environment (water temperature, PH, hardness, etc.).
Some fish are naturally stronger than others even they are the same species from the same batch. So they do not die at the same time under the same conditions.
If you have more questions, feel free to use our forum where it is easier to go back and forth with messages. 🙂
Hello Admin I had bougt a fish aquarium of 40 ltrs. 1 week ago but in a one 5 fish were die.
Here it’s a begining of winter, should i buy a heater or their’s a other reason of death.
Please reply fast it would help me a lot.
Hi,
If they are tropical fish, you must have a heater in there all the time unless you live in a tropical area.
An aquarium filter is also a must for all aquariums. It must run 24/7. It also needs to be cycled before you add the fish. The article has some of the details and links to more articles about cycling.
I just wanted to say that I appreciate the fact that you have taken the time to reply to comments posted in this article for two years now. That’s commitment. 🙂
Thank you, Jennie. 🙂
If fish are cold blooded then why the temperature of the aquarium has to b adjusted…the fish should change their body temperature according to the environment in which they live….
Hi Fari,
Fish have no body temperature to “adjust” to begin with. Their body temperature comes from the temperature of the water around them. If the water is too cold, their body temperature will be too cold. Yes, they can adapt to the change to a certain degree… slowly. If the water temperature suddenly dropped by 10 degree, it is more than most fish species can handle.
Think of if you just took a hot shower in cold weather. As soon as you step out of the shower, do you feel cold? Yes? Fortunately for you, your body temperature is regulated by yourself, and thus the impact of sudden change in environmental temperature does not affect you any more than on the surface.
For the fish, any change to the environmental temperature will affect all of them including internal organs, immune system, etc.
i recently got four goldfish. when i first got them, i temporarily put them in a pretty small container. i then purchased a small 2 gallon tank that was taller but not as wide as the container they were originally in. it came with a filter, water conditioner, and a light. i filled the tank according to the instructions and put the directed amount of conditioner. i also added gravel (that i washed) before i put the water in. i also read that u should put the bag inside the tank water before they are directly put in the tank. so i did that and replaced some of the bag water with the tank water every 15 minutes. then i opened the bag and let them swim in by themselves. they seemed fine the next day with the filter on and i was feeding them about twice a day (no more than they could finsih in 2 minutes), then the day after that they started turning brown and seemed to be struggling to swim away from the filter (so they were all huddled under the filter) and the water was pretty dirty. i assumed the filter was too strong for them and they couldn’t fight against it so i only kept it on a few hours a day and to clean it, i replaced about 20% of the water. then a couple days later, one of them was dead and the rest were still brown. so i took them out of the tank and put them back in the container (the container didn’t have a filter) and now they last three are back to their original color and seem to be perfectly fine. why did the tank basically kill one of them? thanks so much in advance, answering questions after two years is pretty amazing 🙂
Hi Kim,
The tank you got is too small for 4 goldfish. It is only 2-gallon, and yes it is too small for most filters out there. When a tank is too small, the water conditions can be unstable when there is any small change.
The filter must be turned on 24/7 or it defeats the purpose of having a filter. It does the aquarium nitrogen cycle, and to keep ammonia at 0ppm.
Turning it off most of the time, and clean it too often or not careful enough will damage its bacteria colony which are needed for the nitrogen cycle.
However, even without a sustained nitrogen cycle, the ammonia concentration is unlikely be high enough to kill your fish so quickly. There could be other reasons for it. Too strong of a current could be one of them.
One very important note, even if your fish look fine for now in your little container, they will not last long in there. Ammonia will build up and kill them eventually without a minimal sized aquarium and a 24/7 running filter.
Thank you for the compliment. If you are still unclear or having more questions, feel free to make a thread on the forum.
When introducing new fish, I’ll first let the bag sit for ~20 minutes before cutting a bit into the bag to “mix” the water. yada yada anyway I was wondering if it’s okay to do it like that, or if you 100% recommend what you’ve said previously
Do not “cut” the bag. The water from pet shops might have parasites and diseases in it. We do not want it leaking into the fish tank.
i have 2 baby dollies, i had a male and a female from walmart (they died within a month, of course) and meh babies are still alive, its only store bought fish that die in three weeks, right??
