EMERGENCY: Need to euthanize fish!

[Shogun_FC]

Throw it really hard onto the ground...otherwise known as blunt trauma. Did that to a suffering goldfish once, wasnt pretty. Bleach would kill it instantly too.

I used to think bleach would kill a fish instantly, but turns out it wasn't the case for me. I had a silver dollar once that got sort of crushed as I was rearranging some rock work in the tank. It was obviously not going to survive as the whole rear side of the fish was nearly torn off. I quickly got a small cup of bleach and dropped him in, It was horrific.

The fish started twitching and spazzing out, then blood started oozing out from the gills... It was bad. Took a good 2 minutes for it to stop moving.

 

[bradlgt21]

Don't bleach, think about drowing in bleach and lighting yourself on fire, bleach burns fish's scales.

I have read up on a bunch of articles on here on stuff like this and while it sounds gross blunt force trama is quick and effective.

But the easiest way I found and my prefered method is freezing. But there is a right way to do it. Puting the fish in water in the freezer is painful to the fish and inhumane this is probably the one you read about. As the water freezes the ice forms crystals and is very painful to the fish.

The humane freezing method is take a glass or container and fill it with water, float a lot of ice cubes in it for a while or put it in the freezer. Pretty much get it as cold as possible even to the point of the surface freezing over. Break the frost off the top to expose the freezing water. Putting the fish in the water you are going from 70 degree water temps to 30's in a split second. It puts the fish in immediate shock, think jumping in cold water times 50. The fish doesn't suffer at all and has no pain. It's literally over in less then a second. Let the fish sit in the water for a while to be sure the fish's heart has completely stopped and dispose of him.

Just remember slow cold is what is painful, immediate cold leads to shock and immediate death.

 

[Shogun_FC]

Don't bleach, think about drowing in bleach and lighting yourself on fire, bleach burns fish's scales.

I have read up on a bunch of articles on here on stuff like this and while it sounds gross blunt force trama is quick and effective.

But the easiest way I found and my prefered method is freezing. But there is a right way to do it. Puting the fish in water in the freezer is painful to the fish and inhumane this is probably the one you read about. As the water freezes the ice forms crystals and is very painful to the fish.

The humane freezing method is take a glass or container and fill it with water, float a lot of ice cubes in it for a while or put it in the freezer. Pretty much get it as cold as possible even to the point of the surface freezing over. Break the frost off the top to expose the freezing water. Putting the fish in the water you are going from 70 degree water temps to 30's in a split second. It puts the fish in immediate shock, think jumping in cold water times 50. The fish doesn't suffer at all and has no pain. It's literally over in less then a second. Let the fish sit in the water for a while to be sure the fish's heart has completely stopped and dispose of him.

Just remember slow cold is what is painful, immediate cold leads to shock and immediate death.

I vote for this method, never thought about it but sure sounds good compared to others lol.

 

[derekp]

oh geez, dont bleach then. Ive never done it just been told it works. I guess it does work but not humanely. Ive always used an overdose of clove oil. I was just considering household items you might have.

 

[teigan666]

i never knew how the bleach would react i knew it would kill them but never knew how was just a guess sorry

 

[bradlgt21]

Clove oil still is the #1 choice if done properly. Because it's putting the fish to sleep, the whole process is peaceful. All the other humane ways are a quick shock of either the water or a blunt object. But many of us don't keep clove oil around and it's expensive and can become difficult to administer properly.

I had a bad batch of fish that all ended up dying one after another when I had them in quarentine. Every time I was sure one wasn't going to pull through I did the freezing water method. It appeared to be very quick and effective.

 

[Rbishop]

crap..."humane" and killing a non-human identity is a ridiculous thought....

 

[Treefork]

I don't think the idea of "humane" would be anthropomorphizing on animals...

humane
–adjective 1. characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, esp. for the suffering or distressed: humane treatment of horses.
—Synonyms
1. merciful, kind, kindly, kindhearted, tender, compassionate, gentle, sympathetic; benevolent, benignant, charitable.

 

[armyguy27587]

shock by cold water

 

[courtneypie]

I know you can do it with vodka, but people usually put them to sleep with clove oil first. Good luck; I'm sorry you're in this situation. Watching a pet die is definitely not fun.