Overfeeding aquarium fish is the most common cause of death in tropical fish. I know this may be difficult to believe that something so easy could cause more problems and deaths of your aquarium fish than disease but overfeeding causes problems with water quality which is where problems seem to start. It is often not seen as important and therefore, notice is not taken.

You need to make sure you don't give your aquarium fish too much food. Just a sprinkle should do however you do need to make sure you don't underfeed them and cause stunted growth. Here are a few tips on how you should feed your new tropical fish.

1, Try to feed often but sparingly. This will decrease the uneaten food that will turn into ammonia that could be harmful to your aquarium and even kill your fish.

2, Observe your fish at feeding times and look out for how much they can eat within three to five minutes. You should then feed no more than that. This again will create less waste food.

3, Try feeding other foods that don't pollute the aquarium water as much. Only feed meaty foods twice or three times a week as these tend to create the most ammonia.

4, Look into buying a more powerful filter or even a second filter. If you overfeed then, the extra waste won't cause a strain on your existing filter. You could also do more water changes to keep ammonia levels down.

5, Buy some catfish or pleco's. These bottom feeders eat the waste food that is missed by the other fish and will decrease the end waste. Pleco's also eat algae and keep the tank glass cleaner.

Please look into using a few of these techniques above to try and avoid overfeeding and water quality problems caused by food. If you do use them then I'm sure you will see an improvement in your results and less fish deaths if you're having problems with ammonia and nitrate levels in your tank water caused by overfeeding.