When To Euthanise Fish?

So, I’ve only had my first fish for a week and it’s been a disaster. He’s been constipated for the entire time and now he has a prolapsed colon. I have no access to meds or an aquatic vet because of where I live, so I’m considering euthanasia. However, he’s still acting normal so I feel wrong about doing it until he’s acting very ill. What should I do? I would rather get it over with and sell my tank and move on asap, but I don’t have the heart to if he’s acting well.

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your fish. I've been through the agonizing dilemma of trying to decide when is the right time to end the suffering. It's the worst! I always want someone ELSE to tell me it's time, but the fact is, normally, you are the one who knows your pet the best. With that being said and you being new to the hobby you definitely could use some advice here. If there is no correcting his ailment and the end is foregone then ending it BEFORE the suffering is not a bad decision. However, I would think that if he's prolapsed he would have to be in pain. There is a ton of information out there on how to euthanize humanely. I hate that you seem to be wanting to leave the hobby over this though and that is sad to hear. Just a little advice here...don't get rid of everything just yet. Give it a little time. You never know if you might decide to give it another go.

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your fish. I've been through the agonizing dilemma of trying to decide when is the right time to end the suffering. It's the worst! I always want someone ELSE to tell me it's time, but the fact is, normally, you are the one who knows your pet the best. With that being said and you being new to the hobby you definitely could use some advice here. If there is no correcting his ailment and the end is foregone then ending it BEFORE the suffering is not a bad decision. However, I would think that if he's prolapsed he would have to be in pain. There is a ton of information out there on how to euthanize humanely. I hate that you seem to be wanting to leave the hobby over this though and that is sad to hear. Just a little advice here...don't get rid of everything just yet. Give it a little time. You never know if you might decide to give it another go.

Thank you for your advice. As a beginner, I know very little about diseases so I’m worried that I’m making a drastic decision when it could be fixable, but I really don’t think it is. I don’t really have the money or the heart to start all over again with a new cycle (I think it’s an infection, so I assume I would have to toss my media?), but I’ll see what happens. Thanks again.

 

I'm not an expert either, but I've had to face the tough decision of when to euthanize and I understand how heartbreaking that is. Hopefully someone here will chime in with some more information on your particular situation. It's quite possible you would NOT need to scrap your media and be able to maintain your cycle if that's what you choose.
There will be lots of questions... but they will help everyone figure out what went wrong and how to avoid it in the future and also whether you need to start over with disinfected equipment if necessary.

 

Sounds like it could be a parasite. Ordering some medication online isn't an option for you?

 

Sounds like it could be a parasite. Ordering some medication online isn't an option for you?

I don’t even know what medication I would need, and I’m going on holidays on Saturday until Tuesday so I feel like that would be too late to start treatment.

 

Quick update; he appears to have made a miraculuous recovery. I’m not going to kid myself into thinking he’s completely fine, becausenclearly something was wrong, but he seems much better. The prolapse completely disappeared overnight. I’m going to try get my hands on some meds to cover all my bases.

 

What kind of fish is it?can we see pictures? How many tank gallons or litres? Filtered? Cycled? Click cycle if you don't know what that means.

 

What kind of fish is it?can we see pictures? How many tank gallons or litres? Filtered? Cycled? Click cycle if you don't know what that means.

Male betta, 19l tank, filtered, cycled, heated to 79F. I only have a picture of him yesterday with the prolapse, but no pictures of him now that it’s gone and I’m not home at the minute. I have Metroplex on the way but it won’t get here until Tuesday at the earliest.

 

I'm sorry about your guy and his colon I don't really know how to advise here I mostly deal with beginner's disease' s and cases. Maybe Goldiemom and Rtessy can help?

 

What kind of fish is it?can we see pictures? How many tank gallons or litres? Filtered? Cycled? Click cycle if you don't know what that means.

Op said they didn’t Want to go through new cycle again so I think they have that part down.

 

If we can get a pic we may be able to help with treatment.

 

Is he eating?

 

Op said they didn’t Want to go through new cycle again so I think they have that part down.

Sorry! Didn't catch that part!

 

Is he eating?

He was eating perfectly well before the prolapse, today was the first time I fed him since. He ate some pea and I’m going to try his food tomorrow.

 

Quick update for anyone who’s interested;
He’s doing really well! I’ve had no issues since the prolapse resolved itself, he’s super active and eats like a maniac. Hopefully it stays that way

 

So happy to hear that. What a shock it must have been to see that. What a fighter fish! Hope you hang in there and enjoy the journey to learning more and more about these wonderful awesome pets. They have puppy-dog personalities (some would say cat like, LOL), and they interact with human caregivers and buddies. Your betta is absolutely Beautiful!

 

So happy to hear that. What a shock it must have been to see that. What a fighter fish! Hope you hang in there and enjoy the journey to learning more and more about these wonderful awesome pets. They have puppy-dog personalities (some would say cat like, LOL), and they interact with human caregivers and buddies. Your betta is absolutely Beautiful!

He has such a big personality for such a little fish, he’s so funny! Thank you

 

I’m so happy for you and your Betta