It is on average. Fish do not live more than a few weeks after being brought home. Store bought fish just have a worse record since a lot of them are diseased weak fish to begin with.
Without the details, we do not know certain what caused the death of the two fish you bought. If you had nothing in your fish tank and did not cycle the fish tank, then it is likely they died to ammonia poisoning. The fry lived could be due to the fact the aquarium is finally cycled or near cycled when they were born.
3 days ago, I moved 19 baby cichlid fish into a tank with an older cichlid. The older one was going after the smaller ones so I got a new tank and moved them in there today. I followed all of the directions carefully . I even used half of the old water from the other tank. I checked the temperature, made sure I conditioned any new water. I noticed they started floating around, however their gills were still moving and occasionally they swam around. I kept checking on them and 15 minutes later they aren’t moving at all, and are all on their backs on the bottom of the tank. Their mouths are open and fins are extended. I don’t know what happened and I am very upset. If you could help me, thanks.
Hi Ashley,
If your fish died within 15 minutes after moving, then they are most likely in shock. Did you acclimate your fish during the moving process? Even when you have used half the water from their old fish tank, the other half is still different water. You still need to give them time to adapt to the changes by acclimating.
yes, I did acclimate them. That’s why I was so confused.
I’m so sorry, I forgot to mention this. The 19 cichlid fish came from two larger cichlid fish in a tank in my basement, before I moved them I waited for about 3 weeks. I then moved them into a 5 gal tank with a larger young cichlid that was attacking the babies. So I got a new tank and moved them today.
If the tank is new, have you washed it thoroughly? Hope you did not use any chemical stuff to wash it.
Fish dropped so quickly is most likely either due to shock from the sudden change in water parameters, or there could be some unexpected toxic chemical stuff. I hope you did not forget to use the aquarium water conditioner either.
By the way, is there an air stone making bubbles in there?
Yes, I didn’t use any chemicals either. I also used the conditioner, it said to use one tsp per 10 gal. Since there was two 5 gal tanks I used 1/2 tsp in each. I then waited 15 mins for the water to mix. And yes I got a bubble machine I used. I followed all directions prior and during setting up. In fact later in the day yesterday I cleaned out the dead fish and got 3 new fish. They are all acting fine and aren’t showing any symptoms. I feel like you’re right, they were all pretty young and with moving twice in a week probably scared them to death. Thank you so much for your help, and thank you for getting back to me so soon.
can someone help me?my fish is upside down what should I do ?
Upside down? Too late in my opinion. However, if you wish to prevent similar things to happen, you might want to start a thread on the forum with more details. We might be able to pinpoint the cause of the problem.
Ive bought a betta and he didnt last but an hour or 2 and then i changed the water in the tank and went to the pet store and bought 2 fish i forget what they were called but they were small little guys and they seemed fine i came home from work last night mind you i had just bought the fish that morning and i checked on them and one seemed ok but the other one was very still when he moved he was only using his back fin and only one of his side fins im thinking the other ine broke somehow they were staying at the top of the tank they werent swimming to the bottom anymore.. When i woke up this morning they both were dead.. Ive got a little ine gallon corner tank.. I put water conditioner in it said use 5ml for every 10 gallons of water i used i think 1 to one n a half ml… I put the fish bag on top of my tank water for 30 minutes n then dumped the water n fish into the tank.. I read your whole article n it seemed like i did a few things wrong.. My daughter really wanted fish for Christmas but i cant get them to live more than 12 to 15 hours in this tank.. I did not know that the tank needed a heater.. As i bought the corner tank it said everything i needed was in the tank.. The filter is a little blue thing that goes into a plastic tube n attaches to this black thing that goes on the bottom of the tank.. Then you cover that with gravel.. Could i also be putting 2 much gravel in??? Please help.. I just want the new set of fish im gonna get to live.. Its heart breaking to wake up to dead fish. And also expensive ive replaced the fish 2 times in a 36 hour period… Please help a newbie… Thanks in advance n Merry Christmas!!
