fish euthinazation?

[LiLangeL181]

I know this is a touchy subject so let me first tell yall that I am not taking this issue lightly...
I have a guppy who had fin rot. he origionally had long fins of about an inch to an inch and a half. medicating slowed the process but did not stop it entirely, and he has no tail anymore (literally, all gone) and I am worried that the rot may progress past his tail and onto his body, or even affect other fish. it looks like he is having trouble swimming but watching him over the past week he has managed to get enough food to survive with minimal help from me. (This is the same fish I wrote about a while ago asking what people thought of trimming the diseased fin, I took the consensus and did not.) living in a dorm I cant afford to set up another tank, and my hospital tank consists of a 1.5 gal glass jar which years ago was used to hold bakers flour! It is impractical for long term as it has no air pump or filter. I want to do whats best for the fish, Im just not sure what that is.
thanks,

 

[patoloco]

I've always avoided euthanasia as it seems a little difficult to me to decide wheter my fish had to live or not. However, I have hno problem feeding live guppies to my larger fish. A little contradictory, but what can I do....

I had this male blue gourami. It was sick, and died in my hospital tank. A day lateer, another blue gourami (tankmate) started showing the same symptoms. moved to the hospital tank, kept them here for almost a month. Spent a lot in medicines and care until he seemed to recover. Moved him back to the main tank and started showing the fungal stuff again in a matter of hours. At the point, I realized he was not going to fully recover and he would be a potantil problem towards the other fish in the tank, so I did the nasty killing.

I will favour euthanasia when it's used as a last resource, but will be against it in most other cases.

SO, if you feel a fish is having a miserable life, and/or is becoming uninevitably dangerous to the tank general health, you should consider getting rid of that fish,

 

[LunchBox]

if you can find a small sponge filter for your hospital tank and soemthing to keep the water at a reasonable temperature (might not be possible) it should work to let the little guy get back to good health. doesn't see mlike it would cost too much to get what you need but I don't know how flexible your budget is

IMO euthanizing a fish should be pretty much a last resort when there is no hope left. just my opinion though.

 

[Lauren]

after watching a few fish hang on for a while until they finally died, I started to become a bigger "fan" of euthinasia. It just seems so much kinder than watching a fish slowly die. I have euthinized two fish now, and watched a few others wither away in hospital tanks. I think that if I were the fish, and I had a desease that would most likely kill me, that I'd rather die quickly than die slowly.

 

[Dangerdoll]

I was left at that crossroad a little while back and it was tough, I recognized though that I had done all I possibly could and there was just no getting better for the fish and made the final decision as i believed the quality of his life had been stretched and he'd suffered enough... it was time to go. It's a hard decision and I don't envy that one looking at the bottle of clove oil but in the end the decision is indeed yours and your balancing of how much you've done and what more can be done comes into play.

How old is the guppy?

 

[graphicdesign_r]

Out of my hands

Well, I've never had to personally euthanize. My predatory inverts let me know when one of my fish is having trouble. They "euthanize" quickly and efficiently and take care of the carcass too.

I've never seen them even try to catch a healthy fish, but when my kuhli loach became sick I had to separate him because he was getting scoped out and I didn't want him hassled. He died regardless a few days later.

A few months ago one of my white clouds was down (old age probably, no pathological symptoms and his color was pale as heck) and the next day he was gone, bones and all.

If I had a fish that was too far gone to help I would I guess, but I've also seen fish I thought were goners make it and grow back fins etc.

 

[Blueiz]

IMO, if the fish seems to be getting better, and not any worse, I would give it no longer than 3 more days to start showing signs of returning to health. This is always a touchy subj. If the fish's quality of life is severly compromised, and you have done everything you can do for it, its time to eutahnize.

 

[fishlore101]

If it is in a humane way then I think it is okay. I wouldn't want them to go through any more pain if no cure was in sight. I am tossing the idea around myself if my pleco doesn't get better. After almost two weeks in a hospital tank he seems better but he is still fighting off fungus.

 

[LiLangeL181]

so then whats the best way? someone mentioned freezing once, I dont have any of that oil (Im not sure what its for anyway), or would holding him out of water just do the job quickly enough? thoughts?

 

[Philgo]

A bit gruesome but instant, put the fish in a plastic bag with no water and whack it against an hard surface. The fish will die instantly, but its best not to look afterwards.

To leave the fish out of water is the same as us drowning, which is not my preferred way to go.