There are several reasons why fish in a home aquarium get sick. Some of these reasons include poor water quality, over crowding, and introduction of new fish.
Poor Water Quality
The most common reason for sick fish is poor water quality. Excess waste build up in the aquarium leads to this poor water quality and proper care of the tank can help prevent this. In order to properly care for your aquarium, you should perform weekly water changes to ensure that the nitrate levels stay balanced, and eliminate excess waste from the water.
Overcrowded Aquariums
Another cause for sick fish in a home aquarium is overcrowding. When you have too many fish in the tank, you will have the more aggressive fish fighting over their territory, and all fish, regardless of aggression, will experience stress over a lack of space. This stress will cause your fish to become sick.
The other problem with an overcrowded aquarium is that it can have a negative effect on the water quality. The more fish, the more waste produced, and the more it is necessary to do frequent water changes. Some fish are dirtier than others, and thus it is very important to not overcrowd your aquarium.
When figuring out how many fish to put in an aquarium, you should split the tank into thirds: top, middle and bottom. In a typical ten gallon community aquarium, you should have no more than two fish that swim near the top of the tank, one fish that swims in the middle and three fish that swim on the bottom. If you have a 20 gallon aquarium, you can put up to 4 fish that swim near the top, no more than 2 middle swimming fish and no more than 4 bottom dwelling fish.
Introducing New Fish
When introducing new fish to your aquarium, you can introduce illness from the store aquarium, as well as anything in the store water that will negatively affect your water quality. In order to prevent this, never put any store water in your home tank, and observe new fish carefully before purchasing them.
When observing the fish, watch for any signs of illness. Unusual swimming movements including tilting to one side or turning upside down or any spots or sores on the fish body or fins would indicate an illness. Try to not purchase fish from a tank that has any sick fish, because you may bring that illness home even if you purchased a healthy fish.
The other common cause for fish illness related to introducing a new fish to your aquarium is the simple stress of moving the fish from one tank to another. Careful acclimation can help reduce this stress. Be sure too that you are introducing fish to a well established aquarium so that the tank has had enough time to cycle. A new aquarium should be set up and left to run empty for at least a week before you purchase new fish.
Taking care to keep your water quality pristine, over crowding to a minimum and careful introduction of new fish will help to prevent illness and death in your home Aquarium.
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