When Good Fish Die

[Abby1]

Last summer my favorite fish died after an illness from a salinity decrease due to a leak. I was heartbroken that I wasn’t able to spend the time to nurse him back to health properly since I had a vacation planned. I got the sad call from my neighbor a few days later. My son was also devastated and hysterical at the thought of him being flushed so my neighbor kindly bagged and froze him. Almost a year later he’s still in my freezer. I know it’s creepy! Anyone ever had success cleaning a skeleton with beetles? I found a few taxidermists locally that do it, but not sure if it’s worth the money and the little fish bones will be all over the place. He was a clownfish and reading all of the posts below about sick clownfish break my heart. I hope they all pull through!

 

[Big G]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Beetles? Following along to see where this goes

 

[Abby1]

Beetles? Following along to see where this goes

Apparently people use a specific species of beetle to clean deer skulls...thought it might work for a fish.

 

[jradishness]

Saw a video on this by predatory fins a couple days ago. Beetles Cleaning Fish

 

[Auquanut]

Unfortunately, with the size of bones you're talking about, chances are that there will be little left when the cleaning is done. best just to let him go in my opinion. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Abby1]

Unfortunately, with the size of bones you're talking about, chances are that there will be little left when the cleaning is done. best just to let him go in my opinion. Sorry for your loss.

Thanks for the advice. I guess I won’t be able to make anything like this then. That was my original plan.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Dermestid Beetles. They probably wouldn't leave much if anything of your fish. There's other methods, my favourite to use on skulls is boiling in a borax solution, but I suspect that may destroy the bones too if you leave it too long.

 

[Abby1]

Thanks! Someone posted about preserving fish whole in acrylic...I won’t display in my home, but might make the perfect addition to my science classroom.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Theres an artist in Oregon had a display at omsi in January. I'm not sure of his technique but he preserves fish, birds, snakes, ect

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Here he is, Christopher marley

Exquisite Creatures

Experience the awe-inspiring natural world through the intricate design of its inhabitants with Exquisite Creatures. Examine the connections between art, science, and nature by viewing stunning three-dimensional displays of rare specimens from all over the world. At OMSI for a limited-time...

omsi.edu

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

I Had some fish not make it a while back when I was more focused on fresh water catfish and brought them into my bio class, we ended up diaphonizing them and it turned out to be a neat science project for us all.

Dyeing the Dead: The Artful Science of Diaphonization

You've likely seen diaphonized creatures on display in natural history museums, where transparent specimens of dead fish, frogs, and snakes float in...

www.atlasobscura.com

Hope this helps and sorry for your loss, always hard to see them leave

 

[Zionas]

Sorry for your loss. They’re some of the most wonderful fish out there. How long did you have him?

RIP.

I seem to read a lot about Clowns and some other fish like Royal Grammas getting sick. Is it because these fish are very susceptible to certain diseases, or is it only because from a statistical perspective so many people have or have had them, thus leading to an increased number of reports on disease?