My oscar has been sick for a long time. I have tried every suggestion anyone has had and it keeps getting worse. It's come to the point my two barbs (who have been terrorized by this oscar for about a year) are relentlessly attacking my Oscar's stomach. I want to give it some time and see if it gets any better, but I really don't want to watch my favorite fish get tortured to death. I also don't have another tank to put the oscar in and I don't want to give it away if it's sick. I would really hate to infect somebody else's tank. If it comes down to it, is there a humane way to put the oscar to rest?

That's also the question that I don't want to answer.

If you can't/won't get another tank and try to treat the poor oscar or find someone to take him and try to help him, then there are a few ways to kill him.

You can overdose him on clove oil. See http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/how-to-human...e-your-fish.php which actually has a bunch of possibilities. When I worked at a place that raised fish for environmental testing, they told me to just snap their necks which I refused. They also told me to flush live fish which I refused.

If I ever decided to kill a fish which I've never done, I would probably use the freezing method. Put the fish in a ziploc with water and put it into the freezer. It won't be completely painless but hopefully not as bad as some of the other methods.

Where do you live? Maybe someone on the forum is nearby and would take him.

I didn't want to give away a sick fish and jepordize someone else's tank. The only other tank I have is a 5 gal, and there is no way a 9" oscar is going in a 5 gal hex. Fortunately, I have narrowed it down to hith, and the treatment seems to be working. I can't tell you how relieved I am. Now to deal with velvet.

I am glad that it looks like the oscar may recover. I wouldn't suggest giving the fish to just any aquarist but someone who is an expert (more so than I). An expert would know how to treat the fish and keep it away from their other fish.