Goldfish looks like it's had a a stroke and kids will be home soon....

[MrsWho]

WWYD?

Dead or dying?

how old are kids?

if they are old enough to handle it, let them see it dead so they can say goodbye

otherwise, in the bin and get another (tell them it's at the vet or something)

if they are older than 3 maybe, telkl them it died
if not tell them its at vet and get a new one

5 and 7 dd1 will cry anyway and last time dd2 wanted to take the body to school!

Its not quite dead and am not sure whether to get it out and kill it(getting it out should do that? but am not quite brave enough ) or just leave it to die

if it looks like it's suffering, you could bash it on the head I suppose?

(mine are a similar age and are also quite fixated by dead things - I think it's normal - ds carried a dead bee in a match box around with him for AGES!)

Does it look in distress?

Being the daughter of a vet I always go for the euthanase option (if they are in pain). I disposed of my friends goldfishes thus:

scoop out
sharp blob to the head with a tablespoon
flush down loo

for environmental reasons I would now probably dispose of in the garden (in a hole - obviously).

seems sleepy?
keeps hiding then I think its dead but as soon as I start moving things it swims to the top (on is side!)

dd1 likes to have a funeral

yeah that's what my friend's fish did. They kept on 'dying', floating on the top and looking horrid, then reviving, half heartedly swimming about the bowl (on their sides) and dying again.

They did it for days. Bloody things.

In the end I put them out of their misery and told my friend when she came in that they were properly dead when I found them.

I feel slightly bad about that. But is was deeply horrid watching the macabre life & death scene play out over practically a whole week.

Sounds like it has an infected swim bladder - can be treated with drops in the water sometimes.

Oh dear...maybe they could have been treated. Now I feel really bad.

We have had it for about 5 years so its quite old anyway.When it started
looking rough we thouight it was just old age

Oh well I think 5 years is a pretty good innings (I have no idea of the average lifespan of a goldfish btw...carp go on for yonks though).

Thought it was dead but it has moved again

Sounds like the swim bladder - it upsets their sense of balance I think.

so will pets at home have something? don't think we have a proper pet shop in town.

Usually when swimbladder goes IME it is the end for the poor fish, but the swimbladder treatment may help, and also putting some aquarium salt in the tank water helps too.

I would give it a few days if it is still managing to feed, and then bash it over the head if no sign of recovery.

To try to stop it happening with future fish I would recommend feeding food that does not float on the top of the tank i.e. flakes. The sinking pellets or the frozen tablet foods you can buy are much better for them.

We have food that sinks , but the fish jumps out of the water (not out of the tank though)a lot can that cause it?

Will try pets at thome when the kids come home then.

Not sure if jumping out of water is related to swim bladder disorders. According to my 'Fishlopedia' it is caused by poor water condition i.e. not adding water conditioner to remove chlorine etc. It might be worth testing the water PH etc.

Of course the fish just might be old and insane

5 is actually quite young for a goldfish - they can live for 20+ years.

If you do go the euthanasia route then either the sharp blow to the head, or put them in an old margarine tub (or any small container you are going to throw out) with 50% tank water and 50% vodka (or similar high alcohol content thing) and put the lid on sharpish so you don't have to watch - fairly quick and painless for them.

Haven't read the thread but I went through a lot of goldfish as a child , once catapulted one out of the bowl when I did inside skipping and mum shouted me for tea. I think the swim bladder gets affected doesn't it.

If kids are young then IMHO best to flush it down the toilet and say that it jumped out the bowl and down the plug when you were washing the bowl. After all, all plugs lead to the sea don't they and that's where he'll be happiest...........

how can you tell?
is it dribbling slightly?
not using its left fin?
lolol

And please don't flush down the toilet - it's a long and protracted death

My fishlopedia book says the only acceptable method of euthanisia is bashing the fishes head with something. But if head not completely crushed then you must pierce the brain with scissors or something to ensure properly dead and not just stunned . Flushing down the toilet is just darn cruel.

Swimbladder disfunction could have been caused by stress from jumping out of the tank I suppose.

I've used the vodka method in the past - it's over in about 30 seconds. I couldn't bring myself to bash it, I really couldn't (I had a WCMM with fish TB... was not going to recover )

This is a good article on swim bladder problems

I think I'd need to drink the vodka to have the courage to smash in a fishes brain - I get so attached to them.