newbettagus
- #1
Hi, Two days ago I considered it necessary to put my betta fish to sleep. Why is another subject and rather beside the point now. He was brought home from a pet store in early August 2019 so he had probably reached the end of his life span anyway. I used clove oil (NOW brand essential oil bought on Amazon) and learned a few things that might be useful to others.
I had the idea, instead of causing him the displeasure of being removed from his tank (he was the only resident,) of just siphoning most of the water out of the tank, and putting the clove oil in there (about 8 drops in about a half cup of tank water, in a jar with a lid, shaken). That worked, but I siphoned out too much water, and he was somewhat stressed for a little while by not being able to swim freely, having just enough water to swim straight ahead. If I do this again I'll leave at least 3 inches of water, and save some of the tank water in case the fish needs more.
Other than that, it went well. He stopped trying to swim, and then I put in more clove oil (mixed with water and shaken until milky), about 15 drops this time--I'm not sure of the amount; I didn't have a dropper. I went back in a half hour and he appeared to be gone. I picked up the body, and there was still no movement. Then I put it in a jar of water I had put in the freezer to chill and begin to ice over--I had read that freezing is necessary in case the fish isn't really 100% dead and might wake up. The next day I buried the body in the back yard.
I think it's appropriate to say here that he was a beautiful fish (his name was Augustus and he was a deep blue veil tail) and he gave many hours of pleasure as he swished and swirled gracefully around his tank.
I had the idea, instead of causing him the displeasure of being removed from his tank (he was the only resident,) of just siphoning most of the water out of the tank, and putting the clove oil in there (about 8 drops in about a half cup of tank water, in a jar with a lid, shaken). That worked, but I siphoned out too much water, and he was somewhat stressed for a little while by not being able to swim freely, having just enough water to swim straight ahead. If I do this again I'll leave at least 3 inches of water, and save some of the tank water in case the fish needs more.
Other than that, it went well. He stopped trying to swim, and then I put in more clove oil (mixed with water and shaken until milky), about 15 drops this time--I'm not sure of the amount; I didn't have a dropper. I went back in a half hour and he appeared to be gone. I picked up the body, and there was still no movement. Then I put it in a jar of water I had put in the freezer to chill and begin to ice over--I had read that freezing is necessary in case the fish isn't really 100% dead and might wake up. The next day I buried the body in the back yard.
I think it's appropriate to say here that he was a beautiful fish (his name was Augustus and he was a deep blue veil tail) and he gave many hours of pleasure as he swished and swirled gracefully around his tank.