Hi Sarah,
When fish die that fast (a few hours), it must mean they were in shock. Acclimation is the key. Not just the water temperature they must get used to. You need to slowly replace the water in the plastic bag with the water from the fish tank. It will give them time to adapt.
How big is your fish tank again? I did not see a number there.
There are obviously a few more things we must sort out before you can keep fish live for a long time. Please come to the forum and make a thread there with more details. We will be able to help you easier over there.
heater required for goldfish and oranda fish?
Not usually. But if you live in the north with room temperature get really cold in the winter (below 50F/10C), you might want to have an adjustable heater.
I bought my 2 year old daughter a fish tank for Christmas. It’s a 10 gallon tank. What I failed to do was wash the 20 lb bag of rocks and all of her plants, castle etc. I just put everything straight into the tank from the packaging and filled it up with water. I turned the filter and heater on and let it sit for 24 hours. I went out and bought 6 fish and 1 frog. 1 fish died within 20 mins. And 2 more fish died the following day. Someone asked me if I cleaned everything first and my answer was no. When I opened the lid to put the new fish in the tank there was all this white stuff floating at the top.. so I cleaned that out before adding the fish. Today is the 3rd day. I am suppose to replace the 3 fish that died but I’m wondering if I have to remove everything and start over… or if it’s been filtered long enough and perhaps I can just change the filter out??
Hi, Amanda,
Washing the gravel, decoration, etc. is a must. However, I suspect you did not acclimate your fish. Fish die in 20 minutes is most likely due to shock. Please follow the instruction of fish acclimation.
As for the filter, it won’t filter out any chemical stuff unless there is activated carbon in there. A filter is there for aquarium nitrogen cycle.
If you need further help, please use our forum.
Hi, my beautiful ornamental goldfish died yesterday, very suddenly as he didn’t even start to look ill until 72 hours ago. Here is the full story, I hope it isn’t too long winded but I really cared about him and I want to know what went wrong so I know what to do better in future.
I had him for just under 2 years, although i believe he was already about 3 years old when he was given to me by a neighbour who was moving away and didn’t want him any more. My neighbour said she won him at a fairground, but he looked far more attractive and fit and healthy than you’d normally expect a fairground fish to be.
He was quite small for his age when I inherited him, and had been kept in a small bowl. I immediately moved him to a 24 litre tank where he lived happily and healthily for over a year and grew bigger.
After being with me for about 16 months, last summer, he developed severe issues which I assume was swim bladder problems but may have been constipation. The fish basically started spending most of its time on the bottom, looking miserable and showing no interest in food, and it was a real struggle for him to swim and gain any buoyancy. After several weeks of no improvement I moved him into an upgraded 64 litre tank with a better filtration system, and treated him with swim bladder treatment and aquarium salt. But for a long time it made no difference. However, he never gave up the fight and he kept trying and trying, still full of energy and determination. He was this way for at least three months. He was completely disinterested in any food – I tried him with bloodworms and frozen peas but he rejected any kind of food. I actually don’t know how he survived, but suddenly 3 months later I came home from work to find him swimming around normally as though nothing had ever been wrong. He immediately got back into his food and loved the bloodworms and algae wafers.
I gave it a month to ensure there was no relapse, and then eight weeks ago I introduced a new young goldfish to the tank that I bought from a reputable well-known pet store. For two months they got on very well, there was no bullying either way and they seemed able to share the food and the space with no issues.
