humane way to kill fish

[sharky]

One of my clowns became sick recently with ich and another infection that appeared to be a fungus. My efforts to treat the tank (12g AP) with a sterilizer were unsuccessful, and I didn't have a quarantine set up for treatment with medication.

 

Yesterday it seemed fairly clear that the clown would not make it. It was nestled down against the bottom breathing very rapidly and having trouble controlling it's buoyancy. But I left it alone hoping it would recover. This morning it had died and was up against the filter intake.

 

So I'm wondering about some humane ways to kill a fish that is suffering. I've heard that putting them in water, and then placing the water in the freezer is fairly painless, but don't know whether this is true. Thoughts?

 

In the future, I plan to set up a quarantine. I'm not certain whether medicating him would have changed the outcome, but my guess is that would have worked better.

[monkeytrumpets]

My vertebrate physiology professor had us cut the spinal chord just behind the head. He said that it was the quickest, least painful way to euthanize the animal.

[jax]

In my fish diseases class we always dose with CO2 or place in an ice bath. The CO2 anetsitizes the animal before it dies. And the ice is quick and easy.

[paneubert]

I would wonder how quick and easy ice would be. Unless it was liquid propane or something really, really, really cold, I would assume it takes a while to freeze to death as a fish. I would stick with the chopping of the head, or the smashing with a hammer.

[Lizz85]

Temperature shock method. Get a bowl, fill it with ice cubes, put it in a freezer. Take it out when the water contains ice chips/chunks but isn't frozen (still liquidy). Take the fish out, and drop it in. The shock kills them instantly. Only other way I'd do it, would be to chop of the head, but that would involve you taking the fish out and handling it right before you do it.

 

I researched a bunch of ways and wrote an article about euthanasia on another website once. This seems the best way in my opinion.

[Jordon]

the most humane way to kill a fish is boyl water and after its boyled put the fish in the water. this kills them instantly.

[Tentacles]

the most humane way to kill a fish is boyl water and after its boyled put the fish in the water. this kills them instantly.

 

but its painful, in several fish books the most humane aka least painful for the fish is to put them in a dish of your tank water and put it into the freezer. the water slowly goes down in temperature and eventually they fall unconscious, sort of like simply going to sleep, then they pass.

[bigredreefer]

Finquil... Its a medicine that pet stores use when fish have suffered brain / swim bladder injuries and can no longer swim properly. Instructions on the bottle tell you the proper dosage.

 

RED

[Six]

the most humane way to kill a fish is boyl water and after its boyled put the fish in the water. this kills them instantly.

 

no, it doesn't. ive seen fish spash and struggle with this and it's more like torture than anything else. quite disturbing too.

 

RDT is the best method besides severing the spinal cord, which is a little too "hand on" for most people. RDT is Rapid Decelleration Therapy. It is a quick smack against a hard object that, if done correctly, kills the fish instantly.

 

of course, this isnt easy to do when the fish is a pet, but putting an animal out of its misery isn't easy in any form.

 

another poor way to kill a fish is the freezer. people like it b/c you dont have to look at the animal dying, but it's quite cruel if you know the details of how they die.

 

sharky, sorry your fish isnt going to make it. as long as you learn from what happenes, dont feel bad.

[er1c_the_reefer]

the most humane way is to put the fish in a bowl of water or whatever and into the freezer. if fish are like humans (the point of being humane right?), as it gets colder, it'll eventually fall asleep and not wake up. slow but least painful. if i had to have a natural method of dying, i'd choose to die that way. not burned, drowned, starved, etc.

 

but then again, fish aren't human so... boil them, temperatue shock them, smack them against something hard...

 

whatever happened to the good ol' toilet method? people now days make things way too hard on themselves... sheesh.

[Mickle]

^ Well don't argee with you.

I've heard an overdose of clove oil, there is also a specialist liquid mentioned earlier, I think its called phonexicol or somthing along those lines which slowly puts them to sleep.

Agree with six on the freezer method.

I think the simplest way is to bag the fish up in a very small amount of water, then double bag (important, trust me on that) and then whack the bag against a hard surface, making sure you do it hard enough.

