What's the most humane way to euthanize an ill or old fish?

Question

This topic came up on another forum and it sparked a big controversy. I just want to see how many ways are there to humanely euthanize a ill fish. I do not like having to kill fish but I had to do it the other day and I didn't know what to do because I had never had to do it before. I heard mouth wash so I did that and now I know how inhumane that was and I feel very bad about it. So please if you have a good way just tell me. Thanks guys.

Answer 1

dont kill your fish i would just wait till it dies or give it away. =(

also its mean to force the fish to get killed!!!!!!! its like animal cruelty!!!!!!! >=(

Answer 2

Mouth wash is the method I use. It may cause some pain but it is cheaper and more effective then clove oil in my experience. The death is quick and easily done. Mouth wash is also more readily available in some homes...

Answer 3

If money is no object, I would have to say that the most humane way to euthanize a fish is with Finquel, a fish anesthetic/tranquilizer.  It costs about $20.00 for a 5 gram bottle and can be ordered online, here:

http://www.argent-labs.com/argentwebsite...

For those of us with budgets, another good recourse is clove oil.  It can be purchased at any herbal remedy store or most drugstores.  A few drops in a small container of water will put a small fish to sleep quickly and painlessly.  A few more drops will put it to sleep permanently.  Or you can  add alcohol for the death stroke, or pop it in the freezer.

For those that need a quick solution, and don't have or can't even afford clove oil, there's the deep-freeze method.  This is for tropical fish ONLY.  (Not to be used on coldwater fish).  You get some water down to near freezing (a skim of ice over the top, or to the point where ice cubes have just melted away) and then pop the fish in.  The temperature shock should put the fish's nervous system into temporary shut down and then you put the container into the freezer & the fish will hopefully die before it recovers its senses.  This is a fairly controversial method and only works for fairly small fish, which is why I prefer the above 2 methods, personally.

Answer 4

freezing your fish is the most humane way to kill your fish. visit this sight http://www.habitattitude.net/

Answer 5

no flushing a live fish is nothing but torture to the fish here is a website that I found very helpful with a suffering fish of my own........

http://www.geocities.com/tony2kuk/fishki...

edit llriffel I disagree when a fish is suffering sometimes the best way to deal with it is to put it out of it's misery if it is suffering for a long time it can be really hard to watch so I can't imagine how hard it is on the fish.....just like a dog who is so sick euthanizing is the most humane thing to do!

Answer 6

I think the best way is to put him in a ziploc bag with a bit of water and put it inside the freezer. The cold will start to slow their metabolism, and eventually stop their heart. It is one of the less cruel ways. My mom used to smash them on the head with the back of a knife, but it was gross and I don't think I could ever do something like that. But at least it was an instant death.

Edit: Any of you can disagree with my answer, but I know many good fish keepers who use this method, and it actually is NOT all that cruel. By the water slowly cooling it slowly shuts the fish down, and the fish don't feel any pain from it. Which is why you put in the bag with water, so that you're not making it suffocate as well. This is the cheapest and easiest method, not everybody keeps clove oil, and just costs money to buy.

Answer 7

I know this sounds terrible but we are human and we kill fish everyday to eat them!! Come on people do fish have a relationship with you or something!!

Answer 8

i bury mine in my zinnias.. fertilizer

Answer 9

try flushing it down toilet? sorry I can't help much

Answer 10

FLUSH IT!FLUSH IT!

i think that would be cuz ther gonna be in water

Answer 11

smash it with a hammer..it will die instantly. i flush my dead fish down the toilet, but one time one of my goldish got this wierd fungus so we seperated it from the others. we put some meds n the water but it didnt approve so we just smashed it b/c it was suffering and laying on the bottom of the tank

Answer 12

Clove oil is the best way to humanely kill a fish.  It is available over the counter as a toothache remedy at the drugstore.

Place the fish in a small cup of water and add 8-10 drops of the oil.  The fish will be anesthetized and stop breathing.  Leave it in the cup for at least an hour and then dispose of it in your flower bed as fertilizer.  Any fish would love to help flowers to grow.

Answer 13

well i normally just flushed them when i was little till i knew that all fish didnt go to the ocean when flushed

i would say to put a peice of cellophane over the tank or in a seperate small bowl with the fish to slowly deplete their oxygen and they will just slowly fall asleep and nto wake up

sadly i had to do something similar when i had lots of rats becuz the two females i was suppose to have bred and all of the rats had pnemonia and lots had cysts/tumors

its not like you can euthenize a fish

Answer 14

do NOT flush it.

do NOT freeze it.

do NOT air drown it.

for various reasons, the above are all cruel and flushing it can result in a major issue with the water ways.

i only know of two ways.

1) scramble it's brain. not very pleasant. it must be done swiftly. this involves grabing it out of the water and stabbing a pin through the back of it's brain. not for the squirmish. personally, i couldn't do this to one of my fish, particularly if i've had it for a long time.

2) euthanise it. put in in a jar or disposible cup. add a few drops of clove oil. once it's *asleep*, make sure it doesn't wake up again (yes, it is possible and it does happen) by adding straight vodka to the water. bury it.

i must stress that you should only EVER use these methods if you are absolutely positive nothing can be done to help it. even if it's floating on it's side, for example, it may be able to be cured by feeding it peas.

hope this helped :)

Answer 15

clove oil, i believe is the best. not expensive and it makes the fish numb. And overdose of clove oil will make the fish numb and no pain at all.

Now use vodka.. but if ur underaged, i guess the mouthwash idea might work.

the scariest one i ever heard was to chop its head off... (PLEASE DONT!)

Answer 16

call the Humane society... maybe they take fish.

Answer 17

some people say to freeze them I don't agree with this either think of sufacating and freezing at the same time

it is my beleif that you do not euthanize fish I look at it this way if you were old and ill would you want the hospital to give up on you and put you to sleep not by your choice but by theres

the simple truth is there is no nice way to kill a fish and it would be more humane to drop them into boiling water than it is to freeze them it would be a heck of a lot faster  

Answer 18

clove oil

Answer 19

Flush it down the toilet it's quick and painless but don't watch I don't like watching it.