The younger fish grew very quickly and almost to the size of the older fish and they seemed like best pals. Then about a week ago, the older fish started acting a little lethargic. He didn’t have any obvious buoyancy problems apart from a slight wobble when he swam through a bubble stream, and he seemed less interested in his food (although not completely off it), but I thought nothing of it. He hadn’t been passing much waste for a couple of weeks, and on one occasion it looked like a very thin stringy white trail of poop coming from him, but I only saw this happen once. He had started looking a bit slower and spending time hovering near the top corner of the tank, but his buoyancy still seemed ok and he did keep swimming around and diving down and foraging in the gravel, so I wasn’t particularly worried. Only three days ago I fed him bloodworms and he went for them – slightly less hungrily than before but still interested. Two days ago however, in the morning he was lying in his log looking quite poorly, no energy, his fins limp. By the time I returned that evening he was floating on his side struggling to orientate himself, like he was drunk. The next morning, he died.
This all happened so suddenly and I wish I knew why. I have really got the bug for looking after fish now, but before I go and buy another one, I’d really love to know why he died, and why it happened so quickly. The younger fish is very healthy and active and energetic and eating all his food and passing excrement regularly, so I’m pretty sure it’s not an issue with the water or the plants or the nitrate balance.
Can anyone give me any help in understanding what went wrong please?
Hi, Chris,
Sorry for your loss. I do not know for sure what is going on, but it sounds like it could be the internal parasite. A lot of unexplained deaths (when you did everything right) could be contributed to this factor. It might have come with the new fish.
So my boyfriend got a fresh tank for his birthday from me (back in June), explained the cycle to him and he followed it perfectly to a T. Last time I was over I checked the water and it was all good so we went out to go and get some fish.
Got two Electric blue rams and some neon tetra’s for him to start out with for that tank. Seemed to be doing pretty well after acclimating them and putting them in the tank. I went home ( I live 5 hours away) and everything was fine.
About a month later his Neon’s just start dying off one by one, some with bruising (as far as he described it) some with nothing wrong with them he would just wake up to them dead.
Asked him to do a water check but he refused saying he didn’t have time to do it because of his job ( very much do demanding almost the entire week of his time). I couldn’t because my next visit to him wasn’t planned for another few months.
Fast forward to two days ago and his Electric blue rams just start dying too, no sign of illness or parasites on the first one at all ( it was stuck in the filter so…it wasn’t pretty but beforehand it was fine and active). The second one he mentioned had some odd brown/goldish spots on the top of its head and near its gills before it passed. He also mentioned that uneaten food was at the bottom of the tank ( he was away for a week family was feeding them for him).
Just from that im going to go out on a limb and say that maybe it was ammonia poisoning? That or ammonia burn going by what hes told me. He still hasn’t tested the tank( and won’t hes given up on fish untill we live together since i have 3 successful tanks running) so i can’t confirm anything unfortunately…
Ammonia burn is likely. Never leave uneaten food in the tank. Overfeeding contributes to a lot of the problems in fish keeping.
As you also mentioned “bruising” on Neon Tetra, there is a possibility that they were attacked by the Ram. I have had German Blue Ram in my community tank. They were peaceful most of the time except… when they were able to spawn, then all the sudden they become territorial and attack all fish go near their nest.
I have a fish who’s dying. A green tiger barb kept in a 20 gallon tank (moving then to a 40 gallon very soon) has two filters one aqueon and the other top fin, has a heater at 81 degrees Fahrenheit. Did my weekly water change on Monday (today is Friday) water chemicals are in the perfect range. They are only fed once a day with as much food as they can eat in a minute. I noticed earlier she was shaking and had a cut on one of her fins so I isolated her like I always do when they pick on her. Fed her very very little but now she’s crashing. What went wrong? Other fish are 2 albino tiger barbs, two regular barbs, one red glow fish barb, 2 pictus catfish, and one rainbow shark. They are being moved to their 40 gallon this weekend and it’s been cycling for two months with biological boosters
Hi Alexandria,
If your fish is not doing well after being isolated, then it might have something to do with the condition in the isolated tank. How big is the isolation tank? Does it have full gears like filter and heater? Come to the forum to make a thread. It is easier to help you in a forum thread.
