I was forced to euthanize my dear little Merlin today. The poor fish had developed severe dropsy (an often fatal fish disease), and was not going make it. I came home yesterday to find him "pineconed," which is a symptom of dropsy, where the fish's scales raise up. Once that happens, there's almost never a chance of the fish surviving, and it's kinder to euthanize them at this point. I used clove essential oil to euthanize Merlin, which causes the fish to fall painlessly into a deep slumber, passing away within the hour.
 |
| Merlin, pineconed. |
I bought Merlin from a local fish store last October, partially because he seemed to be having trouble swimming against the flow of his filter, and partially because I thought he was pretty. I brought him home and put him in a divided tank with my other betta, Peach. At the time I didn't have aquarium heaters for my fish, so their water was a freezing 65°F! (That's cold for bettas, who should have a water temperature of around 78-82°F.) My other fish were used to the temperature, but Merlin was in for a shock. He didn't do well in the beginning, and was quite lethargic until I bought heaters for all of my fish. He perked up soon after.
Merlin was always a rather runty fish, small and fragile. But he was a survivor. The little guy had been hit with columnaris ("fish fungus") at least thrice, but I treated him and he pulled through every time. When he had columnaris, the rays (spikes) on his fins were eaten away by the bacteria, and even after he was cured they never really grew back. Merlin taught me many valuable lessons about fishkeeping, and he endured a lot of my mistakes.
 |
| Merlin, hangin' out in his plants. |
We and I went through a lot together, and I will never forget him.
Rest in peace, little guy.
No comments:
Post a Comment