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I have had my angelfish for about 3 years now and he is big but he is dying and i know there is no possible way of saving him... he lies on the gravel on his side and moves his fin... i have him in a seperate tank so my other fish wouldnt just eat him up. But here is the ridiculous part, this fish has been laying on its side for over a month and has not eaten or swam. He moves to different spot of the gravel sometimes but how the hell is he alive? And can someone please tell me what to do to end his life the most painless way possible i cant look at him anymore

Go to the drugstore and get one of those over the counter remedies against toothache. the kit contains clove oil, which acts as an anesthetic for fish. I forgot the exact concentration to euthanize the fish but you can start with a low dose (in a small container) and increase when the fish is already sedated. Permanent exposure will kill the fish while it is unconscious

Hi,
Is clove oil water soluble or does it actually contain
a type of insoluble oil that will coat the inside of the
tank and everything else in the tank creating yet another
disaster?

I would not take the chance...

Take a container of some suitable size dip it into the
tank and remove enough water for the angel fish then
net it into the container, and administer the dose.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Oil is NOT soluble in water, the active (anesthetic) ingredient in clove oil, called Eugenol is.

By no means should clove oil; be administered to a regular fish tank, only to a small container that is reserved for anesthesizing/euthanizing of the fish.

Put clove oil in a tub or bucket and treat it there, its not for putting in tanks. It will ruin filters and create a hazard for other fish.

Sounds like his swim bladder has burst and adhered to the surrounding organs, the fish eventually dies of exhaustion, even though they may look otherwise quite strong. I had an 8 year old go exactly the same way last year. I gave him 5 days to attempt to recover before I euthanised him, although he could possibly have gone on for several weeks, but unfortunately his life quality was nil.

About 10 drops per gallon is plenty to knock them completely insensible, mix it up well before putting the fish in.

Clove oil is not water soluble in the traditional sense, but disturbance created by filtration or a quick whisk is more than enough to ensure it sticks to lots of things in a tank, because noticeably for an oil it readily sinks rather than floats, and will stay, not perfectly mixed, but staying in suspension in thousands of tiny globules for many hours. Add a filter to the mix and it will stay in that state potentially for days or weeks. It may not be truly water soluable , but its properties are so close as to make bugger all difference. Seen it , been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, many times..

Add it to a bucket and you'll see globules of it rolling around in the bottom like an old and cold lava lamp. This is an oil for which the properties of molecular self-adhesion are actually quite low, but it sticks to anything with a texture with a vengeance, like gravel, wood, filter media etc. In short , dont put it in a tank, just into a container you can clean with detergent after.

Sorry for the loss.