Methods To Euthanize Fish

[Ch4rlie]

That looks like decent stuff Sophie, bit pricey though but worth having in cupboard just in case.

 

[KirkyArcher]

It's not like I suggested putting it in a blender Sophie

 

[daizeUK]

That's a very interesting product Sophie.
It also provides interesting information about euthanasing:
 

Many species of fish will 'react' to the presence of an anaesthetic by increased activity, this then makes them take the drug in more quickly, that increase in activity is the same whether being anesthetised or euthanased so we recommend going straight to the euthanasia dose if that is the intention.

 
I've also noticed this 'reaction' with respect to clove oil. I have wondered whether it was better to add a full dose at once or increase slowly and this would seem to indicate that a full dose is best.

The active ingredient of clove oil is eugenol and the active ingredient of aqua-sed is 2-phenoxyethanol.  Eugenol is faster acting but as far as I can tell from various medical journals, both are equally suitable for anaesthesia or euthanasia of fish.

 

[Sophie]

That looks like decent stuff Sophie, bit pricey though but worth having in cupboard just in case.

I've never used it on my own fish but at work we use it also and can confirm it is very quick and apart from bagging it, it's seemingly 'stress free'.
 
 

It's not like I suggested putting it in a blender Sophie

 
Mm fish paste..
 
 

That's a very interesting product Sophie.
It also provides interesting information about euthanasing:
 

Many species of fish will 'react' to the presence of an anaesthetic by increased activity, this then makes them take the drug in more quickly, that increase in activity is the same whether being anesthetised or euthanased so we recommend going straight to the euthanasia dose if that is the intention.

 
I've also noticed this 'reaction' with respect to clove oil. I have wondered whether it was better to add a full dose at once or increase slowly and this would seem to indicate that a full dose is best.

The active ingredient of clove oil is eugenol and the active ingredient of aqua-sed is 2-phenoxyethanol.  Eugenol is faster acting but as far as I can tell from various medical journals, both are equally suitable for anaesthesia or euthanasia of fish.

 
I've heard Clove Oil being spoken of as a painful poison, I am currently looking into it and will report back.

 

[daizeUK]

Please do, I've also heard concerns that clove oil is painful but this seems to be mostly based on the observation that clove oil can sting human eyes so there is fear it might irritate the fish too.
 
So far I've only come across evidence that indicates clove oil is not harmful to fish, for example this research paper indicates that clove oil reduces stress in fish and therefore recommended to aid fish transportation.  e.g. http/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21972065

 And this paper mentions that the active ingredient in your aqua-sed is actually more irritating to human eyes than clove oil!
 

Clove oil is a naturally occurring compound obtained from clove plants Eugenia aromatic or Eugenia caryophylatta. The active substance, eugenol, comprises from 80% to 90% of clove oil. Clove oil’s advantages include low price, relatively little adverse reactions for both fish and amphibians and safety for staff (Svobodova et al. 2007).
2-phenoxyethanol (ethylene glycol monophenyl ether) has been suggested as a good anaesthetic for short term immobilisation of fish (Ortuno et al. 2002; Tsantilas et al. 2006). The advantages of 2-phenoxyethanol include short anaesthesia induction phase, rapid recovery and low price (Weyl Original Paper Veterinarni Medicina, 57, 2012 (5): 245–250 246 et al. 1996). Compared to clove oil, 2-phenoxyethanol is less safe for staff; in closed rooms it can cause skin and eye irritation in people (Svobodova et al. 2007).

from http/vri.cz/docs/vetmed/57-5-245.pdf

 

[ShinySideUp]

I am of the bag-and-brick fraternity. It's instant, clean and utterly painless. You just need to have the balls to do it when it's necessary; and it sometimes is.

 

[daizeUK]

I don't have balls but I could still brick a fish if necessary

I don't see any reason when it sounds so messy, though.
 
For anyone interested, I dug up this paper which tells you just about anything you could possibly want to know about eugenol (clove oil)
http/www.marinwater.org/documents/Chap6_CloveOil_8_28_08.pdf
 
It does mention that clove oil is a mild skin and eye irritant in humans but makes no mention of the sub-chronic effects on fish.  From what I've read so far, I'm fairly satisfied that clove oil is not prohibitively stressful for fish, at least not for the short time they are in contact with it during euthanasia procedure.

 

[*pete*]

The hassle of trying to net and uprooting plants and furnishings it would cause more stress and kill the poor little thing anyways.
 
I leave them alone to hideaway and fade peacefully.
 
Then the tank mates scoff the lot.

 

[KrystaK]

I was just wondering because, when I euthanized the 4 fish (2 guppies and 2 female Betta's - I had 5 in the tank at one point, now 2 with one showing signs of worms)
I put the fish in about .5 l of tank water and dumped a fair amount of clove oil in and while the guppies seemed to fade instantly the betta's both began going to the surface and actually trying to jump out of the water as if it hurt them - so I thought I would just check on here. 
The clove oil I got is just from a drug store. It wasn't even over the counter, just on a shelf....beside the wart medicine Though it coated the bottom of the container and we had to throw it out because no matter what we did it wouldn't come off. 
 
It came in a really small bottle, only about 20 ml (I probably dumped half of it in the .5 l of water because I haven't done this in so long.
 
I think the only other thing I'd try would be to smush them, but putting them in a plastic bag; assuming its like a ziplock bag, I would think dropping a brick on it would make the bag pop and get water everywhere....
 
I know well enough that I basically have to bleach everything that came into contact with the tank and get rid of the sand, I'm prepared for that, (I was actually planning on getting a new tank for x-mas) 
 
My biggest problem is that I have 2 BNP (One is over a year old) and 5 Panda corys who are all about a year old who seem perfectly fine, but who I know I can't keep, nor can I re-home them. And they all look perfectly healthy

 

[jasonh_000]

I have the same worms.  Hopefully I can get it out of my main tank.  I also can't find anything to cure my fish, and I don't have money to buy the supposed 'cure'.  i may have to euthanize fish as well.  Some have died because of the disease and it made me really sad.  Telling me to use clove oil doesn't help.  I don't know what it is, how to use it, and if it is really 'humane'.  Suffocating sounds painful.

 
http/www.amazon.com/NOW-Foods-Clove-Oil-ounce/dp/B002N0H36O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1387044577&sr=8-3&keywords=clove+oil
 
you get a small ziploc container with the tank water. you put 4 drops in there and swish it around. you drop the fish in and it either loses consiousness or dies pretty quickly. some of them fight for seconds, but in the end, it is
better than their suffering.   sometimes i have to add more drops.   after the fish is still i add rubbing alcohol to the water and let it sit for 10 minutes. i have only used this on fish that are 1-3 inches.  larger fish it might just make them sleep.
i'm sure you know by now you shouldnt add the drops to your entire tank   it would have taken a lot of the oil to be effective as well.
 
using clove oil seems like the quickest, most humane way. and when you have a special fish that wont get well, it's best to set him free when it's in a lot of pain.