Why do you think fish die?

[Dreamroper]

Hi Everyone,

I came home from work today to find one of my balloon belly mollies dead. Checked my water and everything is fine in my tank. When you find one of your fish dead, what do you think is the main cause? I hate it when I lose a fish.
Thanks-D

 

[azmodan]

Could be countless different things. Disease, parasites, stress (also brought on by all sorts of things), a foreign contaminant (i.e. Windex used to clean a kitchen window that blew into the tank), stunted growth, a decoration that the fish gets stuck in, and so forth. Sometimes you'll know the cause, other times it'll be a mystery. All we can do is provide the best possible environment for our fish friends to survive and thrive, but it doesn't work every time.

Sorry for your loss!

 

[HUKIT]

Top 4 in my opinion.

1. Poor diet, being fed low quality foods.
2. Overfeeding, obviously worse when fed low quality foods.
3. Deteriorating water conditions, especially long term exposure to high nitrates.
4. Poor stock being offered by local stores.

 

[Cynic]

Top 3 in my opinion.

1. Poor diet as in low quality foods.
2. Overfeeding, obviously worse when fed low quality.
3. Deteriorating water conditions.

I'd have uncycled tanks as being close to the number 1 killer.

 

[HUKIT]

I'd have uncycled tanks as being close to the number 1 killer.

The question was when everything as far as water test and everything else appears normal, not overall what kills most aquarium fish.

 

[Dreamroper]

Top 4 in my opinion.

1. Poor diet, being fed low quality foods.
2. Overfeeding, obviously worse when fed low quality foods.
3. Deteriorating water conditions, especially long term exposure to high nitrates.
4. Poor stock being offered by local stores.

Yes, I checked water params and everything was fine, I actually have very low nitrates due to planted tank guess. I feed different food and change every day and kind of cycle the food trying to give them a balanced diet. Food recommended by LFS, but also bought some from discount store. I'll throw that stuff out.
I don't THINK I'm overfeeding, but could be wrong-suggestions on that please? I'm always open for advice. What would you suggest for a good balanced diet for a community tank? Thanks-D

 

[BLUElobster99]

Sorry to hear about your mollie



But you might not be at fault due to the unfortunate short lifespan of the mollie due to the "bloated belie" genetic
The average lifespan is around 1.5-2 yrs

 

[Wolfsblood]

They tend to do a little better in a slightly brackish tank too so that could have had something to do with it.

For food I use Omega One tropical flakes and supplement with some frozen stuff every once in a while.

 

[Cynic]

The question was when everything as far as water test and everything else appears normal, not overall what kills most aquarium fish.

Apologies, misread the OP.

 

[Dreamroper]

They tend to do a little better in a slightly brackish tank too so that could have had something to do with it.

For food I use Omega One tropical flakes and supplement with some frozen stuff every once in a while.

My LFS owner suggested dried brine shrimp flakes, and then I had bought some other flaked food. I'm just not sure what qualifies as good quality for fish. Thanks-D

 

[HUKIT]

One of the biggest differences in fish foods is where the main protein ingredients derive from. Is it fish meal or whole fish meal, fish meal consists primarily and potentially exclusively of scales, skins, and bones where as whole meal utilizes the entire fish not simply the left over bi-products from other industries; remember what old old saying about what hotdogs were made from(lips and butts) same applies here. What you looking for is quality highly digestible ingredients such as Whole Antarctic krill meal.

The most important fact to remember here is that fish digestive systems are designed to handle certain proteins. Freshwater/Marine proteins and fats are very different than their mammal counterparts. Their digestive systems are well designed so that if the food is of a protein that can not be digested properly it will simply be expell this excess immediately. The primarily function of breaking down food is a provide energy, that which can't be processed generates a lot of waste since they're expelling what can't be used to benefit the fishes body. Proteins are made of amino acids which contain nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, so as the fish is breaking these non-native foods down they in turn make a lot more nitrogenous waste which as everyone knows will effect water quality.

I personally would not feed my fish anything that contained MSG or astaxanthin which are preservatives used to prevent the fish from spoiling when caught.

Another large issue comes into play with regards to fillers and binding agents. You'll even see some lower end products which use multiple types of wheat, the ingredient list follows a practice known as product splitting, with three different wheat products listed. When combined, wheat may very well be the primary ingredient. Which is by no means the building block of a quality product.

The last point I'll make is the ash content, ash comes from bones and shells, the percentage of ash at 10% or higher usually indicates left over white fish, shrimp or loster heads are used rather than the entire fish again. Since the fish food market is self regulated you'll even see some brands leave the ash content off since they're not bound by any laws; if you see this its not fit to feed any living creature.

Luckily there is a commercial food which is a one stop shop when it comes to fish nutrition...New Life Spectrum.