Hi, so I have had a few fish die off over the past 8 months, everything was fine with all my other ones but recently I have added in new fish and many problems started and were treated, although today my molly had three big white bubbles coming from what it looked like her anus and within a few hours she was dead, what could have caused this and is it infectious?
Hello Steph,
It is hard to tell the exact cause, from the information you have provided.
Come to the forum and make a thread with more details. We can help you better over there.
Hi, I’m confused and I need help. So my mom and I literally went yesterday at night to buy a new and bigger tank for our 2 baby koi fishes, and we had those fishes for over a year or more than a year now so obviously they got bigger, and they were doing just fine living and the small tank, and they were swimming surrounded by their filth and they had no problem, no my mom is the one that’s in charge of setting the tank and the filter and etc. And i cleaned the rocks that we put at the bottom and the 4 decorations that we bought, minutes later we are done filling the tank with the filtered new water (we use the water that we drink from because we don’t want to use tap water) and we sett up the rocks and the few decorations and my mom puts the fishes in and she was happy, almost 30 minutes later the fishes are not swimming and go low to the floor of the tank and it looks like they are sleeping because the weren’t moving, my mom takes one of the fish out and puts it on a bowl with iodine salt and filtered water to see if our fish has a disease, but then starts swimming and then it would stop, this happened for like 10 minutes. Me and mom go to sleep, we wake up and both thw fish are dead, but why?!?!?, they were both healthy, no diseases, they both eat good, i dont get it, we need help! Please.
Hi Ariel,
It sounds like your fish were shocked by the new water. When you set up a new fish tank, the water is completely new. Even if you have used it from the same source as the old water, the water PH/hardness/nitrate concentration can all be different over time. Not to mention the water temperature. It is why the “acclimation” process is extremely important not only for introducing new fish, but also for transferring fish to new fish tanks.
Come to the forum to make a thread if you need more help.
I had two fish. One that has been alive for at least three months. However the newer fish(2 days) just died. I have a tank with lights and things and de chlorinated the water. I don’t know what went wrong.
Hi Morgan,
What kind of fish do you have?
Do you have a filter and other equipment?
To know what possibly went wrong, we need more details. Please come to the forum to make a thread under the Aquarium Fish section. It is easier to help you over there.
I had a 30 gallon tank with a variety of tetras, platys and a teminicki pleco. I moved them to a new 55 gallon tank and they were striving. I came home yesterday with 5 black phantom tetras and 2 platys and let them sit in the bag and float to begin the acclimation process. I come back to add some water to the bag and found 4 of my old fish dead, to be specific, a von rio tetra and three neon tetras. I acclimated the black phantoms and platys and released them. Today I walked down to check them out and 12 more of my old fish were dead. I am so disappointed I feel like it is my fault somehow. The new platys and phantoms look fine but the older fish I have in there (which are not old at all) look a bit iffy. I went from 13 small neons originally to 0, lost all 5 of another species of tetra and 3 of my von rios. So right now I have a pleco, 2 von rios, 5 black phantoms and 6 platys. None of them are aggressive and they were all striving two days ago. Please help!
Hi Alyaa,
Sorry to hear your loss. If some of the original fish in the tank died soon after you have introduced some new fish, yes, it sounds like something went wrong when you introduced the new fish. Did you dump the water from the bag into the fish tank? It should be avoided. While we try to acclimate new fish to the old tank water, we must also avoid shocking the old fish with the new water… as well as the potential diseases/parasites from the new water/fish. Please come to our forum to start a new thread. It is easier to help you on the forum.
Hi Alyssa,
Sorry for your loss.
When the old fish died in mass soon after you introduced new fish, sure it sounds like something went wrong when you added the new fish.
Did you dump the water from the bag into the fish tank? It should be avoided. While we must avoid shocking the new fish with the old water, we must also avoid shocking the old fish with the new water. New water/fish might also come with diseases and parasites.
By the way, how long have you had your old fish?
Come to the forum to start a thread. We can help you better over there.
