euthanization gone bad

I want to euthanize my Sarassa "commet" goldfish because it has a large tumour that has cased her to tripple in size around her belly. She is 5-6 inches long and 3 inches in diameter around her belly. I don't think this could be constipation so I want to put her out of pain. Should I do the water in a bag into the freezer treatment?
 
I'm wondering how decapitation is slow and painful? Teh fish will flop around for a while afterward, but its not alive, its just nerves. I decapitated a bluefish once, it was flopping/twitching for about a half hour. Sorry if thats too graphic, but I would say barring all else, that would be a fairly decent way to do it, if you can get past the twitching. Probably not painful for the fish, but maybe for the human.
 
sploke said:
I'm wondering how decapitation is slow and painful? Teh fish will flop around for a while afterward, but its not alive, its just nerves. I decapitated a bluefish once, it was flopping/twitching for about a half hour. Sorry if thats too graphic, but I would say barring all else, that would be a fairly decent way to do it, if you can get past the twitching. Probably not painful for the fish, but maybe for the human.
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a sharp knife/razor and a quick cut to severe the spinal cord(or decapitate) is one technique that is used.

there is quite a bit of discussion on the methods that can be used.
clove oil , use of freezing water etc are the most common methods.
 
So sorry for the experience!!

If I were to vote;

#1 Clove oil then vodka
#2 Cup with ice cubes to create near freezing conditions: Instant death. No slow torture or waiting for the bag to freeze. It's fast to set-up and over in a second with no blood. Less stress on fish and fish keeper - especially on the young children.

Everything else IMO is debatable
 
there has been a rumor that freezing is less humane than was once believed. apparently someone did some experiment that showed that ice crystals form in the body and cause quite a bit of pain before the fish actually dies. I dont know how accurate this information is, as i said, it's a rumor.

that being said, clove oil is my #1 suggestion.
 
pugwash said:
Quoted from the wisegeek article above:
"Unacceptable methods of euthanasia are: freezing, boiling, chopping, removing the fish from water, using a seltzer tablet, slamming, pithing, decapitating, or flushing down the toilet. These methods are slow, torturous, stressful or violent.
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Sorry, but I don't give a hoot what some anonymous posting on some web page says (if I did, I'd also have to believe in Bigfoot ;) ). For example, decapitation with a razor-sharp knife is neither slow, torturous, nor stressful to the fish. As to being "violent", that's a personal prejudice being imposed by a writer, apparently with PETA-wacko sensibilities, and has nothing to do with what the fish experiences.
 
smallfry said:
But here is a site that describes supposedly a safe way to do it with Alka Seltzer or with Baking Soda - it is used by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committe at University of Washington
http://depts.washington.edu/iacuc/policies/fish_euthanasia.html
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Very interesting read. So for tropicals, placement in near-freezing water is also acceptable, since it leads to rapid loss of consciousness, followed by death. Not acceptable for goldifsh, though.
 
yeah goldfish can survive in freezing water. there are lots of people who have goldfish ponds that freeze over in the winter, and then when it thaws, the fish are just fine.. granted there's usually water under the frozen surface, but it still is much colder than tropical fish can handle.
 
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