To flush or not to flush? That is the question.

[RaygunK]

So i posted a couple days ago about my molly's body being bent. Well, now it's a lot worse. I tried to get a picture, but none of them turned out good. His gill's are working as hard as they can and i'm wondering if i should just put him out of his misery and flush him?

I'm not sure what's going on in my tank. I treated ICH almost 3 weeks ago. I added a couple new fish about 2 weeks ago. I've noticed odd behavior ever since i added the new fish. Oh, and there is lots of scrachting/flashing going on with a lot of the fish.

Also, my molly's used to "run" the aquarium and bully the other fish around. Now the platys are nipping at one of my molly's tails. Craziness is ensuing i my tank right now!

My water test kit arrives tomorrow via UPS. I hope to get a better idea of what's going on in there when i can test the water.

FYI-29 gallon tank
5 Mollys
4 neon tetras
2 white skirt tetras
3 platys (mm, 2 red wag)
2 danios

Thanks for any help or advice,
Reagan

 

[Bettababe1011]

Flushing him will not put him out of his misery, it will just be a long, painful death. There are other methods of euthanasia though. I think there's an article on this site about it. I would link it for you if I weren't on my iPod.

 

[JokerWx13]

i found the fastest and least painful way of euthanizing is to put it in a jar of ice cold water... so sorry to hear about your fish

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I'm sorry about your fish. As said, flushing will not end his life peacefully.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/an-overview-of-euthanasia-73775.html

 

[RaygunK]

Oh, gosh. I guess i was thinking about the flushing being so easy for me! I wasn't even thinking about the fish! My husband (who is not a fish nerd) said he wants to fry him. Haha. ;/ Cold water, huh? Maybe i'll try it. He looks miserable.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Not just cold. It has to be freezing like a slushy drink.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I had to euthanize my fish not too long ago. The best way I found was to fill a zip lock bag half way with water, freeze it just enough where it's like a slushy, and place the fish in there and freeze the bag just a bit more to finalize it. Sad but it had to be done.

 

[RaygunK]

Hmmm, fish slushy. I guess that's what i'll do for our little, bent Marshmallow (yes, my kids and i name all our fish).

 

[paytertot]

Add salt to the water so it can get colder without freezing solid. If it starts to get hard on top, break through it and repeat. The point is to get the water as cold as possible. I'm sorry about your fish :/

 

[RaygunK]

I took a picture of him isolated from the others. I would feel so bad if he could pull through this. What do you think?

View attachment 84868

 

[paytertot]

It's really your decision, if you think he's suffering then you should probably put him down.

 

[Bettababe1011]

That doesn't look like something he can pull through. You can either put him down, or decide if you want to keep trying to save him.

 

[RaygunK]

Yeah, think i'm going to put him down. I've been researching "crooked spine" and i'm a getting a lot of TB. A thread also said that my whole tank might be infected and it can be dangerous for me handling the fish. Anyone know much about fish tuberculosis?

 

[HeatherW]

sorry about your fish! he doesn't look good to me at all! I think I would put him down - poor little guy. slushy is the way to go I think.
I think as long as you are washing your hands after working in the tank (and don't have any cuts on your hands) that you will be fine.

 

[RaygunK]

yeah, i put him down. i have another molly isolated now b/c he was swimming vertically with his head down and sometimes just going in circles. any ideas on that one? Also to through another kink in the tank i just found a teeny, tiny baby fish! i thought i had all males too! what is going on??

 

[lornajane89]

Dont mollys need a small amount of salt? Or is that just platys.. Or am i completely mistaken

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Dont mollys need a small amount of salt? Or is that just platys.. Or am i completely mistaken

Mollies. Some say yes, some say no. Some say they are brackish fish so they need low end brackish conditions (with marine salt). It's depends what literature you read. They are found from fresh through to full marine in the wild.

 

[lornajane89]

Try salt baths then.. ? Not much to loose if they are all dying. I dunno how salt will effect your other fish tho.

 

[RaygunK]

yeah, i've added some salt to my tank for them, but everyone is acting better today. i finally got my water test kit and my water is great, i think. i'm just not sure what to do with the molly i have isolated. also the platy's i have have nipped a lot of her tail off. what to do, what to do. an another note (a happy one), i just found a baby platy in my tank!

 

[lornajane89]

Thats cool, im glad things are getting better for you. I dont know about recovering tails especially if its unhealthy anyway. One of my male guppys kept getting his tail nipped now its a little shredded. He is ok otherwise. Aslong as its not like an open wound or stopping it from swimming theres not much you can do. Somebody recommended a water additive that aids recovery and promotes healthy fish ill have a look at my older posts for the name...