How Do You End The Suffering Fish?

[comocrayfish5]

i hate to post this on a forum where people are trying to save their fish, but i was wondering how people 'put down' their fish that are too sick to cure (even though i have no sick fish )

i personally but them in a small container and let the fall asleep in the freezer. if they are healthy and they just die of age i feed them, after they are dead, to the crayfish.


How do you do it??

 

[Tuxyu3]

Clove oil or similar anaesthetics are the only way i can be 100% sure my fish are going out painlessly and stress-free, as long as it is done properly of course.

I would not use the freezing method personally due to the theories that ice crystals can form in the blood of the fish, causing a painful death. I am not convinced that theory is even true but it's not worth the risk to me.

 

[fluttermoth]

The best way (and the only one recommended by vets in the UK, apart from an overdose of a veterinary fish anaesthetic) is an overdose of clove oil (which is also an anaesthetic for fish, in smaller doses).

You can buy it from a chemist shop, or online (it can be used for toothache).

You will need;

clove oil (sometimes called clove bud oil)
a container large enough for the fish you need to euthanise (one you won't need to use again; the smell of the clove oil lingers terribly)
a small, screw top jar (again, one you won't need again)


What you do;

Take a measured amount of water from the fish's tank and put in your large container. Take a small amount of that water, and put in your jar.

Catch the fish, and put it in the large container.

Add 30 drops of clove oil per litre of water into the jar, put the lid on and shake it well; it'll go white.

Slowly pour the clove oil/water mix from the jar into the container with the fish in. It'll be unconscious within a minute or so and will have stopped breathing very soon after.

 

[scotty]

i use the brick and bag method,not for the squeamish,but very quick

 

[Liz xty]

I'm pleased someone started this thread, it's useful / interesting to know what to do if the occasion ever arises!
As an aromatherapist, I have clove bud oil in my kit, so will take note of that method.
Thanks

 

[Yanks15]

Before knowing about Clove oil, I would set a bowl of water in the freezer until it skinned ice over the water. Crack the ice and drop the fish in. The few times I've had to do this, the fish stopped moving almost instantly. But I do like the concept of Clove oil now that I know about it.


Steve

 

[comocrayfish5]

Before knowing about Clove oil, I would set a bowl of water in the freezer until it skinned ice over the water. Crack the ice and drop the fish in. The few times I've had to do this, the fish stopped moving almost instantly.

i used to use that with small fish but i found at times that it would not always kill them immediately

 

[thumpersrx]

A company called Vet Ark have a product called Aqua- Sed. It is an anaesthetic for fish, but used at 4 times the dose it can be used for euthanasia. I have always used clove oil, but I worry about not using enough,so I got a bottle of Aqua- Sed.
I've only had to use it once so far only on a very sick Guppy, and it was really good. The little guy stopped moving almost instantly.
I think it's a brilliant product to have on standby .

 

[daizeUK]

Very useful to know, thanks for the detailed instructions Fluttermoth.

 

[Tizer]

a knife, lop off its head.

 

[Liz xty]

a knife, lop off its head.

I'd read this once before, to severe the spinal cord at 'neck' level. BUT they're hardly going to lay still whilst you line up the chopper are they? I'm not good at cutting up dead meat, so don't think I could manage a flapping friend on the chopping board! 8-(

 

[techen]

Lots or different ways, I used the freezing and clove before and both have worked for me. Better doing something rather than nothing.

 

[fish+peace]

Its funny how compasion seems be be indicated by size and intellect - i mean you wouldn't brick your dog or cut its head off, but because a fish seems to show no emotion it feels ok.

What about isolating it and letting it die natrually - i wonder how many actually make a fuil recovery (unless there are physically irrepairable)

 

[daizeUK]

I guess you would only euthanase if there is a good deal of pain and no chance of recovery. I wouldn't advocate a slow natural death under these circumstances, in the same way that you don't leave a dog or cat to die in pain. It's much harder to tell when a fish is in pain, but I don't doubt that they feel it, even if they can't show it.

 

[fluttermoth]

Its funny how compasion seems be be indicated by size and intellect - i mean you wouldn't brick your dog or cut its head off, but because a fish seems to show no emotion it feels ok.

What about isolating it and letting it die natrually - i wonder how many actually make a fuil recovery (unless there are physically irrepairable)

I see what you mean, but we do take cats and dogs to be euthanised; if vets could euthanise things like neon tetras, then that would be great, but it's not very practical or economical!

Isolating things is a good idea, and many fish do recover, but there are some cases where you know the fish isn't going to pull through, or it's clearly suffering, or even, to go back to shoaling fish like neons, the stress of being separated from the shoal to prevent diseases spreading, make home euthanisia the best option.

Personally I find knowing that I can painlessly destroy a fish, if the worst comes to the worst, a great relief; in the past I've had to watch fish clearly suffering, and it's an awful, distressing thing, both for the owner and the fish.

I think every fishkeeper should keep a bottle of clove oil handy for those times.

'Bricking' or decapitation are probably good alternatives, if you have the stomach for it and can do it properly; I know I'd be too shaky from weeping to be able to