Can someone please help?

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badger_fruit

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 20, 2008
21
0
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leeds, uk
Hello all
I wonder if someone could please help with advice / suggestions.
I came home from work last night and when it came to "feeding time" (around 20:30-21:00hrs) I tapped on the aquarium front as I normally do and expected my five fancy tailed goldfish to swim over and get ready for the food.

Only 4 appeared. A friend who was over at the time and I both wondered where #5 was.
After we inspected the tank, we found him, limp and looking VERY thin and un-healthy caught in the filter suction tube thing that hangs down into the bottom of the tank.

I immediately switched the filter off and he floated to the surface, laying on his side, he was all bent and twisted but still breathing, we watched in horror for a few moments before he flicked a spark of life through his otherwise limp body. It was only a spark but he was moving.

I immediately removed him and put him into a quarrantine tank (well, bowl) and left him in peace to see how he went. After a couple of hours, still no improvent but it was late so I had to go to bed.

I figured that if he survived the night then he would be in with a good chance.

So, I awoke this morning, expecting the worst, to discover he had lived and although he was still limp, and laying on one side at the surface. Again, the few and far between spark of movement was there.

We called the pet-store where we got him and they said drop a little bit of food in for him which might motivate him to move a little more and eat something.

We followed their advice and left for work.

I came home tonight, expecting again him to have passed over but he was still alive.
He's not eaten any of the food so I gathered it up and replaced it.

I am very worried that although he is alive, he is in great pain. I don't want him to suffer but I think he may have suffered permanent damage to his back (as he is still bent to one side where he had become wrapped around the tube).

We don't know what to do, should we carry on as we are or what??
We love him very much, although we have only had him a very short while (3 or 4 months max) he is part of the family - we don't want him to suffer but don't want him to die either.

PLEASE, any help would be most appreciated.
 
Potts050;2359745; said:
There is very little liklehood of the fish surviving and no chance of a full recovery by the sound of it. I recomend that you consider euthanizing it and ending the suffering.
Click to expand...

That is what I thought, he's in a bad state but only the day before he was plump and very active; it's just happened from nowhere, he got his fair share of food and wasn't looking un-healthy at all. Is there a quick and humane way we can put him to "sleep"?

Don't you think he could recover enough to lead a happy life, even though he's in bad shape now? I appreciate you can't see him to assess him too well but I don't know if I could do it.

What do you (or anyone) think could have happened to him in such a short space of time?

Potts050;2359745; said:
DO you have a strainer/basket over the end of your suction tube?
Click to expand...

Yes, it was this 'basket' he was trapped on/around.
 
It does sound like it's not going to recover, the lack of movement is not good. I would agree with the above, euthania may be the only option
 
badger_fruit;2359843; said:
That is what I thought, he's in a bad state but only the day before he was plump and very active; it's just happened from nowhere, he got his fair share of food and wasn't looking un-healthy at all. Is there a quick and humane way we can put him to "sleep"?

Don't you think he could recover enough to lead a happy life, even though he's in bad shape now? I appreciate you can't see him to assess him too well but I don't know if I could do it.

What do you (or anyone) think could have happened to him in such a short space of time?



Yes, it was this 'basket' he was trapped on/around.
Click to expand...


you can put him in a bowl and freeze him, use a sharp knife and sever the neck, use clove oil( don't recomend it takes a lot of it) or you could use a quick killing poison.
 
the chap at the pet store seemed to think that perhaps a small amount of sea-salt might help (to keep him alive or recover). I just feel so bad, the poor thing looks so sad; he is all alone and has been since yesterday. I want him to get better, I really do but I can't stand to see him like this.

Should I leave him another day or just .... you know, get it over with?

EDIT
I just took some pics, sorry, they're not the best but you should be able to get the idea on his condition






the stuff at the bottom is bits of food, he's not made any waste i could see.

by the way, here he is before the problem:-
http://badgerfruit.homeip.net/album/Aquarium/sp_a0660.html
 
not lookin good. not as bad as it sounded, but not good. Spines probably broken, as its at an angle. Give him one more day, than uthanize. Wanna dol it quickly, as long as he's under 5'', use a knife to QUICKLY sever the head. Tough choice, fish are easy to get attached too, but it happens.
 
if his back is broken, you have no choice but euthanasia; but I wouldn't be so quick to jump on it. Give him a few more days with 100% w/c. If you decide to go the euthanasia route, you have a variety of choice to choose from, but PLEASE make sure it is sedated first. Go buy some clove oil from GNC or a health food store (make sure it's 100%, the kind used by hippies for toothaches). Just a few drops shaken up very well in some tank water and slowly add it until he's breathing about once a minute. You could cut his head off or freeze him, but while you have an anesthetic you could just go ahead and OD him on it while he is asleep. Like putting a dog down.

Don't do it for it's "suffering", fish don't suffer; or process it like humans do. If you think it is your moral obligation to "put it out of it's misery", then you are in the wrong hobby. Unless the wound is unrecoverable, you would be doing the right thing trying to heal it.
 
Add some salt and see what happens. He probably is a goner, but never hurts to try.
 
cassharper;2360677; said:
if his back is broken, you have no choice but euthanasia; but I wouldn't be so quick to jump on it. Give him a few more days with 100% w/c. If you decide to go the euthanasia route, you have a variety of choice to choose from, but PLEASE make sure it is sedated first. Go buy some clove oil from GNC or a health food store (make sure it's 100%, the kind used by hippies for toothaches). Just a few drops shaken up very well in some tank water and slowly add it until he's breathing about once a minute. You could cut his head off or freeze him, but while you have an anesthetic you could just go ahead and OD him on it while he is asleep. Like putting a dog down.

Don't do it for it's "suffering", fish don't suffer; or process it like humans do. If you think it is your moral obligation to "put it out of it's misery", then you are in the wrong hobby. Unless the wound is unrecoverable, you would be doing the right thing trying to heal it.
Click to expand...
What'dya mean fish don't suffer? They just dont feel in their mouths/head area. But I've seen people fillet Searobin and Smoothhounds that were alive. And they were suffering. An'd I've accidentally foul hooked Bluefish, Bluegills, Stingrays, and they werent too happy and fight much more frantically that legit hooked fish.
Anyway, yeah, give it another day, then decapitate him. Good luck with him.
 
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