Best way to put a dting fish out of its misery?

[msavoy]

Édit: sorry it’s supposed to say “dying fish”

About 2 weeks ago my silver bellied wrasse went to the bottom of the tank between 2 rocks and stayed there for 3 days. I assumed it was sick and was going to die. As one last effort I tried swishing him out from between the rocks. That’s when I noticed he seemed to be stuck there. I’m not sure if he was really stuck all this time or was sick and it went there to die. Anyway after I freed him he swam around the tank for the next week but there was something definitely wrong with his tail. It seems that when he was between the rocks maybe it damaged him. But he was still swimming and even eating, so I thought that maybe he would get his strength back if he continued to eat.

Last week he managed to find a little whole between the rocks and the sand and he once again wedged himself in there and stayed there for the week. I knew he was still alive because his tail was moving. I tried numerous times to get him out without success. Today I finally moved the rocks and was able to free him. He’s in rough shape and just laying on the bottom of the tank. I figured if he was sick he would have died much quicker than this since it’s been a week he hasn’t eaten. I feel that it is suffering but I’m not sure what to do. A friend said to flush him so he doesn’t suffer anymore but I don’t know if that’s a cruel thing to do. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Personally I think that it’s best to let it go until it dies. It’s never too late until it’s too late.
Don’t flush it, I can’t imagine it being fun to go into freshwater and have all of your cells explode, all while being put into a centrifuge and then sewage.
Clove oil is a commonly used sedative for fish that can euthanize a fish if needed.
Put it in a separate holding tank and see what happens.

 

[lapin]

EMERGENCY - Fairy Wrasse seizures(?) after eating in QT

I am currently QTing a couple of wrasses. They were doing fine and eating well for the first two days but then the Fairy Wrasse started having issues. Not swimming well like a spinal injury. But when it eats, it immediately goes into a seizure of sorts. This happens for 30 secs to a minute. Not...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[msavoy]

EMERGENCY - Fairy Wrasse seizures(?) after eating in QT

I am currently QTing a couple of wrasses. They were doing fine and eating well for the first two days but then the Fairy Wrasse started having issues. Not swimming well like a spinal injury. But when it eats, it immediately goes into a seizure of sorts. This happens for 30 secs to a minute. Not...

www.reef2reef.com

Yes this is exactly what it looks like, a spinal injury. I thought maybe he got crushed between the rocks but then he has brief moments where he does swim well so I’m not exactly sure what’s happening.

 

[msavoy]

Personally I think that it’s best to let it go until it dies. It’s never too late until it’s too late.
Don’t flush it, I can’t imagine it being fun to go into freshwater and have all of your cells explode, all while being put into a centrifuge and then sewage.
Clove oil is a commonly used sedative for fish that can euthanize a fish if needed.
Put it in a separate holding tank and see what happens.

Thanks for your reply. I agree with you, I feel like there is always a chance. When I saw him eating I thought it was a good sign until he put himself back into a hole. I’ll keep watching him and see what happens. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I have always clove oiled, then froze. Am I doing it wrong?

 

[Sharkbait19]

I have always clove oiled, then froze. Am I doing it wrong?

That’s probably a good way to euthanize a fish, although the clove oil seems sufficient enough.

 

[Tired]

Clove oil until completely unresponsive, then freezing, can work. As can clove oil until unresponsive, then double the amount of clove oil and leave it for hours if not overnight. Remember that fish rendered unresponsive with clove oil can revive if left in clean water.

Clove oil is the best gentle method. If someone is confident about it, any method of physically destroying the brain in one motion is also humane, but you can't hesitate or the fish can suffer. I've used that method with lizards a cat had gotten; put them on the sidewalk with a paper towel over them to make them calmer, then take a brick and bring it down on the head as hard as you can, in one go. Something can't suffer if it's got no brain left. Obviously there are additional complications with aquatic animals, though.

 

[Gup]

Édit: sorry it’s supposed to say “dying fish”

About 2 weeks ago my silver bellied wrasse went to the bottom of the tank between 2 rocks and stayed there for 3 days. I assumed it was sick and was going to die. As one last effort I tried swishing him out from between the rocks. That’s when I noticed he seemed to be stuck there. I’m not sure if he was really stuck all this time or was sick and it went there to die. Anyway after I freed him he swam around the tank for the next week but there was something definitely wrong with his tail. It seems that when he was between the rocks maybe it damaged him. But he was still swimming and even eating, so I thought that maybe he would get his strength back if he continued to eat.

Last week he managed to find a little whole between the rocks and the sand and he once again wedged himself in there and stayed there for the week. I knew he was still alive because his tail was moving. I tried numerous times to get him out without success. Today I finally moved the rocks and was able to free him. He’s in rough shape and just laying on the bottom of the tank. I figured if he was sick he would have died much quicker than this since it’s been a week he hasn’t eaten. I feel that it is suffering but I’m not sure what to do. A friend said to flush him so he doesn’t suffer anymore but I don’t know if that’s a cruel thing to do. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

I just lost a Clown in a similar fashion. But she was so weak, she didn't put up a fight when I netted her.

I use a different method to put her down. The garbage disposal. No doubt these are difficult decisions, but they must be made so as not to foul the tank.

I choose this method because it is instantaneous. But it doesn't make it any easier

 

[Tired]

I'm... really not sure that's instantaneous. What if the blades miss the vital bits? I'd want to see someone do some kind of non-live testing on that, and I would definitely not advise anyone try it.

If a dying fish is of a sufficient size to be a worry in the tank, and euthanasia isn't an option for some reason, there's always a container with hiding places, clean water, and circulation. Small fish should be handled just fine by the biofilter and scavengers.

 

[WVNed]

I use the freezer. Place between wet paper towels and then into a zip lock bag left open. This is to facilitate heat transfer and not so the fish can breath.

 

[Tired]

That's not a good technique. There's concern of ice crystals forming in and on the body, and also, for that method, the issue of the fish being out of water and stressed because of that. Freezing isn't a laboratory-approved method, which is a decent way of judging humaneness, since labs can only use euthanasia methods that are reasonably thought to be humane.
There is a form of freezing that's approved, but it's tricky to do and only works on very small fish, as you have to chill the entire body below a certain point instantly.