Top 10 Aquarium Problems Every Owner Faces 

Owning and maintaining an aquarium is probably the best hobby that one can develop. Once someone starts keeping an aquarium, it becomes a part of life rather than a hobby. It brings in benefits such as helping in keeping the mind at solace.

With an aquarium, your home will have an aesthetically pleasing appearance and provides a soothing ambiance. But let us face it, everything in the world comes with its own set of problems, and aquariums are no less in it.

An aquarium is a candle in the wind, it requires a higher level of maintenance and attention. A little occurrence or a change is enough to dismantle an aquarium.

Not that owning an aquarium is the hardest thing or the worst that you can make, but there are problems that one faces in this lifestyle.  

In this article, you will go through a series of problems associated with owning an aquarium. Don’t worry all these problems can be tackled. Now without further ado, let’s jump into it.  

1. Your absence  

Own any kind of pet then you have the fear of who will look after them in your absence. This concern levels up in the case of owning an aquarium. As not everyone might own an aquarium, and even if some people you know do, you two might not share the same level of passion. Sometimes the inevitable happens, and you have to leave home for a while.

It can be a family vacation or because of your job. If you own an aquarium the first thing that crosses your mind will be the aquarium. You can clean the aquarium before you leave and change the water. The problem is, who will feed them?  

Well, everyone has that one friend who will volunteer to help you. But they don’t know the amount of food to give them. You might return to a tank full of leftovers or even dead fish. It is a problem that every aquarium owner has gone through, and they pray that this situation never comes up.

In this case, what you can do is leave a sample of the amount to feed at a time. Tell your friend the routine and everything else. But even if you do this, the insecurity will remain no matter what. 

2. Ammonia Spike  

An ammonia spike is the worst nightmare of an aquarium owner. It is the phenomenon of the ammonia levels in your aquarium going haywire. Ammonia is poisonous to your fish and will hurt your fish in every way possible.

The level of ammonia will exceed the level of the number of nitrifying bacteria and they won’t be able to synthesize it properly. This usually occurs when the nitrifying bacteria levels go down. You might have missed out on the step of dechlorinating your water during water changes, cleaning your filters with tap water, and many more. All this leads to the death of beneficial bacteria.  

It can also occur if you are feeding them too much and the leftovers are increasing in the tank. The leftover food will give rise to ammonia.

Overcrowding a single tank will also lead to an ammonia spike. Too much fish means more amount of fish waste and they will wait for no one to generate ammonia. So keep these things in mind and resort to prevention methods for it. 

3. Leakage

One of the worst problems that an aquarium owner can go through is leaking. Although, this is less likely to happen.

Well, leaking is not the worst part, not realizing that leakage fast enough is the real problem. A leak in an aquarium happens at the most unexpected of times, and if you don’t detect it, more problems will arise.  

So be aware and keep checking the water levels of your tank. If it becomes a little less by itself, there is a leak.

Also, keep yourself geared up with appliances to fix a leak. Get yourself acquainted with silicone sealants and other substances and fix the leak as soon as you detect it.  

4. Amount of work involved  

The aquarium owners know the level of maintenance and care required for an aquarium. The aquarium demands constant attention and routine care. From water changes to cleaning in regular intervals, everything must be done carefully.

Adding up to it is the amount of cleaning and water change that you do. If you do too much of it the consequences will not be good and if you do less it won’t bring about any difference.

You will have to do everything in the right proportions.  

Moreover, you will have to keep in check everything. The temperature levels must be to the liking of the fishes, the chemical composition must be perfect, the filters must be working accurately, the feeding levels must be accurate, and so on.

Sometimes, it can be too much for a single person to handle. If you are not passionate enough, if you cant manage time and if you are not able to cope up with it, it begins to become a problem. 

5. Impulsive actions  

Being impulsive is one of the biggest problems that every aquarium owner faces. Usually, this occurs with beginners.

