Euthanasia - Clove Oil

[Gabby_907]

I'm a Fisheries undergrad and in my class we had to tag live fish. We used clove oil, which acts as a numbing agent and slows their respiration.

In larger quantities it also can euthanize fish.
I have done this three times for my own personal fish.

I had a golden dojo loach with wasting away disease. I didn't catch it in time, so I had to put it down. My other loach had a series of unfortunate events and I couldn't figure out the cause. My goldfish (that I got from Walmart two years ago) had air baldder issues that only got worse, no matter how big of a tank I could provide. So, in an act of compassion, I euthanized him.

Clove oil also works to calm them down for travel, and one of my goldfish got caught in a net, which after a little clove oil to calm him down I was able to safely remove him without him wriggling about.

If you need to euthanize a fish, I normally make two batches of water. One has a low ratio of water to oil and the other is higher. I found 1 cup of water to 6 drops worked well as an initial bath and once the fish breathing slows I move them into a ratio of one cup to 12-15 drops. Make sure you mix well before adding.

I hope this information isn't needed, but if it is, maybe this will help.

 

[myswtsins]

Thanks for the info. I've used clove oil before with varying degrees of success though. I think the clove oil was weak. For a 12" comet I dosed more than 15x the required amount for euthanizing and ended up having to sever the spinal cord. I did mix it very well, which you do have to do..it is oil and water after all. It works great to toothaches though!

Welcome to AC!

 

[fishorama]

I did not have good success w/clove oil & vodka the 1 time I tried it almost 10 years ago. The fish did not seem to be in distress... but I was, since it didn't die as quickly as I hoped. I added ice & clove oil in a slight panic. The fish did die but I was quite stressed! Lately I've done a lot of ice cubes added to minimal tank water & was much happier with the speed of death (my perception). Like myswtsins said, I may have had a weak clove oil solution, & thus less effective.

 

[Gabby_907]

Thanks for the info. I've used clove oil before with varying degrees of success though. I think the clove oil was weak. For a 12" comet I dosed more than 15x the required amount for euthanizing and ended up having to sever the spinal cord. I did mix it very well, which you do have to do..it is oil and water after all. It works great to toothaches though!

Welcome to AC!

Thank you! Yeah, my first round I put way too much in and it immediately killed the loach. I wish I could remember the ratio I used in my lab but ts been a while. I've heard Asprin works well for minnows.