What the most humane way to euthanize a fish? (1 Viewer)

[Jason Adams]

I remember when I had a goldfish, and I put a small albino catfish in. BIG mistake. Within two days the goldfish was missing most of his scales, and his fins looked gnawed on. And after that day, he stuck onto the spout that leads to the water filtration system, which means he was dead, basically.

 

[Mark Dubbelboer]

i've always heard (well read) that it's bad to flush fish down the toilet. I know it's what we used to do when I was a kid, but often the fish die of a disease and the logic is you don't want the disease to remain in the water system.
not a problem for cities with water filtration, but some nearby rural areas may not have the same/or any level of water treatment.

 

[Ryan Tsang]

I have a 33gal tank with a Fluval 204. I wasn't knowledgeable when I first got fish. I housed the severum with a couple of Convicts in a 20gal with a hang-on-the-back filter. Over the years, I learned more and more, and now I am quite interested into taking it to another level.
Hate to say it but with the passing of the severum and the giving away of the the others, I am excited about the opportunity to setup an aquarium that I really want.
It was tough to do that before.

I'm keeping my eye in the used market for a new tank. (There's so many there, it's silly to buy new from a local fish shop.) I like the possibility of 100+ gal tank with an Oscar and a pair of Tinfoil Barbs and a pleco of some sort. I also like Pacus but I don't have the room or time for a 200gal tank!

 

[Brian Johnson]

Actually, a nice wet batter & a frying pan sounds good.


Seriously. If you can't handle a fish or two (or four) dieing then don't get into the fish tank hobby.
I've had at least 3 die in the few months since I've started. (which was only a few months ago)

I've learned the hobby involves more than a tank & water. You have to turn into a junior chemist to learn the quality of the water, keep it at set temperature, partial water changes twice a month, etc,etc.
It's more involved than most people (like me) think it is.
I've really enjoyed my tank so far & can see it becoming a life-long hobby.

P.S. I still stand by my original statement & the topic of this thread. Best way to kill the fish is cut the head off.
Since I'm also a fisherman, I have no problem with this method.

 

[Seth Paxton]

I had to freeze one a few months back. Then a month or 2 later the thermostat in my ciclid tank broke and ended up killing all but 1 (and the 2 pleco's which are like tanks of course). My wife woke me up to "the fish are dead". She was quite upset and has bonded with the one surviving rainbow ciclid (which is now all B&W stripes with little color and named Keebler by her before the incident even).


Anyway, it sucked putting the fish in the freezer, but I felt sick watching him slowly die in the tank. I had always heard that letting their body functions just slow down was the best way to let them pass.


Like Ryan the one good thing about losing most of my ciclid tank was that I was able to then just do a total overhaul and the tank looks much better and is much healthier I think.

Now if I can only get going on my first foray into salt with my 55 gallon. I'm still nervous about that project.

 

[Claude M]

a blender, it will go fast

 

[Sam Posten]

Not sure why, but this thread made me think of:

Robert Frost (1874–1963). Miscellaneous Poems to 1920. 1920.

2. Fire and Ice

(From Harper’s Magazine, December 1920.)

SOME say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice, 5
I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Sorry ya lost your pet!
Sam

 

[Peter Burtch]

Hi Ryan,

Indeed- that's a little on the small side for a severum. It's nice to be able to upgrade to a larger tank since usually larger tanks require less maintenance (contrary to what most people think). It's a more stable body of water which helps a great deal IME.

If you want I can send a few links to Canadian fish/cichlid clubs. That's the best way to find used equipment on the cheap in my experience. Looking in the want ads is always good, but getting involved with a club allows you to network with other hobbyists as well. Luckily there are plenty of other nice smaller cichlid species which would be perfect for your 33g until you are ready to upgrade. If you want some recommendations just let me know.

Try contacting the Aquarium Society of Winnipeg
http://www.asw.ca/Aquarium_Society_o...nnipeg_-4.html

There's also the Canadian Cichlid Association
http://www.cichlidae.ca/

Spencer Jack would be a good person to contact about fish & tanks- he has spoken at my local club's meetings (link=
http://www.gcca.net

best,
Pedro (fellow cichlid nut)

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

If I had a dollar for every fish I have had die on me in the past few years, I'd be a very rich man. At first, I would try to do the humaine thing and chop their heads off, but I came to realise that some of these fish area lot more resilient than you would think. Now, I usually let nature run its course. I have fish that should have been dead months ago still doing their thing, even if in a limited capacity.

