FISH EUTHANASIA

[SGypsyMermaid]

i thought that the best way to euthanase a fish was by freezing, because as the fish gets cold, the metabolism slows down to nothing...the fish just dies in it's sleep...or does it?

http://members.aol.com/sirchin/ailment1.htm#death

[jonah]

I like to use a blender like in Deuce Bigalow. :eeksanta:

Nah, I usually do the freezer thing too. I don't know if it's painless, but at least I don't have to watch them while they die. I've heard that dropping them in some rubbing alcohol will do it pretty quickly.

[jnorris]

I dispatched my aratus by snaping his neck (much like you would do with a trout just before cleaning it), it was toilet time after that.

Not for the weak and timid....

I might consider the freezer next time around....For "killer" the Pseudotropheus. The only reason he is still around is because he was my first African Cichlid..and he has a name...

I would rather find him a good home I think, but no one will take him :roll:

He isn't being a bad boy anymore anyway....

[ferdelance]

I fill the toilet bowl with ice and then flush after several minutes. the fish rapidly stop moving and I think they are unconscious. of course these fish are already moribund. got this tip from Dr. Kevorkian. :angel:

[merlyn2221]

Found yet another way to euthanize a fish when necessary. It simply and literally "puts them to sleep."

The method is to use "soda water."
You put the fish in a room temperature glass of it and remove it after there is no more gill movement. The CO2 acts as an anesthetic overdose.

I read this on p.75 of one of my cichlid books: Tetra's Popular Guide to Tropical Cichlids.

[jonah]

Neat trick! I wish I had a sick fish to try it on.:wink:




Just kidding of course. :dance:

[matt1066]

SGM,

I think I'll go to bed early and see if nature takes its course.

I think I will leave a bottle of eltzer out though.

Thanks, I remember this post, didn't like any of the ideas, but I have tto be a realist.

Thanks,

Matt

[Glaive]

Thank you all for your suggestions on easier methods for helping the horriblysick. I wish I had thought of the freezer trick with my last fire bellied toad. In the past I always clubbed my fish and amphibians, not the same as clubbing my dinner. Reminded me of having to put down rabid dogs in my youth, lived in the country....:(

[merlyn2221]

Glaive: the other method suggested was indeed clubbing the fish, or throwing it very forcefully against a hard object. The bathtub was suggested.

This suggestion appears on the same page.

I have an ailing red zebra who might unfortunately become my first "soda water" death. :(

[Watcher]

just friggin flush it. thats what i do. it can be any more painful than any other method. i hate to do it but you have to sometimes. i work at a fish store now so i will be able to house them there and adopt them out.

[usafschue]

hey merlyn, i got that book too, how do you feel about it? I think it's a perty good book, you?

[merlyn2221]

As far as "short" books on cichlids go, it is a lot of good info packed into those pages. I like it very much, and best of all, it didn't cost as much as my other cichlid books!

[crazyfishlady]

I have read that the most painless way for the fish is beheading with a very sharp knife, but I'm way too squeamish for that. I have used the freezer trick. I think when or if the need comes around again I may try that soda water idea.

[usafschue]

Well one would think that severing the nervous system is perfect, so anything from a knife to a hammer would work in an instant

[Sipesh]

Please don't "euthanize" fish by ever putting them in rubbing alcohol! The chemical burns produced on their gills from this although short lived, would be extremely painful. Don't believe me? Pour some up your nose sometime and see how it feels... yikes.
Soda water, being that it has such a high CO2 content also chemically burns the gills and again, although fast, is by no means painless... I'm sure you've all had those soda burps before that go through your nose and sting like the dickens.
The freezer method is far better, or the blunt trauma method (or anything that can instantly sever the spinal chord).

[cich1]

i've used the sharp knife method myself,i think it's the quickest way.i couldn't do the freezer method i think it would take to long.better to get it over with as close to instantly as possible in my opinion.

[jennigypsy]

thanks for the insight sip & welcome :)

I've used the freezer a few times...I'd like to be able to 'behead' the sick...but I'd have to close my eyes as I did it...then I'd probably be 'de-fingered'...(and the poor fish would be flopping all around...)

[barramundi]

A harder one to learn, but extremely quick if you master it, I'm not sure how to spell it but something like Ikijimi or soemthing. It's basically a sharp object, eg metal skewer, straight into the brain of the fish. Is as instant as they come.

I actually will be changing to the clove oil/tank water overdose method from now on though.

Man I've come a long way. As a kid I used to cut the tails off blowfish & watch them try & swim, or I'd cut off their pec & dorsal fins & watch them spiral into the bottom. We have recurring serious blowfish plagues in our Swan River courtesy of Japanese container ships! Thankfully I grew up! I'll still kill them, but via the ikajimi method with a knife, (our Fisheries dept asked fisho's not to return blowfish to the water if they're caught).

[jennigypsy]

clove oil?...
what's that one?

[Murfins]

I'm new to cichlids but not to fishkeeping and I personally prefer the clove oil method. For a fish such as a Betta you put about 2 cups of their tank water into a container, such as a rose bowl, and then add the fish. In a small jar, such as a baby food jar or 100 mL fish food container you add water and then 10 - 12 drops of Clove Oil that you purchase at a health store or sometimes can find in the pharmacy (pure clove oil), then vigorously shake the water and clove oil (this is the most important step otherwise the oil will not mix into the water and it will not be painless). Once mixed really well it should look slightly white or milkish and you then add a couple drops at a time to the container with the fish and gently stir, do not add more then a tester pipette full per 5 minutes. The clove oil is a natural anesthetic and will put the fish to sleep, same as when you have surgery, and then when you overdose (use all the mixed clove oil you've prepared) the fish stops breathing and it's heart stops.
I leave the fish in the jar for a good hour and then put it in a plastic baggie and place it in the freezer (this is just a safety precaution and most certainly unnecessary), then I bury the body the next day.

[punkypuffer]

when i worked at petsmart the made us use tank water with a ton of baking soda to euthanise the fish. not really sure if it's a "good" way. i use the freezer method usually

[cichgirl]

Murfins, thanx for the explanation. :)

[jennigypsy]

i think I like the clove oil idea the best...