My blue hippo tang died early and I got her 2-3 days ago but then she kinda turned white near the tail and fell to the ground I moved the rocks around her cuz she got stuck then she just swam away and you can tell she’s dying but why?
Hello Genofox11,
Please come to the forum to make a thread. We need more details on your aquarium setup as well in order to find a possible cause. It is easier to have the back and forth conversation on the forum. 🙂
I HAD 3 clown fish two regular 3 striped orange ones but the other one is all white body and orange head forgot the name but my female alpha fish died ( i think) only becuase once the old female dies doesn’t a new one get bigger, so now I have two small clown fish one regular 3 striped and the other white but neither one is getting bigger, before the bigger one has gotten behind my overflow and I have to scoop her out wich takes hours but I don’t see her back there. I’m thinking she could be stuck under a rock, it’s been 2-3 months but this fish has survived in the over flow for 4 months no food somehow I think from eating algae or something but I need help please
I have some OSCAR and ORANGE PARROT fish in aquarium and from past 3-4 weeks two parrot died and after that baby white OSCAR fish are dying of abt 6-8 months old. I used PARACIDOL-FW suggested by seller bt today also one white OSCAR died, the Oscar which died today appeared to have some peeled skin from his body, I don’t know why it is happening????What I have to do for preventing this.
Hello SACHIN,
There is not enough information to pinpoint the problem. If you start a thread on our forum with information such as the aquarium setup (tank size, filter type, etc.), it will be easier to help you to find the problem.
I had a 30 gallon with about 6-7 fish. I upgraded to a 75 and i switched the filters and media over and some of that tanks water. Slowly my fish started to die but all my test are ok no spikes in anything and now everytine i add new fish they either stay at the top or bottom breathing heavily and then a few days later dying. I need help , i dont know what else to do
Fish breath heavily might sound like they do not have enough oxygen.
Did you check the water temperature? Is the air pump doing enough for the bigger tank?
Larger tank requires more gas exchange to provide the fish with enough oxygen. Higher water temperature might also limit the dissolved oxygen in the water.
When you said the water tests are ok, what exact readings did you get?
Hello! I started off a new tank. 20gallon Long with two reptofilter. Everything was going smooth. I did everything before the fishes. I set up 6 aquatic plants, and 20lbs of gravel. Added some decorations, put the heater and cleaned the water with a dechlorinator. After all this let the water do its thing for a day. Went out to buy a neon tetra, the little guy was loving all his freedom. He did a great job for a week. So I decided to add more fish, I picked up two more neon tetra, 2 glofish tetra, 2 Mickey mouse fish, 2 orange sword tail, 2 pleco, 2 fishes I forgot the name but they are community fish as well. And one CAE who was doing a marvelous job keeping the tank clean. Only problem was we woke up the next morning to find the tetras all dead and now my CAE and plecos have gone missing. I did all the steps in your article and can’t explain why they died.
Did you actually cycle your new filter? Let an empty fish tank “do its thing” won’t cut it. It must have a source of ammonia to start the cycling. I would guess after you added more fish, the sheer ammonia production started to build up.
Okay so I’m super confused. I got three male lyretail guppies about two weeks ago. I got everything the employees at petsmart said (filter, 5.5 gallon tank, water conditioner, good food). They seemed to be really happy and healthy until yesterday they seemed a little sad. The next morning I saw one of them died so I took them out, washed the tank, and put the remaining two back in. That’s when I saw they had fish rot??? I Went to petsmart today and bought a heater (even though the water is still at the same temperature as before because it’s summer) and a live plant. The woman told me it was because I didn’t have a heater though. (I did notice they were suddenly missing all of they’re lyrtails though..) I wasn’t worried because I thought they’d get better. But now it’s the end of the day and a second one died and his fins were completely gone. I’m so upset because I feel like I’ve done everything right and I have never had a fish live under a year. Also I don’t know how they got so sick in just ONE DAY. Any idea what i did wrong??!??
