Humane Way to put a tropical fish out of its misery :(

[Dillie]

Is there a quick and painless way to put a poor, sick, tropical fish out of its misery? It is very old, (about 7yrs) so possibly coming to the end of its life

The poor thing looks like it is suffering, rapid gill movement etc, and me being soft cant bear it! The water quality is fine, as I checked that, and cant see anything obvious.

I have heard of ice water. Is this correct?

[Bella32]

I've managed to find you an old thread by sweetnitanitro, who is the fish guru.

here

(Blondie - never saw this at the time - sorry )

HTH

[StayingDavidTennantsGirl]

Putting it in the freezer is what I'd suggest - in water so it doesn't asphyxiate, but drifts off as the water freezes.

[sweetnitanitro]

Ooh, fish guru thanks Bella

Dillie, what sort of fish is it? Many fish live longer than 7 years so it might be fixable. What are its symptoms?

If you do decide to euthanise, please use the clove oil method, it is quick and painless. Freezing them used to be recommended but they get ice crystals forming in their blood cells and it's now thought that it's not painless enough for it to be humane.

[Dillie]

Its a red tailed shark fish.

At the moment its on the bottom, listing slightly and its gills are going ten to the dozen poor thing looks uncomfy.

Swims around occasionally a few times to the top, but is mostly hiding away.

I did treat it for white spot a few weeks ago and the water is ok.

Cant really see anything obvious other than it looks miserable!

[redcrane]

Not sure how large that fish is, but it seemed from that link like putting a small tropical fish into vodka which was at the same temperature as the aquarium was a very humane way to do it.

[sweetnitanitro]

Yeah, vodka is what kills them but you have to euthanise them first.

7 years is a pretty good run for a RTBS (there's a list here is anyone is geeky interested)

If the water quality is fine then I would suspect that the whitespot just weakened it and it may have picked up a secondary infection. Their immune systems go as they get older

[Dillie]

Poor thing, thanks for that sweet, at least I know its has had a good run

[cory]

Clove oil is what I use too.

Or sometimes I stab the fish straight through the head- instant death so couldn't be more humane, but not everyone can bring themselves to do that.

[Blondeshavemorefun]

as i was reading this, i thought of the way dh deals with them, and there was my comment on link



not sure of the freezer way, may take a while to freeze

mr blondes way is short and sharp, but and dh hates doing it

but you have to think of the animal/pet and not your own feelings sometimes

[Worriedfishmom]

My Betta is sick with what I've been told is septisemia(sp). I've tried several things to make him well and they have all failed. At this point he's just hanging around, won't eat, doesn't move and seems to be leaning to one side a bit. I feel like a failure. I won't make him suffer by freezing him and I could never cut him or smash him. He's suffered enough. Guess I'll stop and get some clove oil on the way home in the morning... :-(

[Worriedfishmom]

Pictured below is my Fishy. I've been told he has septisemia. I've tried several things to help him and sadly, he's only gotten worse. The picture was taken when I noticed the red area behind his eye. Now it's gotten much bigger and he has stopped eating. He sort of leans to one side a bit and doesnt move, unless I gently brush his tail. Looks like clove oil is the way to go to humanely end his misery. I'll miss the little bugger...

[ScarlettMN]

Dillie - sitting on the bottom, being a bit wonky etc can be signs of a swim bladder issue. Try taking a green pea out of the freezer and running it under the tap to thaw it a bit, take the shell off and then try feed the halved pea to him. (possibly get him and the half pea in a net in the water together) this has helped with mine in the past when they got swim bladder problems!

[ElphabaStrop]

Freezer is cruel, apparently. If you can't bring yourself to kill instantly by stab through the head 😭😱 then Clove oil (pre-mix it in warm water so it disperses properly) is fine. Add gradually to the container of tank water the poor fish is in. You're basically overdosing the fish on anaesthetic.