Important Tips to Keep Your Fish Alive Longer

Fish are a great addition to any family. They’re also a responsibility that many people don’t want to take on because it’s so hard! But there are plenty of things you can do to make the experience easier and better for both your fish and yourself. With these tips and tricks, you can keep your fish alive longer!!

Feed them Once or Twice a Day.

Feed your fish twice a day. It might sound like an insane amount of work for something for a seemingly small thing, but fish need to be fed every single day! So don’t skip out on this step, or else you’ll have an unhappy fish friend living in your home. Fish also love routine… it’s essential to feed them at the same time each day for optimal health!

Giving fish more food than they can eat is not only a waste of money but also makes the fish sick… Only feed them once or twice a day.

If you overfeed your fish, they will die faster. That’s because fish poop and pee as much as we do. All that waste adds up, and toxins start leaching into the water, which will make fish live shorter lives.

Fill the Tank with Water that is at the Right Temperature.

Fish are cold-blooded animals, so they need the water at a higher temperature to survive. It is vital to make sure fish stay within their safe temperature ranges, as fish can die from heat or cold. If you don’t know the water temperature, ask an expert at your fish store for assistance.

Use a fish tank heater and regular room-temperature water to keep the fish tank at the correct temperature. Fish are pretty sensitive creatures, so they need to be held in mostly heated water due to their slow rate of metabolism. Also, if you have tropical fish, they will appreciate more warmth than just “room” temperature.

Change 20% of their Water Every Week

This is maybe the most critical step in fish-keeping. Water changes are crucial to fish health. So you want to change out most of your fish’s water every week! Algae build-up can be hazardous for fish because they may eat it and get sick or die from it. Some fish are more susceptible to algae than others, so check if yours is one of them before taking action.

Clean the tank with a fish-safe product about once a month.

Fish can be pretty sensitive when it comes to chemicals, so always make sure you’re using products designed especially for aquariums.

Make Sure they Have Enough Oxygen

This one should always be obvious, but fish need oxygen to live. Every fish tank needs an air pump or filter to get the proper amount of oxygen they need. If fish don’t have enough oxygen, they will die!

An air pump is used to keep fish from suffocating. Air pumps are often connected to a fish tank filter, adding a second gas exchange system. The fish tank filter keeps fish from being exposed to polluted fish tank water and fish waste. It also keeps fish tanks from being over-fed by fish with poor appetites or fish fed too much food.

If you have a fish tank that’s too deep for an air pump, then get a fish aerator instead.

A fish aerator works as a backup for fish tanks with insufficient surface areas for an air pump. These aerators can be placed beside the fish tank and may consist of a vertical column inside the fish tank, which blows bubbles into the water to provide additional oxygen.

Give them Plenty of Space

Although fish habitats are often contained within fish tanks, fish need space to be fish! If they don’t have room to swim around in their fish tank habitat, then you’ll want to think about adding more plants or rocks for them to swim through.

It’s crucial that fish feel safe in their tank. They should always feel like they can hide if something comes upon them while swimming around their habitat. They also might get stressed out if there isn’t enough place to swim around and see what is going on around them, so make sure your fish can interact with things outside of its fish tank habitat by providing it with more plants or rocks.

Add some decoration to give fish places they can hide and feel secure. Fish are susceptible animals who need lots of attention and love! Sometimes they will hide when stressed or scared, so they need shelter or decoration to feel safe.

Place a cave or some other place to hide from each other when needed. Caves are crucial for fish survival. Some of them become very territorial when it comes time to breed, so the best thing you can do is make sure all your fish have a place where they can happily chill out. Also, if you notice any injured fish, make sure you give them a hiding spot, too…. even if that means getting rid of another one of your fish.

If You are going on holiday, put your Fish into Cold Storage

If fish are left in fish tanks for more than a day or two without food and at room temperature, they will die. So make sure if you are going to be gone for more than one day, that you put your fish somewhere cold where they can hibernate until you return home. Make sure the fish tank isn’t moving around too much because fish can die from being jostled around inside their tanks. Putting your fish into a garage should do the trick if it’s not snowing outside!

Feed your Fish a Varied Diet

Use the correct type of fish food. Fish eat fish food! There are several different types that you can purchase, including flakes, pellets, and sinking-type foods. The fish food that you choose will depend on your fish’s needs, as well as its preference.

Flake fish food is thin and breaks apart quickly in the fish tank; sinking fish food provides bulk to fish stomachs, while pellet fish foods are easier for fish to eat.

They have different nutritional needs depending on their life stage, so you must feed your fish an appropriate diet. Always purchase the right amount of fish food for each type that you buy.

The little guys need attention too! If they are hungry when you get home from work, even though you have already fed them several times throughout the day, take them out of your fish tank and feed them right away with a fish food feeding tool.

Let some Light into the Tank

If fish feel like there is not enough light in their fish tank, they will get stressed out and become very sick. Fish needs at least five hours of sun every day.

They need to see what’s happening around them, so your fish must have enough light in the fish tank. Too much light can also cause problems for fish because they might become agitated. So make sure that your fish have enough sunlight throughout the day so they can see everything around them, but don’t shine so much light into the fish tank.

However, Your fish tank might need more light. If fish are not getting the right amount of light, they can develop health problems such as sunken eyes or open sores on the fish’s body. If your fish have any of these symptoms, it means that you have to figure out a way to give them more sunlight by adding an overhead lamp to their fish tank habitat.

Don’t Overstock your Fish Tank!

Yes, fish can be adorable, and sometimes they have a way of getting you to buy them more fish, friends! However, fish need space to swim around, so adding too many fish to your fish tank can result in some very serious water problems.

Make sure you only add the amount of fish that your fish tank habitat will reasonably support. Your fish might not appear overstressed if you have 7 fish in a 10-gallon fish tank, but the 10-gallon fish tank is only capable of holding up to 3 or 4 smaller types of fish. It’s best for all parties involved to make sure that each person living in the same house with a pet knows how many animals it can take care of at one time.

A fish living in a fish tank doesn’t have the same swimming area as it would in an ocean or lake, so make sure you don’t overcrowd them with other fish.

You don’t want too many fish because there is only so much room for them to swim around and hide from each other. Some fish need their little areas because otherwise, they will fight each other until one dies. Don’t keep more than six fish in your fish tank…. unless you want to lose one or two really fast.

Get Rid of any Dead or Dying Plants 

If you notice that any of your fish tank plants are dying or dead, it’s best to get rid of them right away. Plants usually die very slowly, and fish might not tell that the plant is rotting and dying. You can keep them alive by replacing their fish tank water every week and filtering the fish tank more often.

Of course, you want fish to have a safe place to swim around, but fish also need healthy fish tank plants if they want food like algae! If there aren’t enough live fish tank plants for them to eat, then shrimp or fish can become weak and sickly over time because they aren’t getting enough nutrients from other sources…

Conclusion.

The information in this post has given you some great tips and tricks to keep your fish alive longer. Comment below if any of these ideas helped make your life easier when caring for your fish!