It is a disappointing fact that buying beautiful new fish is a situation that frequently ends up with dead fish within just a week. It’s mainly connected to the lack of research that’s good to be done before deciding to keep fish. Some things, like pH, hardness and temperature of the water, as well as its compatibility with the fish and their feeding habits just need to be known. Even if you have more experience with keeping fish, you should do your homework before purchasing some, because fish may wind up dead in a matter of weeks. Let’s focus on some advice concerned with how to prevent this from happening.
Bringing in some new fish into the new environment is almost always stressful to them, and some species are specifically sensitive to changes. Several different conditions can make any fish sick to the point of dying. So, make sure to observe:
1 The condition of the fish in general.
The stress of moving won’t affect the healthy fish that much and they’ll have a better chance to survive. It’s best to choose the smartest swimming and brightest colored fish of all. Check the fish’s appetite, if possible. The fish which follow your finger placed on the front glass is a good sign they have appetite. But, some species are healthy but won’t do this because they’re too shy.
2 The difference in temperature and pH
It’s commonly said that the best water parameters for fish are the parameters they are used to. It’s obvious that fish don’t really enjoy sudden changes. 20 degrees C in temperature and 0.2 in pH can be stressful and fatal to the fish, as long as something like this happens in a period of less than 6 hours. If the shop’s water is too different from yours, the fish may suffer a shock. So, it’s best to ask the shop keeper how he maintains the water and set your tank up to the same levels of temperature and pH value. The difference between shops’ maintenance of the water and your own can cause the fish to die, so always make sure not to stress your fish.
3 Netting the fish
If your chosen fish has been chased for too long, forget about it. It could be ill or hurt and it won’t be long before you go to the pet store to get yourself a new one. It’s good to net the fish you want by yourself so you’re sure they’re ok.
4 Getting the fish back home
When transporting the fish you should always make sure there’s enough water in the bag. Transporting fish in the dark calms them down. Wrapping the bag in some pullover to make it dark also helps to maintain the temperature. If it’s a long way home, ask the shop keeper to add some oxygen to the bag. When releasing the fish into your aquarium, let the bag float for about 10 minutes and slowly add water from the tank to the one in the bag. It helps adjusting temperature and pH. Pour the water from the bag and let the new fish into your aquarium. If you worry that other fish may attack the new ones, turn of the light and throw some food to distract the old fish while the new ones will probably be hiding somewhere in the tank. If you do everything right, the chance for the fish to die is minimized. Still, if something like this happens, it’s probably because of MFD - mysterious fish death.
Conclusion
These are some of the main things to be aware of when it comes to maintaining a tank and buying some extra fish. I’m sure you wouldn’t like someone catch you and put you somewhere else all of a sudden. It would be quite a shock for anyone. So, always make sure that the temperature of the water as well as the pH value of it is stabilized and appropriate, and try not to scare and stress your fish. When you’re sure you’ve figured it all out, I suggest you enjoy your colorful fish tank, full of cheerful and healthy fish. Be gentle, informed and, above all, never forget to feed them and pet them, because even if they won’t ever play with you in the conventional way, the fish are there to be your friends.
Author Bio:
Ivan Dimitrijevic has his focus on blogging as well as social media. He writes about lifestyle, reef tanks and marine aquarium supplies and home & family improvement tips. Among other things he had articles published that consider a wide range of topics that include aquarium supplies and fish tanks for companies and online stores like PondQuip Australia.