You probably did not cycle your new filter before adding the fish. Ammonia builds up the moment you started to have fish. Two to three weeks is about the time when the ammonia level reaches toxic enough level to kill the fish. And you are not supposed to wash everything, because it will just kill the beneficial bacteria all over again. Please read the article about Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle.
I have had this 20g fish tank for 6 months, with mollies, guppies, tetra, a Mr P. and a small catfish of some sort. I did a 30% water change three days ago. I changed out the filter like I do every 2 weeks like recommended. And in the past two days I have lost all the fish minus the odd catfish…. What did I do wrong?
Did your new water have the same or similar temperature as the old tank water?
If the water temperature difference is too great, the fish can die quickly due to shock.
You are not supposed to change the filter every 2 weeks. The only thing needs to be changed is the activated carbon if you have them in your filter. In fact, activated carbon is not a mandatory item for your filter. The biological filtration is the most important factor, and it takes time to build up beneficial bacteria in the filter media for the aquarium nitrogen cycle. If you keep replacing the filter media or even wash it directly under untreated tap water, then you are repeatedly destroying your beneficial bacteria colonies.
I got a gold fish from a carnival and then the next day I bought 3 minou goldfish and one regular gold fish I have a filter and got a water conditioner and then 3 days later one of the minou fish died and now today the goldfish I bout from store died both were sluggish any reasons why?
Hi, Jay,
How big is the fish tank? Goldfish require large fish tanks because they produce lots of waste. If a fish died within 3 days, it is likely due to shock (did not acclimate well when introducing into the fish tank, or when doing a water change). If you have fed them too much food, it is also possible that ammonia produced from the extra food and fish poop had reached the toxic level.
I’m going through dead fish after 3 days, my 5 year old Granddaughter had to have a fish and my Daughter complied, all the crap, filters, additives, and aerators, when I was a boy in the 50’s we did not have all that, my fish lived for a very long time with just a small clear bowl and marbles in the bottom, water changed once a week and the bowl cleaned, what has changed.
Hi Perplexed,
Many things could have been changed without you noticing.
First, you said “a very long time”. How long?
What species of fish did you have? If you had goldfish, they do not need a heater to live. If your granddaughter had tropical fish, they will die rather quickly in the same environment.
Goldfish can live for decades if they are cared for properly. Anything short of decades is not a long time for this species. 🙂
Most tropical fish can only live for a few years. Then again, 3 days is anything but normal. Tropical fish are quite fragile if the water temperature changes rapidly or do not meet their needs. While goldfish can adapt to a wide range of water temperature and have higher resistance to temperature change than tropical fish.
There are also many other things can be different without you noticing. Such as water changes, the amount of food being dumped into the fish tank, etc.
If you want to find out exactly reason behind the fish deaths, please go start a thread on the forum. It would be much easier for us to discuss it in details. 🙂
I got two tropical fish from the pet store on Thursday. Friday morning, one of them died. Saturday night, the other died. I have a 3 gallon tank and a heater and filter. I have given them food many times but they don’t eat it. Why did they die? Thank you
Hello Kathy,
There might be more than just one reason why your fish died.
The 3-gallon fish tank is below the minimum recommended fish tank size for safekeeping fish. With so little water, the water conditions such as temperature aren’t stable. Fluctuations in the water temperature and other things can kill the fish.
You are also feeding the fish “many times”. That is a big no-no. You don’t need to feed the fish more than once a day. All the leftover fish food in the fish tank will rot and produce ammonia which is toxic to the fish.
You also did not cycle your fish tank. The new filter can’t convert ammonia at all.
The next time, please get a bigger fish tank. The minimum recommended size is 5-gallon. A 10-gallon is better.
It is the best to cycle your fish tank before getting the fish.
And please only feed your fish with minimum food. You might even want to skip feeding for the first day or two after you just got them.
If you want to discuss the matter further, please come to the forum and start a thread under the fish section. 🙂
Hi, I just got a beta fish today. I have a 24/7 filter in a 3 gallon tank with an appropriate heater and a thermometer to monitor the temperature. I followed all of your steps in the article on how to safely transfer the fish to the tank. I used my water conditioner, checked the ph, and made sure not to shock the fish with temperature change. Yet he still died less than 5 minutes later. I suspect the pet store might have caused this. Any suggestions or agreements?
