25 year old yellow tang dying :(

[highergroove]

So yesterday I noticed my FoxFace (many years old) acting funny (bumping against , raising fin, being a punk) with my orange shoulder tang (a few months) and my 25 year old partriarch yellow tang was staying away (they are a little gang). I thought maybe I needed to feed more as I added new fish a few months ago and am still playing with the amount to feed and what. This morning, the yellow tang was hiding out on the side of the tank and not wanting to eat - I even gave him his own cube of marine alage. As I was watching him, I thought he's at least 25 years old now, maybe he's slipping away. Sure neough, I just now found him in the back of the tank on his side on the bottom, breathing heavy but not moving much. I tried to net him but I am short and it's a 300 gallon wide tank and I can't reach.

I guess I am looking for a little reassurance and with the signs, maybe hoping to hear it's not long now so I don't feel so guilty I can't euthanize him. He's been with me a long time and deserves better but I also know we all die and sometimes that dying process is nature's way - and I know a little about DMT and hoping maybe he is slipping into hallucinations between this world and the ether. It would literally be me tearing my tank down to get him and not sure even then I can really reach because he's at the back - is it acceptable to not make heroic efforts at this point? Also, please send good energy and thoughts he goes quick....

 

[wvned]

I have watched a great many fish, dogs, cats and a few people pass. I do not believe fish suffer and have pain like the more complex beings.
I have also cried my eyes out with animals that passed completely peacefully at the vets office wishing I could do more.

You are grieving and it is normal. I do think any action you make would help the fish pass in a better way. Just one that is perhaps quicker and easier to see.
The tiny beings that are with us the years and decades of our lives that make it less empty.
May peace be with you.

 

[griss]

I have watched a great many fish, dogs, cats and a few people pass. I do not believe fish suffer and have pain like the more complex beings.
I have also cried my eyes out with animals that passed completely peacefully at the vets office wishing I could do more.

You are grieving and it is normal. I do think any action you make would help the fish pass in a better way. Just one that is perhaps quicker and easier to see.
The tiny beings that are with us the years and decades of our lives that make it less empty.
May peace be with you.

I cannot say it any better than this.

 

[discotu]

I'm so sorry...it's interesting how attached we can become to animals that are relatively inexpensive. We had a bunny i got my daughter off CL for $20 and when it passed we were all devastated.

Separately and not to sound insensitive but did you fully QT the new fish you added a few months ago? There are so many variables in this hobby but that's the only thing I can think of.

 

[wvned]

Something you have invested so many years of your life into could never be described as inexpensive.

 

[discotu]

Something you have invested so many years of your life into could never be described as inexpensive.

I was referring to initial cost but yeah it's anything but. Bunny cost $20 and we spent over $2k in vet bills without flinching. Didn't know rabbits were considered exotic pets and required specialized care.

 

[wvned]

$200 to sex our lovebirds. Each. You can’t look and tell

 

[vlangel]

So yesterday I noticed my FoxFace (many years old) acting funny (bumping against , raising fin, being a punk) with my orange shoulder tang (a few months) and my 25 year old partriarch yellow tang was staying away (they are a little gang). I thought maybe I needed to feed more as I added new fish a few months ago and am still playing with the amount to feed and what. This morning, the yellow tang was hiding out on the side of the tank and not wanting to eat - I even gave him his own cube of marine alage. As I was watching him, I thought he's at least 25 years old now, maybe he's slipping away. Sure neough, I just now found him in the back of the tank on his side on the bottom, breathing heavy but not moving much. I tried to net him but I am short and it's a 300 gallon wide tank and I can't reach.

I guess I am looking for a little reassurance and with the signs, maybe hoping to hear it's not long now so I don't feel so guilty I can't euthanize him. He's been with me a long time and deserves better but I also know we all die and sometimes that dying process is nature's way - and I know a little about DMT and hoping maybe he is slipping into hallucinations between this world and the ether. It would literally be me tearing my tank down to get him and not sure even then I can really reach because he's at the back - is it acceptable to not make heroic efforts at this point? Also, please send good energy and thoughts he goes quick....

So sorry, it's always hard to say good bye to beloved pet and fish can be very special when we have had them as long as you have had your tang.
I do agree with an earlier poster that they may not feel pain and distress as much in the dying process as we imagine. For your sake and your pet's I hope the process is quick and merciful.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I cannot say it any better than this.

agreed. I have a very old tang as well and am not looking forward to the day. Like @wvned and many of you, have lost many beloved pets over the years -- a greyhound (my best friend) last srping and another in his sunset year or two as I type. While my the Scopas tang and I do not have the relationship that I share with the dogs, it has been in my charge for close to two decades and there is certainly some sense of both attachment and duty to not let it suffer when the times comes. My hope is that however it happens, it is as peaceful as can be, even if it is just a fish.

 

[Chevre]

I think we all can relate. Although having a fish that long is rare in itself. A little over a week ago my snowflake male clownfish hopped out of my tank without me noticing. He liked to hang in a top corner when he wasn't hosting corals. And when I checked the tank before I left for work I didn't see him, which wasn't unusual initially. Then I saw him on the floor, and it had been too long. I was angry all day with myself. If only i saw him 5 minutes before when i was getting my kids ready. But nothing i could do other than plop him back in, in the end he fed the inverts. Later that day I pulled the trigger and ordered some frags I was wanting as well as another clown.

 

[sallypur]

Sorry please for your loss (