Is it wrong for me to euthanize this fish?

[Sati]

Here are the pics.
http://www.ourglasshouse.com/holly/pets/fish/Dropsy1.jpg
http://www.ourglasshouse.com/holly/pets/fish/Dropsy2.jpg

I already decided I will never again have Oranda or any fish shaped like them.

Anyhow, I know it's possible that this fish will live, but I don't want to watch him die.... Is it wrong for me to kill him?

I am so shaken up. I am thinking about breaking down all of my tanks but maybe 1 (out of 7) and basically getting out of the hobby for a while... Until I have a house with a fish room where I can really watch my fish every day. I've never head to deal with fish illness before until the last few months. I lost 2 Oranda from... I don't know, the thing goldfish get where they float on their sides. I can't even think right now. I have a tank full of ich I'm still treating. I just found my Neolamprologus sexfasciatus dead but I think he died of old age. I don't know.. He wasn't eating. I just feel like there is sickness and death all around me. This is really freaking me out.

 

[Punkymom]

http://www.koivet.com/html/articles..._id=154&category=16&name=Goldfish Information

Here's a link I found for you with lots of info on Dropsy in Goldfish. I hope it helps. I know you'd hate to put your fish down, but then again I understand about not wanting to see him die. I don't have any advise for you except read this article and hopefully it'll help you out. Good luck!

 

[cginflorida]

Holly, how bad is your fish, is he moving around at all? Are his scales sticking out like pine cones? I had a black molly die of dropsy back in January. I had tried a salt water bath treatment, but it was probably too late. I'm not sure what the best treatment is, or the success rate if it is dropsy.

Hopefully someone with a lot more knowledge will come along and help you. Good luck.

 

[cginflorida]

Oops, I see Punkymom got her post in before I did. Hope you get help from that link.

 

[TankGirl]

Wow - I can really see why you are reaching the end of your rope, that is a lot to deal with. Even one fish with an illness kind of takes over until the fish has either recovered or passes on, so having all this illness and trouble is discouraging.

I don't have experience with the treating the swim bladder disease so I can't help with that, but if you feel that the fish is not going to make it and is suffering, then it is time to euthanize. The ich "should" be relatively easy to handle, with various methods working pretty reliably, so maybe if you can stick it out until that is dealt with then you will have a better perspective on whether you want to pack it in for a while. Having a tank full of ich is a huge psychological barrier for me enjoying my fish, so maybe you will feel better once that is over with.

I notice on the link that it mentions cooler temperatures being responsible for some of these swim bladder diseases in some of the fancier goldfish types, so raising the temp might be something to try so that possibly this can be prevented.

Good luck-

 

[BrianNY]

I feel for you Holly, but don't give up. Not on keeping Orandas either if you really like them. OMG, did I ever feel like quitting when I was dealing with the discus plague. Every discus in my all of my tanks had it and I thought they would all die. I only lost one.

Perservere, read all you can and learn. I'm sure you'll be happy in the end.

 

[Sati]

"Mini-Me" is on his last leg now. He deteriorated very rapidly. I'm going to have my boyfriend remove him when he gets home. I can't stand to see another dead fish. I have kept fish for so many years now and I had never seen ich, swimbladder, or dropsy and now my tanks are death central. So many of these fish I have had for years so this is rough. I don't feel that I could have done much to prevent anything but the ich. We had 3 Orandas and Mini-Me was the healthiest one. I thought he would live a long, long time even though we lost the other 2. My water quality was good, he hadn't lost color, was active, was eating... I didn't feed yesterday so I didn't do anything but glance at the fish since the tanks are in a part of the house I don't spend a lot of time in atm. I had wanted to get away from goldfish but now I am not even one bit excited about doing something different with that tank. I am sick of all this illness. It's so disheartening and depressing to watch this stuff.

Thank you everybody.

 

[Sati]

God, he's moving around. I don't want to kill him. What's the best way to do it?