Having convicts that breed like rabbits on steroids has left me with a very large collection of fish, even after killing off hundreds at a time through this or that disaster.

 

[Ryan Tsang]

When I do it, I'll do it "properly." I wouldn't want to be left with fish that aren't compatible with what I really have my heart set on, or left with two tanks to take care of. Thanks for the links. I shall keep them in mind.

You're right about less maintanence for a larger tank.

 

[alan halvorson]

There's always the trusty "Bass-o-matic", as featured on Saturday Night Live many years ago

 

[Kevin M]

IMO the point most of the time in these situations is not as focused on ending the animals suffering as much as it is in ending the owners suffering...consciously or not.

 

[JamesMH]

I have had to kill a few fish too. I put them in a big bowl of water with ice cubes, it slows their system down, then eventually stops it. At this point they are not dead, just stopped. I saw on tv where they fedex injured fish in dry ice, they can last like that suspended for a few days.
Then I stamp on them with a big boot several times, or run it over. Sounds bad, it stop them suffering.

 

[Robert_eb]

Your right on that one.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Yup. :frowning:

Still say taking a knife to 'em is the best/quickest way. Although it's not the easiest thing to do...

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

I found out just how much the other day.

My wife and I have a small-ish tank. Originally we started with white cloud minnows, then we got some spotted cory cats (which I thought were gorgeous and goofy looking). Things were going well, so we asked at the fish store what we could get next that would play nice with what we had already.

They suggested rainbow sharks. So, we got two of them. First night, one of them jumped out of the tiny hole where the heater enters the top of the tank and perished. Then the remaining one began terrorizing the other fish, until one by one they all died with stress-related symptoms. Thanks a lot, fish store. So we went to another place to talk to them about it. The new guys were totally not surprised that the rainbow shark had been such a pain. However, since he was thriving and quite attractive, we didn't want to get rid of him, so we got another rainbow shark and a 4" pleco, at their recommendation.

The pleco was totally magnificent -- sharks would come to bother him and he'd raise his big fin and they'd skitter away like fraideycats.

Then one night I came home and couldn't find the pleco. After looking for about ten minutes I started to uproot the decor in the tank. Nope, he was gone. Checked the top of the tank, and the mesh covering the hole where the rainbow shark had escaped had been bent back. Geez.

So I started checking the floor, behind the tank, everywhere. No sign of him. We searched for over an hour. Eventually we found him in a bucket on the floor five feet from the tank. But the bucket wasn't empty -- the crazy pleco had jumped into a bucket filled with acupuncture needles. Okay, it's not as bad as you're picturing, because the needles were all still sealed in their packets.

I took all the boxes of needles out of the bucket and sadly went to dispose of our magnificent pleco. Then he moved. He had been out of the tank at least 90 minutes at this point. Well, heck, he was supposed to be tough, so I dropped him back into the tank. He immediately sprang to life, and swam around at top speed, banging into the walls a bunch of times. His eyes were all cloudy, so I figured he was blind. And his fins were a real mess, especially the tail -- shredded apart. But he was alive.

We had some additive that had come with the tank that contains aloe that says it's for helping damaged fins repair themselves, so I added the recommended amount to the tank.

That was three days ago. As of this morning, his eyes are normal looking (and he is reactive to light -- he hides), his fins are almost back to normal (he's raising and pulling down his top fin again, and while it's still a little ragged, it appears almost whole) and he's regained his colour, especially on his belly which had gone very pale. In fact, the only thing that looks wrong with him is a little pale patch near his tail, but it has been slowly darkening. All that in three days! And I was prepared to get rid of him...good thing he flopped when he did.

So Mr. Pleco appears to have survived 1) as little as 90 minutes to as much as six hours out of the water, and 2) a five foot jump into a box of needles.

Now there's a rock on top of the mesh by the heater.

 

[Cees Alons]

Great story, Aaron!


Cees

 

[Tony Whalen]

Indeed! Great story! Gotta love plecos!

I can't believe that some fish store suggested adding Rainbow sharks to what basically sounded like a community tank... what twits! At least you are enjoying the sharks now!

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

Yeah, they even had the little green "Community Fish" sticker on the tank.

The sharks sure are pretty, tho'.

 

[Tom Meyer]

damn, someone beat me to it >..





losing a pet sucks. sorry about your loss.