There are several behavioral and physical signs that a fish is dying. As an owner of the fish tank it is your duty to identify these vital signs and save their life by quickly taking action and treating the root cause of the death. No matter how bad the disease or the situation your fish is in, it can be cured with proper care and knowledge.
The primary reason for death of a in a fish tank is stress. Just like humans fish undergo stress because of a variety of reasons and most of these reasons are because of silly human errors that have come while setting up the tank without study and negligence.
In the natural world fish swim freely and can run away or shift themselves to another safe place whenever there is threat to their life. Sadly in a fish tank they don’t have such a choice because space is confined and because of this fish surrender themselves to stress.
As an owner you can identity stress in a fish by observing their behavior and physical looks and take action to eliminate it as soon as possible. If not treated stress leads to serious diseases causing death.
The ideal way to treat a sick fish is to shift him to a quarantine tank and observe until he is fully recovered. Let’s have a look at signs of a fish under stress so that if you find any of these signs you can take the appropriate action to treat him fast.
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1) Pale body color
AS fish go under stress their body color becomes pale. This is quite noticeable when a fish is colorful. Fish will slowly start losing it’s original vibrant color and looks dull.
2) Sluggish movements
Stress causes fish to move slowly or not move at all. Fist will stay in one place for hours without moving and shows a natural tendency to slow down. While under stress fish will also show sluggishness in playing and mating with female fish.
3) Low appetite
Some fish tend to lose appetite while in stress. When the stress increases they lose interest in eating and leave out of the food that is being fed. As an owner it is necessary that you observe how much food they eat every time you feed them. If you find that a particular fish is showing signs of stress then observe how much he eats and how much leaves out.
4) Hiding behind decorations
Stress causes fish to hide behind decorations and plants to protect themselves from further damage. If stress is because of fear from other larger fish then this behavior is quite frequently seen in a fish tank. To protect themselves from other larger fish they will find a sweet spot where they can stay safe and live longer.
5) Staying in one place
As mentioned earlier fish that are under stress will avoid moving to other places because of fear and try to find a protected spot in the tank.
6) Gasping for air at top surface
Stress causes fish to gasp for air at the top surface of the tank. Fish survive of dissolved oxygen in the fish tank water and this exchange of gases takes place most at the tops surface of the water. Stress causes fish difficulty in breathing and they tend to gasp for air at the top surface of the tank.
7) Visible symptoms of disease
If stress is not cured for several days it can lead to a deadly disease
8) Fish trying to jump out
Under extreme stress some fish try to jump out of the tank. If this has happened in your case before then consider this as a warning sign that fish is under severe stress and something needs to be changed drastically in your tank. When fish are under fear they undergo stress and in order to escape from this they tend to jump out of the tank to save their life.
9) Fish trying to swim sideways or upside down
If a fish is getting upside down then this a clear sign of swim bladder disease and must be cured in a quarantine tank before he gets too sick and dies. This disease is not deadly but if not cured will force the fish to lose appetite and go under extreme stress.
Common reasons of stress in fish
There are many reasons for which the fish in a tank go under stress. Let’s have a look at some of the most important ones.
1) Bullying from other bigger fish.
This is the most common reason in a community tank for fish going under stress. In natural world survival of the fittest in the rule of the thumb and fish and the entire animal kingdom follow this every day. If a larger fish is bullying smaller ones in a tank then the smaller ones will go under stress.
Space in a tank is very confined and this makes it impossible for the smaller fish to escape to other safe place. This can cause great amount of stress. If this situation is not handled carefully fish can catch on some disease and even die.
The solution to this is to avoid too big and too small fish in the same tank. Sometimes it can happen that when you buy fish they are smaller in size but with time their age and size grows and they become unsuitable for the tank size you have. That’s why think about future planning as well.
2) Fish compatibility
Just like fish size, fish compatibility plays a major role when it comes to handling stress. Some tank mates love each other while some really hate each other and this can lead to deadly fights.
When fish fight, they will chase each other or even bite each other. These bites can lead to infections and if not cured lead to death. Fish fights obviously create stress and living in such situations becomes difficult for the either species. That’s why always check fish compatibility tables when purchasing new fish from the pet store.
3) Male to female ratio
Another very important point which is normally ignored by new fish keepers is the number of female and male fish in the same tank. Male fish will chase female fish for mating purposes in a tank and if the ratio of male to female fish is not maintained this is normally end in fights resulting in stress.
4) Insufficient equipment
While setting up equipment for you tank, make sure that you set it up as required and that can handle the volume of your tank. Filter with insufficient power is of no use even after installing it in the tank. Same goes with other devices such as heaters, air pumps and any other necessary equipment.
If these equipments are not sufficient to handle the volume of water it will create an imbalance in water chemistry and this leads to stress in fish.