 

[TankGirl]

The very best way to do it is the absolute hardest way - a very sharp knife to sever the spinal cord at the base of his head, like you would do to clean a fish caught for eating. I have trouble with this method but it is quick and absolutely painless for the fish - he will be gone before he could know what was happening.

There are other ways involving alcohol, freezing, etc. but to me they cause the fish to suffer while they take effect - that is torture for me, too.

 

[Punkymom]

I once put a fish down by covering him with boiling water. He died instantly...don't know if you'd want to do that but the fish stopped breathing the moment the hot water hit him. That's the only time I put a fish down that way and it worked I guess...I tried the cold water way one time with a bowl of water and ice but it was slower and I didn't like the fact that the fish I was trying to put down didn't die very quickly. The first was with the ice and it was a black moor with cloud eye or something. I was 13 and didn't really know what I was doing. The second was with a Guppy who had an infected wound that wasn't healing and I felt it was best to end his suffering.

 

[tsaraber]

Does clove oil work? That's what I was told when my Betta had dropsy - I didn't get a chance to try it though.

 

[shawmutt]

Clove oil is supposed to make the fish go to sleep. I've never used it, but if someone can chime in with the effects, and if it's relatively tame, I would recommend it.

I had to put down a fish recently, I used grain alcohol out of the freezer. Without getting into details, I'll just say that it isn't as "instant" as some sites will lead you to believe. I'll never use the method again.

 

[Menagerie]

This topic came up at the AA BBQ meeting on LI. Allivymar highly recommends this method, but it is hard to find.
Personally, I find it is easier to put a fish in some water in the freezer. The fish's metabolism will slow down and it will die. This is the method I use; although, I would like to try the clove oil, but we can't find it.
Sorry that you are going through this Holly.

 

[shawmutt]

I deal with these people for my herbs:

www.mountainroseherbs.com

Great service, great products

Here's the page with the clove oil (the site's huge)

http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/aroma/c-e.php

 

[cginflorida]

I had to put down a fish recently, I used grain alcohol out of the freezer. Without getting into details, I'll just say that it isn't as "instant" as some sites will lead you to believe. I'll never use the method again.

That's good to know, shawmutt.

Hope you're okay, Holly. Sorry for all your troubles.

 

[TankGirl]

I know clove oil works for putting puffers to sleep to trim their teeth (don't ask) and I imagine you could just put them to sleep with that and then put them in the freezer so they never wake up. This is always a tricky issue!

 

[Cienfuegos]

I always use the freezing method. I find that filling a container or ziplock bag with cold water adding ice and allowing to ice to sufficiently lower the temperature of the water in the container before adding the fish seems to work best. Then add the container to the freezer to freeze solid for good measure. I was worried about reports that fish live for a while and suffer a great deal with the freezing method; this way, you cut down the amount of time. I've had to do this twice, and both times the fish stopped breathing in a matter of seconds.

 

[Sati]

The very best way to do it is the absolute hardest way - a very sharp knife to sever the spinal cord at the base of his head, like you would do to clean a fish caught for eating. I have trouble with this method but it is quick and absolutely painless for the fish - he will be gone before he could know what was happening.

I had my boyfriend euthanize a very old and sick beta that way. He said he won't do it again...

Mini-Me is still alive. I hadn't seen him all day but now he's swimming around a bit. This is insane.

Thank you for the help. I appreciate it.

 

[Sati]

Oh, I just noticed the 2nd page. I just might try the freezer method. I hate to prolong the process of killing him, but it seems like prolonging his life is worse... I'm having some second thoughts because he's still alive though. He does not look like he's improved, but he keeps on ticking so it makes me wonder if he could somehow pull through this. I should probably stop dragging this out and just do it already. :?

 

[angelboyblue3]

I have heard putting him in carbonated water will "put them to sleep" then they will just stop breathing. Another is using oil of clove in its water. dont know how well they work though. Read it is two books. sorry for you loss.