When you are in an aquarium store you will be fascinated by the spectacle there. The varieties of fish that you will encounter in a store are sure to astonish you and bring about a desire in you to own a multitude of them. Well, you must not act on it.

For if you do so and buy new fish for your aquarium hastily everything will go haywire in your tank.  

If you feel like buying a new fish, first you need to do a little work. Research the fish that you are thinking of buying. See if it is compatible with the species that you own or not. Check its minimum tank size, eating habits, and many more.

Not doing a background check will lead to dire consequences.

You might end up adding a non-compatible or aggressive fish, which will eventually lead to the death of the species you have in your tank. Or it can also be the other way around.  

So you must do research before everything else. 

6. Smell  

No one can withstand any foul smell and the smell that your aquarium can radiate is no lavender field. A smelly aquarium is an alarming problem as it will get swamped over your whole room and if worse happens your whole house.

No one likes a damp and dirty smell around their room. If your aquarium is smelling then it indicates that it is not clean. A dirty aquarium gives out a very foul smell.  

So get yourself up and clean your tank. It is sure to get rid of the foul smell. But remember not to overdo the cleaning as you don’t want to lose your best friend, the nitrifying bacteria. 

7. The cost of owning one 

The cost of something that you want or what you want to pursue is something that will seep in as a problem no matter what.

In the case of owning an aquarium, the cost is more than you can expect. The cost of setting up one is higher than you think.

First of all, the tank and fish are there, and then comes the pieces of equipment. There is a lot of equipment such as the heater, filter, light, stand, and many more. In the case of aquariums going for cheap products is never a good solution.

You might save your money but your fish will suffer.  

After setting up, comes the appliances you require for the maintenance of the aquarium. You will have to change the light, the filter cartridges every month or so, medical kits, and of course the food. Well, adding up all this, it becomes a very expensive hobby. 

8. Fish Death  

Now, this is an inevitable eventuality. You will come across this tough time one or the other day. It is the hardest thing an aquarium owner has to endure.

Every aquarium owner loves their fish, and facing this is the worse problem one can go through.

All the effort that you put in maintaining the aquarium and all of it for fabricating the best life for your fish. But this is an unavoidable happening and don’t get your morals down. Everyone does the best they can. 

9. Extra required tanks   

Well if you own one tank, then the requirement for more will eventually rise. This is a requirement but become a problem when certain conditions are not met. It might not go in par with your budget or might not have enough space in your home.

You have one tank, you might be thinking you will not require more. But you will have to get more tanks. You will need more extra tanks for various reasons.

One is if your fish catches a disease or becomes ill and injured. A new tank is required for it to boost up its immune system and get better.  

Another is if your fish is about to lay an egg or give birth. For this, a fresh tank is a must for the fish fry are every vulnerable.

If you think of keeping the fry with other fishes then they become vulnerable to getting eaten. The worst part is some species of fish tend to feast on their fry. You wouldn’t want to observe that.  

If you bring in a new fish that you like, later you find out it is aggressive and territorial. Well, get a new tank ready. You don’t want to create chaos in your already perfectly balanced and established tank. 

10. Desire for more tank  

Now, this is a problem every aquarium owner goes through. Once you begin this hobby of yours, you will end up having the desire to own more tanks. Now, this is a natural thing, but you might end up biting off more than you can chew. This desire starts to stimulate as you start knowing about more fishes. You will tend to create a wish to own as many fish as you like. First, you will have one tank, then you see a new species then you want another.  

Sometimes the species that you want aren’t the friendly type and you will need a new tank for it. Not that it is a bad thing to get more tanks for yourself, but considering the amount of effort required in owning one and its huge budget, you might want to think again. 

So there are a lot of problems regarding owning an aquarium. You have to brace yourself for everything as every problem occurs unexpectedly. Manage your time, make routines for cleaning and do everything appropriately then everything will go smoothly. Everything has a solution and you can overcome all of it if you have the stomach for it. Despite all this aquarium is an excellent and beautiful hobby. Give it all you got and the aquarium will give you back the results in the best way possible.