5) Faulty equipment
This point is self explanatory but needs attention. If you have a heater, air pump, LED lighting, filter installed in your tank then all these systems are there to maintain a sufficient balance of environment in your tank that is safe for the fish. If any one of this fails, then it will quickly disturb the equilibrium and can cause great amount of stress.
The simple solution to this is to have a standby model of equipment so that if the original one fails you can quickly replace it with a new one and get going without interruption.
6) Too much food
This is another vital point that many fish keepers miss. If you feed too much food most will be remain uneaten at the bottom of the tank because fish will never eat everything you feed them. This uneaten food starts decaying and becomes ammonia gas. This gas is highly toxic for fish and leads to heavy imbalance in water column.
There could be many reasons why someone would feed their fish too much food. If the fish keeper is new to this hobby then simply out of care for fish many fish keepers throw too much food inside the tank thinking that fish should not starve. Another case would be a child feeding the fish when he doesn’t know how much food is to be fed to the fish.
No matter who is feeding your fish it is not advisable to feed them too much because it gets decayed at the bottom of the tank and the water quickly becomes toxic for fish.
7) Lack of maintenance
Many fish keepers lack discipline of cleaning their fish tank on a regular basis. Fish are practically swimming in a toxic gas chamber when they are in a fish tank. You must regularly clean these toxic gases from the tank by replacing partial water every 15 days and keep the toxic levels to minimum.
8) Contamination through hands
Yes, this is point is ignored by many new fish keepers. Many people dip hands in their after washing them with soap or a hand wash and don’t rinse them properly. The small residue soap on your hands is dangerous for tiny sensitive fish and when mixed in the fish tank water can be extremely dangerous.
9) Not having a quarantine tank
This seems a simple thing but is ignored by many fish keepers who are new to this hobby because it requires money to set up and most are not in a position to spend that much or are not serious enough about it’s importance.
A quarantine fish tank is used for two purposes
- Treating sick fish
- Introducing new fish before you put them in main tank
These points are extremely important because you should never treat sick fish with other fish because sometime medications like antibiotics are necessary to be added to the water and this can lower oxygen levels in the tank.
Secondly when you buy new fish it is necessary that you add them to a quarantine tank and observe them for at least 15 days for any signs of visible diseases. If these fish are sick them obviously they will spread this to the main tank. If you find that newly bought fish is sick you can treat him in the quarantine tank and once you fish he’s healthy then add him to the main tank.
10) Keep your tank covered
This looks a very foolish suggestion but keeping your tank covered will save a lot of things fallings into the tank. For example kids sometimes drop food into tank just for fun and this can be nightmare for the fish.
Another point is a lid will prevent too much evaporation of water because it will block some of the surrounding heat outside.
Many people have a habit of cleaning their furniture and other surfaces with a spray soap bottle and a wet cloth. In such cases even tiny spray particle of the soap can end up in the tank making it poisonous for fish and that’s why covering it with a lid is always recommended.
A lid will also prevent fish from jumping out of the tank. Though having a lid is like keeping your tank in the jail it is necessary that you keep your fish happy by following all the smaller and important rules of tank maintenance.
How to save a dying fish?
The first thing you must do if you see a fish is under stress and will probably die is to isolate him in a quarantine tank. The reason he is under stress is because the environment in your main tank is not suitable for him and something is greatly bothering him in it.
In a quarantine tank you can have him swim alone for a few days and see if he improves his behavior and eating patterns. The first thing you’ll notice is an improvement in his appetite.
If he feels hungry then he’ll definitely eat almost all the food and this is a good sign. You can try medications such as melafix if there are any visible signs of diseases.
(paidlink)
Installing a quarantine tank does help a lot in this case and is a definitely a life saver. However once you fish shows signs of improvement the next step is to find the root cause of his stress in the main tank.
As discussed above there are several factors that lead to stress because these tiny little fish are extremely sensitive to environment which may include
- Water temperature
- Water pH
- Tank mates
- Levels of dissolved toxic gases
- Levels of dissolved oxygen
One of the main steps in this is to test you main fish tank water immediately using a “water testing kit” and get assurance of toxic gas levels in it. If you find increased levels of toxic gases then a partial water change is a probable solution and once you do that test it again till you get the desires safe levels of gases.
Gases you must look for in the water
- Ammonia
- Nitrates
- Nitrites
- Chlorine
There are stages by which you can save his life and make him healthy and happy again. Let’s have a look at these steps.
- Identify the root cause
- Move stressed fish to quarantine tank
- Treat with medications (Melafix Liquid Remedy 16 oz. paidlink) and observe for 15 days
- Shift to main tank
How to prevent fish deaths?
If fish frequently die in your tank then the first thing you must do is stop buying new stock when any death occurs. Fish die in your tank because obviously there are loop holes in the system left over that must be covered so that fish feel safe in your tank.
There are some portions of the system that are not good and are causing great amount of stress in the tank that is causing stress. Once you identify the lacunas then you can buy just a pair and test thing out with them.