bazz Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hi Guys, I have a discus that recently fell i'll. It was given to me by my folks after they noticed it was headstanding. It is also about 6 years old maybe more. They dosed it with epsom salts immediately as per my recommendation, however no success. I have since tried other medications and no success, it has been about 3 weeks now with no improvement and it has not eaten in at least one week. I fear it may have caused permanent damage to the fish's swim bladder. I have come to the conclusion I need to end the fish's suffering, unless there are any other options I am not aware of?If so please let me know. I have looked at clove oil and struggle to find any that isn't mixed with other fragrances and crap. Otherwise what are some other methods of humanely euthanizing the fish? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saczel Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I know how you feel about not wanting the fish to suffer. I still have a silver dollar that is about 14-15 years old now and about 3 or 4 months ago he could only lie on his side and could not get upright. He would float on the surface and not submerge which lasted about two weeks and then when he could sink to the bottom and still only lie on his side. I thought about the clove oil ending but i knew he would go nuts in a little bucket and i would have needed heaps of clove oil so i thought it best he just fad away in a 2 foot tank(he was in a 4 footer) until he died, i thought any day i would find him dead, but after about 6 weeks total he was upright and eating again after no food for that entire 6 weeks(it could have been more). I put a few shelled peas in with him but i didn't see him eat any. All i did was clean the bare tank he was in a few times a week and cover his tank and try and give him some peace and he seemed to like a mild dose of salt so i left it at that. I even thought of few other ways to end his suffering but now i am glad i didn't. I never thought he would come good and now he is mixing it with a tank of active duboisi and good as new. I think he had bloat and it put pressure on his swim bladder and the same thing happened to his mate a few years back but he died in a few days. Hard to tell you what to do but it can get better but it depends on how hardy discus are. Chemist shops have the unscented clove oil but will ask you what it's for, i think i paid $20 for a tiny bottle and he would have needed several at least according to the dosing requirement i could find. I find it hard to believe myself that he lived that long without food. Good luck with a hard decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaholic99 Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 The simplest & fastest euthanasia method is to net and slide fish into a plastic fish bag without water and then bash it swiftly against a concrete floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazz Posted February 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 I know how you feel about not wanting the fish to suffer. I still have a silver dollar that is about 14-15 years old now and about 3 or 4 months ago he could only lie on his side and could not get upright. He would float on the surface and not submerge which lasted about two weeks and then when he could sink to the bottom and still only lie on his side. I thought about the clove oil ending but i knew he would go nuts in a little bucket and i would have needed heaps of clove oil so i thought it best he just fad away in a 2 foot tank(he was in a 4 footer) until he died, i thought any day i would find him dead, but after about 6 weeks total he was upright and eating again after no food for that entire 6 weeks(it could have been more). I put a few shelled peas in with him but i didn't see him eat any. All i did was clean the bare tank he was in a few times a week and cover his tank and try and give him some peace and he seemed to like a mild dose of salt so i left it at that. I even thought of few other ways to end his suffering but now i am glad i didn't. I never thought he would come good and now he is mixing it with a tank of active duboisi and good as new. I think he had bloat and it put pressure on his swim bladder and the same thing happened to his mate a few years back but he died in a few days. Hard to tell you what to do but it can get better but it depends on how hardy discus are. Chemist shops have the unscented clove oil but will ask you what it's for, i think i paid $20 for a tiny bottle and he would have needed several at least according to the dosing requirement i could find. I find it hard to believe myself that he lived that long without food. Good luck with a hard decision. Thanks for the input guys much appreciated, will wait a while and see if it improves as you said saczel. Don't want to euthanize just yet, hopefully it improves. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grubby Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 I have the same issue with my male Sajica. Putting him in a hospital tank tonight with some epsom salts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaholic99 Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 If it's a PET, it's extremely hard to be objective. And fish don't show they are in pain (unless you know what to look for) even if they are. Just some things to keep in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catsup Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 I've gotten clove oil at the pharmacy straight up without any additives -- it's quite common to use it for toothaches I was told! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazz Posted March 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 Unbelievable!! The discus has fully recovered......... I was so close to ending it's life I am so glad I didn't. I Kept it in a esky for 3 weeks with various medications and epsom salts, it didn't eat at all during that time. Then all of a sudden it had lost all its colour went from a very dark to almost white. I waited a few days after it had turned white and noticed it was swimming normally, threw it back into the main tank and off it went swimming back and forth all over the place loving it. Even discus can be tough....still can't believe it. Thanks heaps for all the advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saczel Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 Good to see it came good. A little bit of effort can pay off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
