Euthanize - freezer or clove

[Brian S]

Think I should euthanize a ignitus anthias - stupid uronema.

Which is preferred - ice cold bath or Clove oil? I've seen arguments for both.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Think I should euthanize a ignitus anthias - stupid uronema.

Which is preferred - ice cold bath or Clove oil? I've seen arguments for both.

I prefer to use clove oil in a bowl. I just slowly add drops until respiration stops. In a freezer, there will be some thrashing and I feel, more pain.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Only freeze what you plan to eat later

 

[Tired]

Clove oil, absolutely clove oil, though once it's stopped breathing you can freeze it to ensure death. Freezers are NOT humane ways to euthanize anything.

To euthanize a fish with clove oil, put some clove oil in a small bottle with tank water and shake it violently until the oil appears to be mixed in. Slowly add that to a container with the fish in it, until the fish becomes unresponsive, then leave it in the oil overnight. Alternately, wait for it to stop breathing, then freeze or crush it.

With a fish that's likely in agony (i.e. horribly injured), pithing should be considered. Physically destroy the brain as fast as possible. Tricky with fish, but it's what I do with lizards a cat has gotten. Put it on the sidewalk with a paper towel over it, then bring the flat side of a brick down on the head as hard as possible. Can't suffer if it has no brain.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Think I should euthanize a ignitus anthias - stupid uronema.

Which is preferred - ice cold bath or Clove oil? I've seen arguments for both.

Pics of fish?
If too far gone, I generally place in a ziplock and freeze until garbage day

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Clove oil is more humane than freezing, but MS-222 is the most recognized fish euthanasia drug (not readily available for home use though).
Jay

 

[Karen00]

I agree, clove oil.

 

[Karen00]

BTW: So sorry to hear this has happened. :-( We love our fishy friends like they're part of the family.

 

[Tired]

Pics of fish?
If too far gone, I generally place in a ziplock and freeze until garbage day

This should only be done with unconscious animals. Clove oil can get them there.

 

[Brian S]

Thanks!

 

[KrisReef]

Club soda!
Put the sick fish in a small container with aquarium water. Plastic bag is probably best?
Shake the bottle, put the screw top under water, open!
The carbonation will fill the water column with CO2.
Fish will black out very quickly. Death in a few minutes unless you allow it to revive in oxygenated water.

 

[Privateye]

MS-222 or a lethal blow to the head are considered humane forms of euthanasia. Clove oil is okay too. Freezing used to be considered humane, and it's better than suffering, but it does cause discomfort to the fish for a short time before its metabolism shuts down.

Club soda....this will work but you would need to add pH buffers to the water for it to be humane. Possibly oxygen as well. CO2 will drop the pH and the fish will feel like it's burning in acid if it isn't buffered. My hands have stung many days from using CO2 to sedate fish. If the oxygen level drops then you're just asphyxiating the fish too.

 

[KrisReef]

MS-222 or a lethal blow to the head are considered humane forms of euthanasia. Clove oil is okay too. Freezing used to be considered humane, and it's better than suffering, but it does cause discomfort to the fish for a short time before its metabolism shuts down.

Club soda....this will work but you would need to add pH buffers to the water for it to be humane. Possibly oxygen as well. CO2 will drop the pH and the fish will feel like it's burning in acid if it isn't buffered. My hands have stung many days from using CO2 to sedate fish. If the oxygen level drops then you're just asphyxiating the fish too.

CO2 is so quick it is amazing. MS-222 with CO2 is the cadillac method for fisheries biologists. If you don't leave the fish in the soup long and put it back in clean water the fish will revive and survive if you were tagging or measuring, etc.

 

[gbru316]

Club to the head and slice open the gills. Just like I do all my inshore/offshore fish.

Though, I assume you're not planning on eating your anthias so bleeding it out probably isn't necessary.

 

[exnisstech]

Agree with blunt blow. I typically take them out and slam them down on the concrete. Sounds mean but it's quick and I've never had to do it more than once.

 

[Tired]

Club soda....this will work but you would need to add pH buffers to the water for it to be humane. Possibly oxygen as well. CO2 will drop the pH and the fish will feel like it's burning in acid if it isn't buffered. My hands have stung many days from using CO2 to sedate fish. If the oxygen level drops then you're just asphyxiating the fish too.

CO2 euthanasia is really tricky to do in a humane way, and has the risk of causing excess suffering if done wrong. Clove oil is much easier.

Carrying a fish (in water) to a hard surface, then quickly removing it from the water and slamming it against something is also humane, but it's emotionally harder to do than clove oil. Bleeding out an UNCONSCIOUS animal is also humane, but, again, might be harder for someone who's never had to kill something. It also requires you to not hesitate in the slightest, which takes effort.

 

[gbru316]

Carrying a fish (in water) to a hard surface, then quickly removing it from the water and slamming it against something is also humane, but it's emotionally harder to do than clove oil. Bleeding out an UNCONSCIOUS animal is also humane, but, again, might be harder for someone who's never had to kill something. It also requires you to not hesitate in the slightest, which takes effort.

*grumble grumble* kids these days... *grumble* uphill both ways in the snow *more grumbles*

 

[anthonymckay]

There is nothing humane about a freezer... what the heck

 

[Tired]

The reason freezing was thought to be humane is because many cold-blooded animals go into topor when cooled, making them unable to suffer. That does happen. The problem is what they experience on the way there. Dropping a small fish into super-cooled water can cause instantaneous freezing, but that's something that'd be hard to manage outside a lab, and easy to screw up.

 

[GarrettT]

Most humane method?

Clove oil is really more for you than it is for the actual fish.