[JohnG86]

I have 4 electric yellow cichlids. Unforutnately , one was attacked(I believe he was the "other" male). I have him in a home made nursing contraption. Its two fish nets clipped together just to protect him from the other fish.

I have tried letting him out and he will just fall to the bottom and become lifeless again. Put him in the net , he comes back to life. He will not eat outside the net , but every night i open the nets and throw some food to him. With in 10 mins , its usually all gone.

I do not have the option for a nursery tank right now for him.

he is starting to look unhealthy and he is starting to swim in circles.

His tail fin was messed up pretty bad from the attack. I believe thats why he cant swim right.

It feels like im starting to torture this fish , but he is still very, very active. One other fish always comes to the net and he seems to interact with it.

What should i do with this fish. I dont want it to have brain damage or something and im just making it suffer.. but im just not sure ifi can get it back to health with the net contraption i have him in. he has a little bit of swimming room , but he just does not have full access to the tank.

Am i torturing this fish? What should i do?

 

[Fogelhund]

How long ago was he attacked?

What are the dimensions of the aquarium?

 

[AlphaWild]

He's not likely to recover in that setup. He's stressed in the confinement of the nets, he's stressed because he's injured, and he's stressed because that fish interacting with him is probably trying to finish the job. If you're sure you can't have even a small nursery setup, I would try to give him away.

 

[JohnG86]

The attack was about 4 days ago.. I only have them in a 20 gal right now.. they are going in my 55 g when i have it ready..

Edit: The 20g they are in was my nursery. Prohibited by money right now until i can get them their 55g set up.. They werent supposed to be in the 20g this long

 

[Fogelhund]

At this point you have two choices.

1. Leave him in the net, and hope he recovers.
2. Euthanize him. Sometimes it is the more humane thing to do, and only you can judge if it is best. I've certainly had to do that many times.

 

[JohnG86]

I was debating on letting him go... Should i just release him back into the tank and let the others take care of him , or sould i do it myself. This is the first time i would have to do in a live fish. I read freezing them is the most humane. The more i look at him... he is just not going to make and and i feel so awful, im just not sure i can kill him like that....

 

[Fogelhund]

There are a number of ways to euthanize a fish, and freezing him might be the most humane that is quickly available to you. It always feels worst the first time, but you are actually doing the fish a favour, if he is not going to make it. Certainly it is better than having him picked apart to death.

 

[GTZ]

Clove oil, followed by vodka is generally considered the most humane way to euthanize a fish.

 

[Frenzy]

You could try putting the bully in the net instead.

 

[eeztropheus]

I once euthanized an 8" peacock bass. I'm not sure what was wrong but it was definitely going to die, so I grabbed it by the tail and whipped it against a concrete curb. Sounds brutal, but I thought freezing would be too slow of a death.

 

[Sickaqua]

I always heard pulling a fish backwards by the back fin will drown them pretty quick? Don't know if it works or if it's humaine but that is what I always heard?

 

[DJRansome]

The clove oil is the humane part because it puts the fish to sleep. Then you need the life ending part like vodka or freezing.

 

[Chunkanese]

if his back fin is pretty nipped, as long as hes got the base left, so little bits of fin left over, it will grow back. Had it happen to one red zebra. He looked pretty brutal for a month or so. Gorgeous fish now. he just hung out in the corner of the tank. but i didnt give up on him. Cant be the judge but as long as hes not going belly up, he may make it.

 

[Chunkanese]

Another thing you can do is get a pop or gatorade bottle. Cut small tiny holes in it for water to pass through but too small for the fish. I would say go with the gatorade since the cap opening is much larger. Put him in that. When you feed him just pull it to the surface and drop food in, put cap back on. Boom shucklala you have a fish hospital and you dont need another tank. Plus after you drink the gatorade you will have more energy to complete the task. And it tastes better.

And if he recovers put him back in the tank. If he starts getting attacked maybe put the attacker in your fish hospital contraption. It will allow the social structure to change, and after a while, when you release the bully, it may not be as aggressive as it once was.

Good luck, keep us posted man!