It sounds like you tried to save him sharky, a quarentine is a great idea. It takes quite alot to overcome the fear of first euthanising a fish. If its for the best interests of the fish then it should be done but it is never easy.

Sorry about your loss

[wav3form]

I think just about any of these suggestions are much more humane than how fish die in the wild. Crushed to death by a whales stomach, chomped up by a shark or weird angler fish or something.

[FUGU!!!]

My vertebrate physiology professor had us cut the spinal chord just behind the head. He said that it was the quickest, least painful way to euthanize the animal.

Thats what I did with my chromis.....never agean.Too sad

[hollister_08]

Well the fastest way to killing a fish before they know they are even dead, is to drop them into a garbage disposale and turn it on..... they will never feel a thing.. we did that with the last clown that was just about dead....

[HecticDialectics]

no, it doesn't. ive seen fish spash and struggle with this and it's more like torture than anything else. quite disturbing too.

 

RDT is the best method besides severing the spinal cord, which is a little too "hand on" for most people. RDT is Rapid Decelleration Therapy. It is a quick smack against a hard object that, if done correctly, kills the fish instantly.

 

of course, this isnt easy to do when the fish is a pet, but putting an animal out of its misery isn't easy in any form.

 

another poor way to kill a fish is the freezer. people like it b/c you dont have to look at the animal dying, but it's quite cruel if you know the details of how they die.

 

sharky, sorry your fish isnt going to make it. as long as you learn from what happenes, dont feel bad.

 

Agreed on the RDT.

 

I RDT'd a baby quail with a shovel on some hard dirt when I was little. I buried it with the same shovel. It had a gimp leg and the other babies picked at it, hit its spine, and screwed it up good. Freezing doesn't just slowly "put it to sleep". The fish knows its cold because fish have nerves. Doesn't take much to think about. Nerves sense heat and cold... Do you just go to sleep when you're cold? I doubt it. You probably start to shiver, stuff your hands in your arm pits, and curse at yourself for forgetting a jacket.

[clifford513]

[Ryan_H]

RDT all the way.

[monkeytrumpets]

Thats what I did with my chromis.....never agean.Too sad

 

It is indeed very sad. I've had to do the RDT method in lab with frogs before for a dissection. There was just something so disturbing about whacking a frog against the table...if you intend to dissect the animal later, as we did, it doesn't seem like such a stretch to go ahead and sever the spinal chord. I can, however, see how that would be difficult with a pet.

 

As far as putting it in the freezer though...it just seems to be an awfully slow way to go. I wouldn't want to slowly freeze to death.

[xJoshx]

RDT or if u want him around get a cup of salt table or sea your choice and mummify him!

[Six]

the most humane way is to put the fish in a bowl of water or whatever and into the freezer. if fish are like humans (the point of being humane right?), as it gets colder, it'll eventually fall asleep and not wake up. slow but least painful. if i had to have a natural method of dying, i'd choose to die that way. not burned, drowned, starved, etc.

 

but then again, fish aren't human so... boil them, temperatue shock them, smack them against something hard...

 

whatever happened to the good ol' toilet method? people now days make things way too hard on themselves... sheesh.

 

 

well, the freezer isnt horrible. kinda gross. the tiolet although is just sick. i wouldnt want to die next to this:

 

[Cesar]

whatever happened to the good ol' toilet method? people now days make things way too hard on themselves... sheesh.

 

[er1c_the_reefer]

if you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO go high tech, garbage disposal is the next step up from the toilet, i guess...

[clifford513]

well, the freezer isnt horrible. kinda gross. the tiolet although is just sick. i wouldnt want to die next to this:

 

Turd tango, if only for a few brief seconds

[Six]

Turd tango, if only for a few brief seconds

 

'nuttin like spinning down a hole with someones excrement. at least kill the fish before tossing it in the bowl!

 

if you would never poop on your fish, dont flush them!

 

 

i think if my neon goby is going to need put down, ill stick him in an ice cube. muhahaaaa...

[monkeytrumpets]

RDT or if u want him around get a cup of salt table or sea your choice and mummify him!

 

Yeah but if you mummify him someone will make a mediocre movie about it, followed by an even worse sequel, and everyone will end up with sand in their shorts.