How do I keep my fish from dying? Maybe bc I over feed them?

[fuzzy]

I have a 10 gal fish tank and I had 4 lil fish suddenly one died then another one and I woke up and another died. Plp told me they died bc i feed them too much. but I had them for about two weeks. Do I need to add something to the water? or change the water often? or feed them once a day? what should I do??

[Venice Girl]

Overfeeding is a big problem, but maybe not in the way you think. Yes, one problem is having too much food inside the fish’s belly which causes bloat, which causes swim bladder disease, which causes dropsy, but the other problem is that allowing too much uneaten food to remain in the tank will cause toxic water quality which poisons your fish and they die. But, the bigger chance of the reason they are dying is that you didn't cycle your tank and have New Tank Syndrome.
You have 4 fish in a 10 gallon tank. Why am I afraid that they are goldfish? Depending on what these 4 fish are, and really, all you should have in a 10 gallon tank is 4 very small fish like tetras or guppies, and no, goldfish are not very small fish, regardless of what they may look like from the outside, you may be seriously, seriously overcrowded which also causes poor water quality. Poor feeding techniques, overcrowding, failing to cycle, improper water changes and cleaning, lack of testing, these are all reasons why fish die. Fish just don’t get sick for no reason. They get sick because we don’t give them a healthy home in which to live.
The first step is to do a 50% water change. The second step is to get a liquid drops test kit that tests for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. The third step is to do 20-30% water changes as necessary to bring your water parameters back into line. And while you are doing all of this, you need to research and read up on the nitrogen cycle, how to cycle a tank, proper feeding techniques, proper cleaning and maintenance, proper filtration and how to identify and treat diseases. There is a saying: “take care of the tank and the fish will take care of themselves.” It’s true.

[Ghapy]

Basic aquarium care:

1. Always be aware of what's going on with your water - learn about cycling a tank (just type "aquarium cycling" into google), take measurements of ammonia and nitrite and make sure they are low, doing water changes as often as necessary to keep them that way. Only set up for 2 weeks, your fish may be getting killed by their own waste right now.

2. Weekly maintenance is best - do a partial waterchange of 25% and vacuum as much gravel as you can while you do so - this will keep the tank clean and stable, and the water fresh for the fish.

3. Overfeeding is very common. Once per day, what they can eat in about 2-3 minutes, is as much flake as a typical community fish needs. Fish can go weeks without food, so if you go away for the weekend it's best to just not feed them then to use iffy feeding blocks or trust someone who can mess it up.

4. Add nothing to the water except water conditioner - the more junk you add, the more complicated you make it, and the more can go wrong. I know the store may try to sell you all sorts of consumable products, but you don't need it - even salt is unnecessary in most situations.

5. Always research your fish before you buy them. Most fish will outgrow a 10 gallon tank. Some need to be kept in groups, while others need to be kept solo or in pairs. Some need certain decorations, like plants or caves, to relieve stress and keep them healthy.

[Elijah]

well if you feed them to much it will toxify the water and kill the fish (you will see the water is cloudy) feed them less like once or twice a day and only enough that they will eat and change the water about twice a month.

[Sunday P]

Read up on the nitrogen cycle. Ammonia spikes around a week or two and could easily kill the fish in absence of sufficient water changes.