 

[Pearly]

Mine is by no means expert advice but I believe in NATURAL. My community tank houses betta male, couple of mollies, platies, snail and ghost shrimp, lots of live plants, driftwood, mossball, and couple of different mosses, my cuisine consists of frozen peas, fresh veggies (slice of cucumber) and other, and frozen brine shrimp, blood worms, tubifex, glassworms, mosquito larvae, rotating every day. Dry/pelleted food has been rejected by my fish ever since they tasted "the real stuff". I keep algae wafer and sinking pellets on hand as well as freeze dried brine shrimp, but that's for emergencies only. I'm still looking around for good info on healthy natural fish diet, very interested about garlic. Would love to start using it but have not come across any reliable info on how to prepare it for the fish. Mollies need veggie content in their diet. I always see mine munching on algae and they devour mashed up frozen peas I drop in.

 

[HUKIT]

I understand that some people prefer a natural diet and try to feed many foods that are in a more natural form, but in my opinion this theory is flawed. These foods are far from natural in almost every case. No fish in their natural habitat eats lettuce, carrots, cucumber, zucchini, etc. So the fact that these are in their natural form does not make them any more natural for a fish to eat than a pellet. Even the aquatic based foods are not part of the natural diet for fish. Fish do not naturally eat brine shrimp, scallops, prawns, or fish fillets. Even more importantly is that these foods will not provide a complete and balanced diet. In most cases the aquarist is feeding a variety of frozen foods (brine shrimp, bloodworms, etc.) and these are all mainly a low quality protein source, which contain nearly 80% water. I think the best analogy I could use is for frozen bloodworms and really all frozen foods is they are like eating watermelon. Although there are other nutrients in these foods besides protein, they are minimal at best and unbalanced. These foods are equivalent to the first few ingredients in a high quality pellet, which are there for protein. These diets lack all of the other ingredients that are in a high quality pellet that provide all the other nutrients vital to their diet. The key here is that most including myself are not biologist or nutritionist so ideally we are not in a position to decide what is a balanced diet for our fish, but companies such as New Life or Omega One does have such people on their staff developing new formulas.

 

[Pearly]

The premise of my post was that I'm was still getting my feet wet with this. This forum has been a great source of info for my learning, however lot of it very contradictory. The only "veggies" my fish (mollies, platties and battas) go for are the frozen peas. The others are for the snails who love them. I've just noticed that since introduced frozen worms they started turning their little noses up on pellets and flakes. But it is good to know that there are reputable companies (as you've mentioned) compounding best ingredients for our pets and I'll be definititely looking for those. It took me years of research to figure out what to feed my cats to keep them healthy and happy. Years ago when I had a dog I cooked for her my own food. Now being a novice at "fish nutrition" I'm simply looking for ideas and answers.,So do you feed yours only formulated food? I just want to do what's best for my pets.

 

[HUKIT]

I feed New Life Spectrum exclusively(unless I'm trying new food brands), but I always end up back to NLS. The only other food I'd recommend is Repashy Superfoods, it has great ingredients and I love the delivery system. I have tried nearly every other brand of fish food over the last 20 years and I'm currently experimenting with Spirulina 20.

 

[Dreamroper]

Thanks for your input. I too, have given blanched frozen peas, but then I feed my dogs fresh vegetables too. I'm going to look into the food suggested.

Thanks again. It's our responsiblity to take the best care we can of our animals. They rely on us. I also have horses and I cringe when I hear a new horse owner ask, "what does floating their teeth mean?".

 

[Pearly]

I feed New Life Spectrum exclusively(unless I'm trying new food brands), but I always end up back to NLS. The only other food I'd recommend is Repashy Superfoods, it has great ingredients and I love the delivery system. I have tried nearly every other brand of fish food over the last 20 years and I'm currently experimenting with Spirulina 20.

I'm not sure I've seen those brands of fish food. Where do you shop for those?

 

[Pearly]

Thanks for your input. I too, have given blanched frozen peas, but then I feed my dogs fresh vegetables too. I'm going to look into the food suggested.

Thanks again. It's our responsiblity to take the best care we can of our animals. They rely on us. I also have horses and I cringe when I hear a new horse owner ask, "what does floating their teeth mean?".

Hah! Floating teeth!!!! too funny! But there is a lot about horse care that I've learned just recently having lived my life thinking I was pretty knowledgeable. One of my best friends has had horses and ... wow! Just like fish! There is a lot more to it then one would think

 

[HUKIT]

I'm not sure I've seen those brands of fish food. Where do you shop for those?

Ken's has everything you'll ever need for fish food and supplies, this is where nearly all my fish room products come from.

Food & Feeders

 

[Dreamroper]

I found some New Life Spectrum on Amazon and have ordered some. They had several different formulas-some for cichlids-but I found some flaked food for community tanks.