suffering fish?

[JPKeenan]

I forget who it was. In chat early this morning someone mentioned a sick tetra (swim bladder). I have a Danio that has that and seems to have been getting spinabifita.

Got me thinking about trying to save a sick fish. We all want to try to nurse that sick fish back to health. But at the same time got me wondering if the fish is suffering.

It's easier to tell if our land based pets are suffering. You can hear whimpers and stuff like that.

At what point do we flush the fin-folk? In trying to nurse a sick one back to health are we actually causing suffering by prolonging it's life?

Up until the other member said something about his sick fish I never gave a though to a suffering fish being nursed back to health.

[DragonFish71]

When I notice that the fish's quality of life is going down, that's when I make the decision. I use the rubbing alcohol method to euthanize them. I'm not sure if this is the most humane way, but flushing them (alive/semi-alive) or the ice water thing seems too cruel to me.

Just like with our 4 legged friends, there's only so much we can do before the suffering kicks in. Fish might not be able to tell us they are suffering, but you can kind of get an idea by swim patterns or lack of, lack of interest in food, breathing rapidly (not always a sign of illness, can sometimes be stress) etc. We have had fish that for no apparent reason are dead within a few hours.

[JPKeenan]

I am trying to make the choice about it for "Twisty"... what a cruel name but the bend in it's spine seems to be getting worse and not better.

[AMDPhenomX4]

Was it me? If it was, he/she just ate too much.

[roka64]

Unacceptable methods of euthanasia are: freezing, boiling, chopping, removing the fish from water, using a seltzer tablet, slamming, pithing, decapitating, or flushing down the toilet. These methods are slow, torturous, stressful or violent.
Clove oil followed by vodka is both inexpensive and humane. The fish goes to sleep like we might before an operation, and simply doesn't wake up.
This is what I prefer:
A variety of anesthetics have been used for this purpose, including 2-phenoxyethanol (bath, 0.3 to 0.4 mg/liter); benzocaine hydrochloride (bath, at least 250 mg/liter); sodium pentobarbital (injection, 60 to 100 mg/kg body weight); tricaine methanesulphonate, also known as MS222 (bath, 300 mg/liter). Because tricaine methanesulphonate is acidic, it will need to be used alongside an appropriate pH buffer. You need a pH buffer if you have fish from a non-acidic aquarium. Taking a marine fish from a tank at pH 8.5 and dumping it into a bath containing MS222 solution at around pH 6.5 will be intensely stressful. So if using this chemical, buffer the water to the correct pH before adding the fish.

[JPKeenan]

It's funny that "Twisty" (as I have dubbed the spinabifita danio) seems active and does not seem to exhibit any sort of pain that I can distinguish.

[Mystery]

Then keep twisty, but prepare a human method of killing for future use. I use Finquel.

[meegosh]

I too have a sick tetra. He has been suffering from swim bladder disease for almost two months. He still eats peas like they are candy but never seems to get any better, or worse for that matter.

I was also wondering if he is suffering or if he is just doing the best he can to deal with it. If he stops eating or his swimming worsens I may consider the clove oil and vodka method. I try to keep my aquariums in the best shape I can for my fishy friends but sometimes the fish just get sick.

[kaiofcanada]

Originally Posted by JPKeenan

I forget who it was. In chat early this morning someone mentioned a sick tetra (swim bladder). I have a Danio that has that and seems to have been getting spinabifita.

Got me thinking about trying to save a sick fish. We all want to try to nurse that sick fish back to health. But at the same time got me wondering if the fish is suffering.

It's easier to tell if our land based pets are suffering. You can hear whimpers and stuff like that.

At what point do we flush the fin-folk? In trying to nurse a sick one back to health are we actually causing suffering by prolonging it's life?

Up until the other member said something about his sick fish I never gave a though to a suffering fish being nursed back to health.

Just a note....it would be very rare, but nonethless a point of concern. The bent spine could indicate a fish with fish tuberculosis. This is not the same TB as human TB that infects the lungs but it is transmissible to humans. As with any sick fish, take care and use caution when handling sick fish. If you catch fish TB is is extremely difficult to treat.

Fish Tuberculosis

[exodon king]

Originally Posted by roka64

Unacceptable methods of euthanasia are: freezing, boiling, chopping, removing the fish from water, using a seltzer tablet, slamming, pithing, decapitating, or flushing down the toilet. These methods are slow, torturous, stressful or violent.
Clove oil followed by vodka is both inexpensive and humane. The fish goes to sleep like we might before an operation, and simply doesn't wake up.
This is what I prefer:
A variety of anesthetics have been used for this purpose, including 2-phenoxyethanol (bath, 0.3 to 0.4 mg/liter); benzocaine hydrochloride (bath, at least 250 mg/liter); sodium pentobarbital (injection, 60 to 100 mg/kg body weight); tricaine methanesulphonate, also known as MS222 (bath, 300 mg/liter). Because tricaine methanesulphonate is acidic, it will need to be used alongside an appropriate pH buffer. You need a pH buffer if you have fish from a non-acidic aquarium. Taking a marine fish from a tank at pH 8.5 and dumping it into a bath containing MS222 solution at around pH 6.5 will be intensely stressful. So if using this chemical, buffer the water to the correct pH before adding the fish.

actually, next to clove oil, freezing is the most humane

[Innovator]

No offense, but I'm not sure you can justify "more humane," it either is or it isn't. MS222 is officially regarded as the best drug for humane euthenasia and since it is available to hobbyists, as far as I know, I don't see why other venues are even bothered with.

[JPKeenan]

Twisty the Amazing Spinabifida Fish finally gave up the ghost. He was a champ and a fighter . All the other zebra danios picked on him but he carried on.

Reminds me I need to take some more pics of my tank and keep them around.