Clove Oil

[celaeno]

i filled a glass jar with about 250ml of tank water and added two capfuls of clove oil. i then shoke it vigorously until it turned milky white, which i read means that the water and oil has mixed. i then added the cherry barb i wanted to euthanize.

as soon as he was in the water/oil mixture, he swam around frantically for a few minutes before finally sinking down to the bottom of the jar 10 minutes later.

does this mean that it died painfully and that i euthanized it incorrectly? or is this supposed to happen? also, should i put it in the freezer to make sure it died and doesn't wake up?

 

[WILDER]

Are his gills moving.
Cove oil can sting fish.

I use this method and it dosn't cost anything.
Get a jug of cold water and add ice cubes till the water freezing cold. If no ice cubes put the jug in the freezer till a thin sheet of ice appears.
Place the fish in the freezing cold water. It should only take about 30 seconds. Leave the fish awhile to make sure its passed away.
Check the gills are not moving.

 

[Marco84]

Are his gills moving.
Cove oil can sting fish.

I use this method and it dosn't cost anything.
Get a jug of cold water and add ice cubes till the water freezing cold. If no ice cubes put the jug in the freezer till a thin sheet of ice appears.
Place the fish in the freezing cold water. It should only take about 30 seconds. Leave the fish awhile to make sure its passed away.
Check the gills are not moving.

Wouldn't it be better to drop it in boiling water?

 

[WILDER]

Wouldn't it be better to drop it in boiling water?
No. It sounds to cruel to me.

I will find a good thread on freezing water method.

Written by steelhealr.

This is what I choose to do with my fish and my comments are only placed here as opinion. This is a heated topic. I choose based on my knowledge from my training:

Oil of cloves is a topical anethestic and was used in the past to treat toothaches. Lidocaine (like at the dentist's office is a topical anesthetic as well). When we operate on people we really want to achieve 2 things, analgesia and anesthesia, that is, relief of pain and unconsciousness. IMO, when a fish is immersed in oil of cloves, it is essentially 'topically anesthetized', paralyzed, but, I am NOT convinced that the fish is unconscious.....none of us will really know for sure. We don't know if the oil of cloves causes stinging to the mucus membranes, eyes, etc on initial contact nor if the fish is motionless, painless but aware.

Extreme cold is an anesthetic. When applied to skin, you can actually cut the skin and feel no pain. Cold also can cause rapid unconsciousness. In fact, hypothermia is reported to cause a state of euphoria and clouding of consciousness. Fish, at least most of the types that we keep (tropical), are extremely small and rapid immersion in extreme cold water, in my opinion, causes rapid pain relief and rapid unconsciousness. I have never seen any of my fish shows signs of what I consider suffering. They stop moving immediately and appear lifeless. Some have stated that since fish are ectothermic, this doesn't apply....perhaps in cold water fish I would agree.

I choose to euthanize my fish this way, rather than oil of cloves. One must either make an educated decision for themselves, or, choose what is currently accepted by the masses as what is humane.

Added: although I would never use blunt force to euthanize my fish, nor advocate it, one fact is for sure: death is instantaneous

SH

 

[LauraFrog]

I've had best results by adding a fish to a small container with tank water and then adding clove oil a drop at a time. It takes around five minutes this way before the fish dies, but it doesn't produce any of the thrashing or gasping that I've seen with other methods (I have tried freezing water and also the shaking of the clove oil solution). When the clove oil is added slowly it doesn't seem to sting or cause the fish to panic. Personally I leave the fish in the clove oil solution until all gill movement has stopped and then cut off the head to ensure the fish is dead.

Another method I have heard is very humane is to mix very cold water and cheap vodka 50/50, and put this mixture in the freezer for about an hour. It's even colder and the alcohol kills extremely fast. I've never tried this, because my parents would notice if a few nips of vodka vanished and they'd probably think I drank it. (Seriously, if a 15 year old told you 'I only took the vodka to put down a fish!'... yeah, I figure it's not worth the argument.)

If I had the option of absolutely anything, veterinary anaesthetic is the way to go but obviously this is impossible for 99% of fishkeepers.

 

[celaeno]

I've had best results by adding a fish to a small container with tank water and then adding clove oil a drop at a time. It takes around five minutes this way before the fish dies, but it doesn't produce any of the thrashing or gasping that I've seen with other methods (I have tried freezing water and also the shaking of the clove oil solution). When the clove oil is added slowly it doesn't seem to sting or cause the fish to panic. Personally I leave the fish in the clove oil solution until all gill movement has stopped and then cut off the head to ensure the fish is dead.

if you just add clove oil drop by drop into the container of tank water, doesn't the oil just float at the top? don't the oil and water have to mix to knock the fish out?

 

[mike os]

nope, mixing beforehand is not necessary, just put the fish in a small amount of tank water & add a splash of clove oil....

( i usually do about 50-100 a month this way with no visible signs of distress)

 

[hensonc4098]

Why 50-100? Simply out of curiousity and I'm nosey
Do you have hundreds of guppies or something?

 

[mike os]

Why 50-100? Simply out of curiousity and I'm nosey
Do you have hundreds of guppies or something?

discus, angels, corys, kribs, rams....all breeding regularly...If the fry are not "right" they are out.

 

[B13]

I had to euthanise a fish who went down with dropsy a few days ago. Poor lil' beggar. It looked like a pine cone crossed with an inflated puffer fish!! Never had to kill anything before in my life, so I really wasn't looking forward to it.

However, being prepared to Do The Kindest Thing is what good pet ownership is all about, so after remembering something I'd read on this forum (most probably what Wilder posted up above), I chilled some water right down, fished the lil' guy out, popped him in the water and he died (or went into some state of shock) within half a second. I then put the box in the freezer overnight to make doubly sure.

(I've got some clove oil, but after using it on a painful tooth, it STINGS, so I was personally v. unsure about using it to kill a fish.)

Urgh... did not enjoy doing that, but I couldn't bear to see the fish suffer any longer.




Just to side-track a mo, from what I read, there's no real definite cause to dropsy: it's organ failure brought on by any number of things (cancer, old age, etc). Is this correct? A couple of books said that it can be poor water quality, but I keep a close eye on my water test results, do regular water changes, etc ...and all of my other fish look healthy. No other fish have shown any signs of dropsy either.

 

[doktor doris]

I too have had to consider the best way to euthanize fish in the past.

Lots of people reccomend the clove oil method, but I did read that the US humane society (I think that is their name) dont approve of that method. So I was worried that the oil may be corrosive and cause the fish discomfort whilst it was working. As someone pointed out earlier the oil causes stinging in humans.

In the end I decided the best method (from the fishes point of view, certainly not mine) was to put the fish into a foil chinese take-away tub with only a half inch or so of water in the garden on the floor. Then stamp on it.

It sounds gruesome and messy, but who cares about that if it kills the fish instantly, which it did.

I didnt enjoy it, and it made a mess. But I know that it died in the twinkling of an eye without causing the fish any stress. It certainly caused me a great deal of stress, but who cares?


doris