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If you have a fish pond, fish tank or are seeking advice about keeping tropical fish, you can find advice on our Fish forum.

Original poster

goldfish dying really slowly

12 replies

somewhatavoidant · 07/10/2015 19:14

My first ever goldfish seems to be very unwell. We got him in July but I've no idea how old he is or how long they live for. I feel terrible not being able to do anything to help him. I thought if he died we could bury him and use it as an opportunity to talk about death with 5 yr old ds. He's been looking almost dead for a week but seems to rally several times a day. At this point it's an exercise in terrible suffering by the looks of things. Should I just flush him?

OP posts:
ginmakesitallok · 07/10/2015 19:18

Flush him?? Shock I know nothing about fish, sounds like you don't either?

gamerchick · 07/10/2015 19:21

Why on earth would you flush him? Hmm don't get anymore fish!

Could you take a photo of him and maybe one of us could help you work out what's wrong with him?

Tinfoiled · 07/10/2015 19:21

Oh God no don't flush him. There is a method for euthanasing goldfish which involves clove oil and vodka I think - Google it.

BrianCoxReborn · 07/10/2015 19:22

Sounds like his water needs more oxygen. Try giving him a fresh bowl of water. If he revives then you need to get a filter (cheap enough from Pets at Home) to oxygenated the tank.

Also be careful you're not over feeding him.

Mum had same problem with our Trish, Pets at Home were really helpful and she has been going strongly for a good few months now (following a very near death experience).

MidnightRed · 07/10/2015 19:22

No, don't just flush him - that's terribly cruel.

Are you sure he cannot be treated?

ginmakesitallok · 07/10/2015 19:23

Ffs. Don't kill him! Find out what's wrong and try to help it! Do vets do goldfish? Do you have somewhere that sells them where you could ask?

LynetteScavo · 07/10/2015 19:29

OK, don;t flush him as he will still die slowly, but just more painfully.

I had a very ill fish once, and I just took him out, and he didn't even move, but I think it was better than leaving him suffering alive any longer.

You can try water changes, etc, but don't hold out too much hope. Fish are very delicate, and IME can get unhappy even if you do everything by the book.

Original poster
somewhatavoidant · 07/10/2015 20:00

I should have said he's in a tank with a filter etc. I have followed pet shop instructions re cleaning and food. I'll google for help now, thanks!

OP posts:
TreeSparrow · 07/10/2015 22:25

What size tank is the fish in? In litres?
What you're of goldfish is it? Fancy or common?
Type of filter?
When did you last change the water?
What are the symptoms of the fish?
Do you have test kits for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

mudandmayhem01 · 07/10/2015 22:32

I once humanely dispatched a dying goldfish in the same way an angler would with a swift whack on the head. This one was filling up with air and definitely moribund. To flush a live fish is horrific but I do eat fish and think those pulled out of sea in commercial fishing have an equally ghastly death.

Newlywed56 · 07/10/2015 22:37

Apparently if you peel s frozen pea and feed them a wee bit of it , it helps . My dh did this with his family fish that looked like it was about to keel over and it actually really worked. Could be coincidence but they didn't do anything else differently!

bowsaw · 10/10/2015 11:12

you can blanch the peas to make easier

dont flush, its illegal on the front of possibly introducing a non native and also on the grounds of cruelty to a vertebrate animal

I have goldfish going strong after 25 years and theres plenty of reports of 50 plus

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