10 Reasons Why Your Fish Die - and Ways to Keep Them Alive

Face it; the guilt eats away at you. You've brought home yet another molly and another molly swirls carelessly in the toilet going to that big aquarium in the sky. Is it your fault? In my findings... yes, it probably is.

Don't get me wrong, fish die just like the rest of us. Sometimes a fishes days are just numbered, but if you're seeing a trend in the belly-up category, something needs to change.

The following is a an informative measure of common ways that fish end up not so alive, and a how-to guide on what to know and what to look for and how to stop any problems in your fish tank.

Let's now examine the top 10 reasons fish die - and how to prevent them from doing so. These are in no particular order.

Reason number 1: Other Fish

Even if you have a community tank with community fish (those that don't eat other fish), you may find if you watch closely that 1 fish is picking on another fish. Perhaps there are a school of fish that are attacking just for the fun of doing so.

While a community fish devoid of teeth can't literally tear apart another fish, it can do damage and over time, the victim fish will become stressed out, making it vulnerable to disease and bacteria. Watch how your fish interact. Make sure smaller fish have a place to hide and if you see a problem fish in your tank, you may want to put him in a different tank or donate him to a pet store. If you do notice a fish has been attacked you can help that fish recover (after you've removed the offender) by leaving the lights off in the tank a little longer than usual and adding some liquid stress coat to the tank.

Reason number 2: Disease, Bacteria and Parasites