How to put him out of his misery?

[Marzy]

Hey Guys

Can anybody help me with a problem I have with one of my fishes? It looks like this guy (neon tetra) is on his way out as he is simpley floating on the top and cant swim. He still breathing but aint got long left.

Whats a nice way to put him out of his misery? I read by putting him in some water in the fridge or freezer will put him to sleep, will this work? Or at least he can be froze until medical science allows him to be cured! lol

 

[wataugachicken]

the best way that most people will tell you is to get some clove oil and put the fish into a small bowl with a spoonful or two of the oil. it works like an anesthetic, a bit of a tingle followed by numbness, and then death.

as far as cold water - do not put the fish in water and then into the freezer. that is slow and painful. instead, put the water into the freezer. once a thin crust of ice has formed, break it, and drop the fish into the already very cold water. since fish are cold-blooded, the shock of it is pretty much instant.

what size tank do you have? what other fish are in there? what are your readings for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? temperature? how long have you had the fish/had the tank set up?

if we know these things, we can maybe figure out what is wrong with the tetra and help it and/or avoid any future problems with the other fish.

 

[Marzy]

the best way that most people will tell you is to get some clove oil and put the fish into a small bowl with a spoonful or two of the oil. it works like an anesthetic, a bit of a tingle followed by numbness, and then death.

as far as cold water - do not put the fish in water and then into the freezer. that is slow and painful. instead, put the water into the freezer. once a thin crust of ice has formed, break it, and drop the fish into the already very cold water. since fish are cold-blooded, the shock of it is pretty much instant.

what size tank do you have? what other fish are in there? what are your readings for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? temperature? how long have you had the fish/had the tank set up?

if we know these things, we can maybe figure out what is wrong with the tetra and help it and/or avoid any future problems with the other fish.

Cheers for the advice! Much appreciated. I only bought the neons 2 days ago and the rest seem to be fine. We noticed this particular one (which was nicknamed bubba) was a bit of a loner, he didnt swim with the other neons and looked ragged and old, we knew he was not gonna last the pace.

The tank is a 20g tank, and houses guppies, platies, swords, 2 dwarf gouramis and some red eye tetras. I had the water checked at my lfs and all was fine. The temp is around 25c and the tank has been set up for nearlly 1 months now.

 

[ErrorS]

It might sound gruesom but I really think cutting their heads off is the most humane way. With most aquarium fish you can do it with scissors.

I've never had to euthanise an aquarium fish and I hope I never have to. I have a hard enough time killing fish I catch at the lake.

 

[90galfresh]

Sorry to hear about your fish.

For Euthanization, I use the cold water method for smaller fish, clove oil for larger fish. With the cold water, I just set up a bowl full of cold water out of the tap, throw in ice cubes, and put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. That is usually enough to get the water really cold. Take out some of the ice cubes, and drop the fish in. It seems to be instant.

 

[NeonJulie]

How long has he been sick for?

I had one of my Neon's who acted as you described, for about 5 days. I was contemplating giving him the easy way out. However, every time I poked and prodded he would come back to life so to speak, breathe and swim around. Everyday I woke up expecting him to be on the filter, but there he was hovering at the top, breathing slowly and hovering in the plastic plants so he didn't have to work too hard.

On the fifth day, I decided if he was still trying, that is, eating a little, and hadn't given up despite so much salt and heat and ich, etc., that I'd give him one the chance to get better. Now he's doing very well, even though he (like all of them) is suffering from a secondary infection, columnaris, he is very much enjoying his life. He schools and swims about half the time now, and eats voraciously. While he is still swimming weaker than some of his buddies, he is very much alive. He is much stronger than I thought he was, because he has survived critically ill for 3 weeks, and he's getting better now everyday.

Euthanization is the kindest thing to do; but I don't think it hurts to really observe him for a humane amount of time, and see if he's still eating etc, or whether he's making any recovery, etc.

I thought my guy didn't have much time left either, and he's thrived for 14 days longer than I thought he would.

 

[ErrorS]

I agree with NeonJulie.

It's a subject many people fight about.. I know i'm not an animal but I think about myself when considering anything like this, if I was in pain would I want to be euthanized? Hell, you wouldn't be able to tell me "you're going to die", I'd fight until the last minute.

Ok, it's just a fish, I know.
You should also consider that it *might* pull through, I've seen some small miracles with aquarium fish coming from near death. As a matter of fact, I think I've seen more fish suddenly die for no reason than fish that had warning signs beforehand. That poor feeder that was nearly cut in half healed up fine but just this morning I spotted a (previously) perfectly healthy feeder dead on the bottom of the tank.

 

[Marzy]

People, a moments silence please. I arrived home from work yesterday and the sad news was that he had finally joined the big fish tank in the sky. It happens I guess. Thanks for all the advice I hope (well maybe I dont) that it will be useful in the future. Please raise your glasses for Bubba the Neon.