How do I euthanize a fish?

[teapod]

We have a very sick clown loach.:sad:

[mee-mee]

I stumbled across this website for how to humanely euthanize fish

http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/how_to_euthanize_a_fish/

[Rbishop]

If you do a search on here...you will see many recommendations.

[platytetrafan]

I had to euthanize one of my first platy fish that got sick a while ago. I was told to put the fish in a ziplock bag with water and put the bag in the freezer the cold temperature renders the fish unconscious and they die peacefully the fish died pretty quickly.

[Tongue33]

Bag it and slap it on the concrete. Quick, Painless.

[Que]

I use a sharp knife and lop the head right behind the gills. Do it right and it's quick but not for the squeemish.

Q

[BucJason]

Drop a hair dryer into the tank.:clap:

[Weezer]

Bag it and slap it on the concrete. Quick, Painless.

Dude......:eek: :thud:

[180gz71]

Whatever happened to flushing??

[tottenchris]

Drop a hair dryer into the tank.:clap:

Very interesting! Just don't put your hand in the tank!!!!:joke:

[Que]

Whatever happened to flushing??

How would you feel if you were sick and then flushed into a leathal environment to die a slow death in cold, dark, foul place?

Q

[Shelby_Tempo_GT]

Drop a hair dryer into the tank.:clap:



wouldn't that take out ALL of your fish?

[Daudzegier]

Put it in a cup of its own water and stick it in the freezer. The temperature will first cause it to go into hibernation, so it wont feel anything, and then the even lower temperature will painlessly kill it.

[necigrad]

How would you feel if you were sick and then flushed into a leathal environment to die a slow death in cold, dark, foul place?

I thought that was high school. Mom wouldn't let me call in sick, the heaters never worked, half the lights were out, and there was a sewer nearby! OK, kidding.

I dont' think many here advocate flushing. The fish won't die immediatly, so it's sitting there in bacterally infected waste. It will die, eventually. I've also heard that there may be foreign contanimation issues as well. Personally I doubt it could happen, but it's been suggested that by flushing you may enter something foreign into the water supply.

[Mr.Mexi]

when one of my neon tetra's got ill, my dad took it out of the tank and wrapped it tissue paper and wacked it with a cup!:sad: :eek:
at least he died in:cool2:



:girl: ME ,Abbie

[ScottoMacD]

Clove oil works very well.

It can also be used to sedate fish if you need to perform any minor repairs on the fish. IE: mecurochrome on open wounds.

+++++ Heres one way to do it. As per this site http://thegab.org/Articles/Euthanasia.html

Oil Of Clove
Add 12 drops of Oil of Clove per 1 gallon (3.84 liters) of dechlorinated water. Oil of clove is very hard to mix so you may want to emulsify the clove oil by placing it in a smaller amount of water in a glass jar and shake well. Place the fish in a container large enough for it to move around freely along with an airstone on the highest setting and add the clove oil solution. The airstone will help keep the clove oil in solution. Once the fish turns on its side, watch the opercular movements (respiration/gill movements). The fish should be removed from the solution after at least ten minutes have passed since the last observed opercular movements (respiration/gill movements).

[syddakyd]

vodka although its a waste of liquor.

honestly i dont see the need to kill any fish. Its trying to hang on for a reason. try to medicate/fix its enviornment and if it dies, it dies. its not like a "higher" animal such as a dog that has cancer in its final stages

[kmail5776]

Put it in a cup of its own water and stick it in the freezer. The temperature will first cause it to go into hibernation, so it wont feel anything, and then the even lower temperature will painlessly kill it.


Yeah, I'd go with the freezer method too, reasons stated above :clap:

[trilobyte]

Club Soda will first anesthetise them, and then you can freeze them.

[9MMMAC]

Perhaps adding a TV first would be better- they'd never suspect a hairdryer would be coming next... :duh:

[Tongue33]

Whatever happened to flushing??


Most my fish would not FIT :) Plus even some smaller fish find a way to clog:)

[platytetrafan]

your fish is supposed to be your pet chopping it's head off, flushing it down the toilet all sound horrible to me.:eek: Think about how you would want to die if you were sick...as painlessly as possible right?...that is how I would want to go. I guess it is the nurse in me I wouldn't want my pet to suffer. The freezer method worked well and it seemed the most humane the last time I had to euthanize my fish to put it out of it's misery. I couldn't imagine physically cutting off my fish's head...that's just wrong. I know I couldn't do it.:thud:

[kmail5776]

Why can't California's death row have more freezers? Its definitely a cheap and painless way to go!

