Time to help my platties on their way

[FishSticks2024]

Hi, first post and on a sad topic. After eight years of various generations of platties, I am now down to my last two extremely geriatric fish, both of whom are starting to exhibit signs of distress. I would like to put them out of their misery, and have ordered a bottle of clove oil. They are currently in a small 17l tank (I was planning to move them back to a big aquarium but age has caught up with them before I can move them). All the guidance seems to suggest moving them into a smaller container, but is there any reason I can’t add clove oil and water mixture directly into their aquarium as they are now the only two residents? I would rather not distress them by catching them and moving them into a smaller container, I’d rather they just went to sleep quietly in their current home. Thanks.

 

[Andy Sager]

Hi, first post and on a sad topic. After eight years of various generations of platties, I am now down to my last two extremely geriatric fish, both of whom are starting to exhibit signs of distress. I would like to put them out of their misery, and have ordered a bottle of clove oil. They are currently in a small 17l tank (I was planning to move them back to a big aquarium but age has caught up with them before I can move them). All the guidance seems to suggest moving them into a smaller container, but is there any reason I can’t add clove oil and water mixture directly into their aquarium as they are now the only two residents? I would rather not distress them by catching them and moving them into a smaller container, I’d rather they just went to sleep quietly in their current home. Thanks.

If you don't plan on resetting the tank after they go, you can do the main tank ( it will take a lot of clove oil tho so it can get expensive) but the oil will kill everything in the tank. Another option too reduce the stress would be to lower the temperature in their tank so that they are slowed and then move them to the smaller container for euthanizing. The oil will be quick so suffering will be minimal overall.

Hope this helps.

 

[FishSticks2024]

Thank you ��

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you ��

 

[FishSticks2024]

Thanks again for your help, they both had a very peaceful end without having to leave their aquarium

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks again for your help, they both had a very peaceful end without having to leave their aquarium

Glad it helped. It's always tough to " do the deed".
If you do want to reset the aquarium up, I strongly suggest getting new substrate and really cleaning any filters or items in the tank you want to reuse. Any oil left on the items can cause issues on the reset.

 

[FishSticks2024]

Thank you, will do. I’m not planning to any time soon but will clean it all really carefully and bin the sand before putting it away. Thanks again for your help. I still felt like a murderer but it was definitely the right thing for them.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you, will do. I’m not planning to any time soon but will clean it all really carefully and bin the sand before putting it away. Thanks again for your help. I still felt like a murderer but it was definitely the right thing for them.

It's never easy but I think of it as Quality of life vs Quantity of life. Is living a longer decrepit life better than living a shorter healthier life? I say NO. I'm one for quality over quantity.