think goldfish is dying

[naughtynoonoo]

Goldfish looks dead and is lying at the bottom of the fishtank, but on looking again he is breathing as his mouth is opening and shutting. Put food in to feed him and he tried to move up but just couldn't. Is he on his way out? Should I put it out of its misery and just bury him alive and say to the children that he died or is this too cruel? children keep checking and are quite calm actually, already seen goldfish 1 die and be burried. thankss

Lying at the bottom and not eating is not a good sign, I'm sorry But there is a chance he could rally (there are some really stubborn goldfish out there).

Things to try:

• when was the last time you did a water change? Might be worth doing a partial water change (about 10% of the water - maximum 33% of the water) using water that's at the same temperature and been treated with a chlorine remover.

• a cooked shelled pea sunk to the bottom might tempt him to eat, and if he's bloated from a lot of dry fish food might help his stomach too.

• do you know what the water quality is? Do you have a test kit. If so, check the water and post values for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate and I may be able to advise further.

Other obvious questions is how big is the fish tank, how long have you had the fish, what do you feed him with, did the other one die recently (i.e. could he have passed on an illness).

If you do decide to put him out of his misery, don't bury him alive. The kindest way is with alcohol.

Get an old plastic butter/marg container that you don't mind chucking, fill it half with tank water and half with strong alcohol (vodka is good for this), then put fish in, close the lid and don't watch - find something else to do for 5 minutes. It is very quick and the kindest way. If you have some clove oil then put a few drops of that in as well as it will help anaesthetise.

did he recover? if he's still alive, try adding some methl blue to the water (pets at home sell it) - perks them up even at death's door if the problem is lack of oxygen. we've had one recover even after it had been thrown in bin - dh thought it was dead then saw it twitch. it's swimming round happy as anything again now - amazing recovery.

Methylene blue is not a good idea in your main tank, it will kill off all your good bacteria. It's only safe to use in a quarantine tank.

thank you so much for your replies, unfortunately he was dead when we went down this morning. Children took it very well and now want a hampster. Burried fish with his brother who only lasted a few weeks unlike himself who lasted a few years so at least he had a better life.

Hampster - no I don't think so, we already have a cat (first baby before dd and ds came along), I said to dd that she could get a pet of her own when she left home, she said she would get a dog, I have already told her I am not looking after it when she is on holiday - btw dd is only 7!

Thanks once again for the advice

I'm sorry to hear that.

Glad to hear that the kids aren't taking it too badly!