Hi Amelia,
Did you acclimate the betta fish slowly? How long did it take before it was in the fish tank?
If a fish died in 5 minutes, it must be the shock of the sudden change in the water. It couldn’t adapt to the new environment at all, so it died rapidly.
Please come to the forum to discuss it in details. 🙂
I got a question i got a new fish my friend gave me in a cup its been two days and i dont know how to take care of it can you help me and to top that i dont even now what type of fish it i asked them and they didnt know.
Hello Areli,
You at least will need a real fish tank. An aquarium filter.
If it is tropical, you will need a heater as well. To be sure what type of fish it is, you need to go to the forum and post a photo there in a new thread.
I have a new 35 gallon tank we did what we were told to clean and treat it. The water was tested and said to be perfect. But every fish we have added other than the angel fish and 2 gouramis have died. I thought maybe they were getting picked on but we they were untouched. The pleco we added started acting weird a few minutes after adding him. I read your article and it shouldn’t be any of the things listed. The temp is what has been suggested by two different stores. I’ve never had problems like this before
Hello, is this thread still open? I’m very curious as to what could be wrong with my guppies, and you seem to be quite knowledgeable.
Hello Kayla,
You may start a thread on the forum. I did not intend to have thousands of comments following one article lol.
Hi, I’ve had my 10 gallon tank test out good water 2 times, we added the fish to it and first day two teras died, the next day all but a pleco and guppy survived, we did everything right what’s going on?
Hi Felipe,
What do you mean by “did everything right”? Did you acclimate the fish properly when introducing them to the new tank?
Please start a thread on the forum for easier back and forth discussion. More information is needed to pinpoint the problem.
I had 6 beautiful platties, one pleco and a betta all in the same tank for just over a year, last week I did my every 2 month 40% water change like usual but moved the tank to the other side of my sink(not usual), I noticed that they were moving a little slower than usual and just thought it was because they were getting used to the new water(they do that every time during a new water change) but after a week they still were moving less than usual, so I pulled out my betta and put him in a new container as I didnt want him possibly getting aggressive with the now slower fish and had plans of putting him back in once they were back tk normal, they all ate like usual except the betta now eats less (probably from being a little lonlier), but what happened is yesturday I checked in them in the morning and they were all swimming around looking back to normal and looking happier so I went out for a couple hours but I came back to them all dead. I removed all 6 dead patties and took out the pleco (who was still alive) and did a slow water adjustment to my other tank in a seperate container but he ended up dieing too withing a few hours of going into the new tank. Did I do somethign wrong? Now all I have left is the betta but hes not eating since hes alone now.
Notes about the water change. Took out 40%, cleaned the filter, moved tank to the other side of the sink, added 3 new plants(washed in hot water then fully dried 1 day before going in), slowly added new water onto one decoration that’s there to not disturb rocks for when I do the water changes, fish did not eave tank.
Hi Amanda,
I have noticed a few problems with what you have described.
1. 40% water change every 2 months is not enough.
During those two months, the nitrate can build up. Usually, we do a partial water change once a week, or no less than once every two weeks if the bioload is low. When you finally did a water change at the end of two months, the change in the water chemistry could be too much, and thus stressed the fish. For example, the sudden removal of a large quantity of the nitrate might raise the PH.
2. You said you had cleaned the filter. What did you do to clean the filter? The beneficial bacteria reside on the filter media. If you had washed it under tap water, they might get wiped out and reset the nitrogen cycle.
So the death of your fish could be caused by shocking. And as well as the build-up of ammonia and nitrite after you “cleaned” your filter. There is one more possibility. You said the fish tank is now on the other side of the sink. Is it possible that some chemical products get into the fish tank when you use the sink?
For further discussion, please start a thread on the forum. It is easier to talk there. 🙂