[H2OPawesome]

I always heard that freezing in the freezer was a horrible way to do it, because it's so slow. I always heard to dunk them in an icebath, because it was more instant. If you have an icebath with very little water and lots of rocksalt, then it'll keep the temperature very very low, and should be sudden. And for slamming on the ground, you need to have a good flick to your wrist..

[aquaman#1]

Bag it and slap it on the concrete. Quick, Painless. NOt all people are quick like that. And besides that is so painful what if you didn't kill it the first time?

[christopherhick]

well this went the complete opposite direction

[BucJason]

vodka although its a waste of liquor.

honestly i dont see the need to kill any fish. Its trying to hang on for a reason. try to medicate/fix its enviornment and if it dies, it dies. its not like a "higher" animal such as a dog that has cancer in its final stages


I agree with this post.

Just let the thing die naturally, what the heck do you think happens in the wild?? The giant Clove Oil Fish of Mercy will swim by and cloak the dying fish in CLove oil??? No , they either die slow or get eaten alive( which I doubt is painless at all , just the opposite).

If medicine doesn't help then let them die naturally, I say .

[Rbishop]

If you late nature take its' course, at least put it in a QT tank.

[futureDVM]

the freezer works well, also, putting him in a bag and dropping and alkaseltzer tab in the bag will put him to sleep because it gives off carbon dioxide freezing is for the most squeamish, but the least painless way is actually the "lopping off the head" deal (i'm too much of a wimp myself, i did the freezer for my Oscar)
DO NOT FLUSH HIM! he will be in some SERIOUS pain when he is suffocating in fecal matter and gunk in your septic. electrocution could kill you and short out your aquatic appliances and is a bad idea all around.
sorry about your fish, been there, done that........

[musho3210]

wouldnt the CO2 overtake the O2 and suffocate the fish which isnt humane?

[BIGgourami]

suffocation isn't inhumane. choking is but putting a person(or any animal) in a room and letting CO2 seep in there slowly putting them under and then killing them doen't sound bad to me.
personally i do this for my bigger fish.
the smaller ones i put in boiling water, sounds painful, but the shock kills them instantly

[uacich12]

We have a very sick clown loach.:sad:


Several good suggestions here, some, well not so. The 2 that are right on, are the INSTANT solution's, thus painless, for the fish at least. Alcohol, however only the strong stuff, vodka, grain alcohol, 151 even isopropyl rubbing alcohol wrk's just as well & is the most inexpensive, just poor into a container (bowl) that is large enough for the fish & about 2" above & below. Place fish in head first w/ both method's, suffication is instant. Boiling water is also instant. Researching yrs. ago these were suggested by biologist as the most "human". I've used the alcohol method ever since finding out about it, used the water method prior.


For the record if this fish shares water w/ any other fish, then you CAN NOT just leave them in the community to die if so be, a separate tank must be used, this is the most stressful situation for fish, which causes stress on the other's , creating at least the possibility that you will have further complications w/ the rest of the community i.e more deaths.

Sorry to hear you're facing such dreadful situation. The only thing that might help is to know that you were responsible enough w/ this life to take care of it appropriately.

[fishkid951]

Whatever happened to flushing??

If you flush a fish it will not die straight away...Therefore it spends the last few minutes of its life in absolute misery...

[DarkSoul]

suffocation isn't inhumane. choking is but putting a person(or any animal) in a room and letting CO2 seep in there slowly putting them under and then killing them doen't sound bad to me.
personally i do this for my bigger fish.
the smaller ones i put in boiling water, sounds painful, but the shock kills them instantly

have you ever had a shot of CO2 directly??? its terrible, makes you gasp and cough and literally feels just the same as someone physically strangling you.

pouring pop into a large glass, and making lots of foam during the pour will allow the top of the cup to fill with CO2, when you go to take a drink, you usually take a quick breath first.... breathing in this CO2, and coughing lightly.

this happens to me all the time with the size of glasses i use :) but that aside, I worked at a bar for 2 years, and decided one day to see what it was like taking a big gasp of CO2.

down the basement I go to crack open a giant bottle of CO2.... and holy crap was that the second biggest mistake ive ever made (the first was forgetting the cardinal rule of smelling chemicals... waft waft, sniff.... instead I stuck my nose right over a bottle of scientific grade ammonia, and took a sniff.... i thought someone lit a firecracker in my sinus cavity.)

cutting the head off would have to be the best way IMHO, albeit a little messy.
I wouldnt like to do it, but would if it came down to it, because its humane, and quick.

Just get a very large, VERY sharp knife, and swing hard and fast. it helps to have good aim... i was also a cook for 4 years, so i know how to swing a big knife, while holding something in my hand.... i take no responisibility if you lob of a finger.

[polypterus101]

put it in a hospital tank with tap water