Goldfish

strawberry jam

We have 4 goldfish, one of which started lying sideways yesterday moring. I took it out of the tank and put it on its own in a smaller tank. It is still lying on its side on the bottom, and looks like as though its dead, but now and again tries to have a bit of a swim. My question is - do fish ever get better from this sort of thing, should I just leave it be until it is dead, or would it be kinder to kill it. Any advice gratefully received!

cichlid child

strawberry jam wrote:

We have 4 goldfish, one of which started lying sideways yesterday moring. I took it out of the tank and put it on its own in a smaller tank. It is still lying on its side on the bottom, and looks like as though its dead, but now and again tries to have a bit of a swim. My question is - do fish ever get better from this sort of thing, should I just leave it be until it is dead, or would it be kinder to kill it. Any advice gratefully received!

I would kill it and do a water change in both tanks and put anti fungi liquid in the new water this is just my opinon.I am not a vet

Sigma Force

Excuse me! I didn't realise this board supported killing pets!!!

The reason your fish is ill is probably the water quality.
How big is the tank, does it have a filter?
Have you added anything to the tank to improve the water quality?
Putting a fish into fresh water will do more harm than good.

You need to do a partial water change, about 30% and add something like Stress coat or Gold Disease safe, follow the instructions.
Go to your local pet or aquaitc supply store they are bound to have it there, if you haven't got a filter, get a small one they aren't expensive and plug it in.

There is also a new product out Organic (something) and you can add this instead of stress coat but I would go with the Gold disease safe one if you can find it.

The fish doesn't sound like it has a fungal problem, the Gold disease safe tackles a number of fish illnesses in case it's something else.

cichlid child

Guineapigrescue wrote:

Excuse me! I didn't realise this board supported killing pets!!!

Your excused. I wasn,t speaking for all of board members that is why i said in my opinion.Vets put down animals every day do you think they are also saying kill pets.the op asked for advice i simply gave mine you gave yours we differ big deal.but don,t say i support killing pets.

strawberry jam

Hi

The poor little thing died this morning. We have a big tank about 100 litres, it has a filter and we add stress coat to the water. They are treated as well as is possible, and we are very fond of them. The reason I said about killing it is that it was more dead than alive, but the odd time when it came to seemed distressed. I thought it may have been the kinder thing to do, two days lying nearly dead at the bottom of a tank doesn't seem like the most humane thing either.

FranknFurter

strawberry jam wrote:

I thought it may have been the kinder thing to do, two days lying nearly dead at the bottom of a tank doesn't seem like the most humane thing either.

Its not, the humane thing would have been to bring the animal to a vet when you noticed somthing wrong. Not sit around hoping for a miraculous cure.
Animals = responsibility.

B

SuperSean11

What wud a vet do to help a gold fish
Nothing things die let them die naturaly rather then kill them

sillymoo

I have never heard of anyone bringing a fish to a vet??? Does it happen often! :rolleyes:

Shane190

Me neither..

Jimkel

Guys i've been keeping goldfish and Koi most of my life, And every book I have read on fish health has said the same thing. A fish in this condition is most likely dieing and the Humane thing to do is to put it out of its misery yourself, I've seen it a hundred times, and had to put many sick fish down altough I have had great success treating fish and nursing them back to health sometimes there is just no option other then humanly ending its suffering.

No need for a vet unless it is an expensive or large fish, Thats my honest opinion..I'm sorry if this sounds cruel, I love animals and do not support animal cruelty in any way shape or form, but killing a suffering fish who has little chance of survival is not cruel, it is a kind act which is part of the overall responsability of the owner.

Most books on goldfish keeping describe humane ways to put a fish down yourself. The best action to take now is to partially change the water and treat the tank with the right medication in order to prevent further casualties.

Jimkel

SuperSean11 wrote:

What wud a vet do to help a gold fish
Nothing things die let them die naturaly rather then kill them

I'm sorry I don't agree at all, as the person responsable for the fish's wellbeing
it comes down to that person to minimize suffering in a dieing fish by Humanly putting them down or having a vet do the job for you. Any proffesional book on fish keeping and care will say the same, And i agree with the proffesionals. Dont keep fish unless you can step up the plate when the time comes to take the necassary course of action. I think it is cruel to leave a fish suffering in deaths grip, (which can last days) when you can do the humane thing and put it down.

Jimkel

I must stress for the moderators here that I am not condoning animal cruelty, merely speaking the truth about the responsabilities of a fish keeper, which invlove doing the right thing for your animal based on experience and proffesional literature regarding fish health. So please don't ban me!!