# The Best way to euthanize a fish?



## -={Nexus}=- (Nov 23, 2004)

my gf works in a genetics lab with zebra fish and she tells me the best way to deal with a situation where you know the fish is going to die is to put them in the freezer

just wondering your opinions.


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

a sharp crack to the head


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Smash em in the head with a hammer, hard as you can. Best to put the fish in a ziplock bag first.

The freezer method I don't like, since when is freezing to death a good way to go? You hear "oh the fish's body just slows down and it dies" well that's what happens to people and I don't hear freezing to death being a common way people want to go.

I think the most humane method possible is overdosing the fish with clove oil. It's an anesthetic used on people's gums and commonly used with puffers to knock them unconscious to clip their teeth. The fish just basically goes to sleep


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## Wolfman (Mar 5, 2003)

The most humane manner in which to assist your fish in passing away would have to be to place them in a bucket and keep adding ice to the water, until it slowly passes away.


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## -={Nexus}=- (Nov 23, 2004)

elTwitcho said:


> Smash em in the head with a hammer, hard as you can. Best to put the fish in a ziplock bag first.
> 
> The freezer method I don't like, since when is freezing to death a good way to go? You hear "oh the fish's body just slows down and it dies" well that's what happens to people and I don't hear freezing to death being a common way people want to go.
> 
> ...


interesting....

yah well apparently that freezing technique is lab protocol. which adheres to some animal rights laws.

haha i know i shouldn't be laughing about this... but my celestial goldfish which i've had forever in my 10 gal is dfeinitely close to dying... and there's no way in hell i could bash him over the top of his head because his eyes are looking straight up at me.

any suggestions?


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Freezing I just don't trust to be painless. I'd overdose the water with clove oil, the fish will just go to sleep


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## 94NDTA (Jul 14, 2003)

I was told by many fish people that freezing is actually inhumane. It actually forms ice crystals inside of it that puncture the organs and kill it that way. Correct me if I'm wrong.


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## heffer2028 (Oct 10, 2004)

id put my fish in a bucket of liquor.... at least he'll die feeling good.


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## Wolfman (Mar 5, 2003)




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## 4cmob (Nov 21, 2004)

heffer2028 said:


> id put my fish in a bucket of liquor.... at least he'll die feeling good.
> [snapback]802303[/snapback]​


hell yeah


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## NegativeCamber (Nov 29, 2004)

*Assuming the fish is small enough -- just flush him!!!







*


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## -={Nexus}=- (Nov 23, 2004)

ha, i like the liquor suggestion... maybe throw some other narcotics in there.. he'll be one happy lil fish.... a little costly though i'm thinkin









and flushing.... always been against that.... the piss the sh*t... just not pleasant...

i have a pellet gun.... though people might think i'm enjoying it and it'd be messy.

where do i get clove oil?


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## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

lwrlevel said:


> *Assuming the fish is small enough -- just flush him!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


flushing fish doesn't actually kill them instantly.. they still suffer in the water, and they die later on when they're flopping around in some sh*t in the sewers. i have heard of cases when fish thrash in the containers when they are in the freezer. i personally would use either the clove oil or the hammer. it's a quick death with the hammer..


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## Fido (May 21, 2003)

I would say a HARD blow to the head. Tho a thing I noticed, chopping the fish head off doesnt kill its


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2004)

If you can bring yourself to do it then the hammer is the best way to go! And yes the bag would be essential unless you want to be wearing fish insides. You know thats instant. With most fish hold the tail and wack it on a surface is the usual way, for most. Bloody tough skulls on a large P though.


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## Chunker-2000 (Jan 17, 2004)

club soda (whatever the hell that is carbonated water?) and then put them in the freezer. My fishy books (about 15 of them) tell me to do that. Or strike them on the head. Like if you have ever goen salmon fishing the guy you go with takes this thing and smakes them on the head and PLOP they are dead.


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## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

try this..................


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## Atlanta Braves Baby! (Mar 12, 2003)

Quick blow to head is the best way


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## Gordeez (Sep 21, 2003)

Filo said:


> I would say a HARD blow to the head. Tho a thing I noticed, chopping the fish head off doesnt kill its
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It does, but there Nerves still twitch and move.


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## xplosivelikec4 (May 10, 2004)

the way i do it is i put a fish in a double zip lock bag and smack him against a wall, floor or something hard. all you hear is a pop and its all over... ive done it with several fish that developed dropsy. its pretty quick and ALWAYS double bag!!! i had betta guts all over my face once.


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## CHOMP (Nov 6, 2004)

fish have no pain receptors, so it doesn't matter if you smash them or freeze them.


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## syd (Nov 6, 2004)

thats stupid then why do they scratch themselves when a parasite is biting them


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## CHOMP (Nov 6, 2004)

> REACTIONS TO INJURY ARE PRESENT IN ALL FORMS OF ANIMAL LIFE BUT THESE REACTIONS DO NOT MEAN THAT PAIN IS EXPERIENCED-IT IS NOT NECESSARY FOR A NOCICEPTIVE STIMULUS TO BE CONSCIOUSLY EXEPERIENCED FOR A BEHAVIORAL REACTION TO OCCUR


fish don't have the brain systems necessary to experience pain


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## -={Nexus}=- (Nov 23, 2004)

yah but nor does that mean that they dont' experience pain.

you can never "Know" if a fish is experiencing pain via scientific method.
can make theories and hypothesis but you don't Know.


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## -={Nexus}=- (Nov 23, 2004)

heh, and we all know what happens when one ass-u-me.s


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

i like the mini base ball bat, works quite well :nod:


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

I have this article linked at OPEFE. Might help.


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## JAC (Jan 19, 2004)

I think the hammer is a good way to do it, you obviously have to do it right with one hit. Drugging them until they fall asleep is probably good too, would ether work on fish?


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## mrspikes (Aug 10, 2004)

there are many methods of killing fish. freezing fish IS humane because the fish is cold blooded. It is true that their organs slow down and eventually stop all together. You have to remember that cold blooded and warm blooded creatures are very different. for example, when a turtle hybirnates he freezes mostly. He can freeze up to a certain point to where his organs operate verrry slowly. There is nothing wrong with freezing fish. And yes hitting them in the head with a baseball bat works good too. At the lake we use minature baseball bats (clubs) with weights in the middle for an extra blow. And no a fish is not still alive when you cut off its head, its just its nerves. Kind of like a human body twitching shortly after a person dies.


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## Natt King Shoal (Aug 7, 2004)

20% rubbing alcohol & 80% water. Similar effects as the clove oil post above.


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## tanmuscles (Feb 18, 2004)

What about a bucket of half bleach, half water. Would that do it?


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## shutter13 (Jun 23, 2004)

if i had to... i would use the clove oil method... sounds relatively peaceful


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## mschulz (Oct 21, 2004)

For those of you who don't feel like using some manner of physical trauma (hammer, smashing, cutting) to euthanize their fish, here are some options available to you.

First of all, DO NOT use water and alcohol, freezing, asphyxiation (taking it out of water), or boiling. None of these is generally accepted as a humane way to kill a fish (and you do want to be humane, right?).

The most humane and effective way to euthanize a fish is by an overdose of an approved anasethetic. The two most common are Benzocaine or Tricaine methanesulphonate (FinQuel or MS-222) or Clove Oil. FinQuel is available at some specialty aquatic shops, and an effective dose for our purposes is around 300mg/L.

Personally, I prefer the clove oil method. Clove oil is readily available at many health shops (make sure it's pure clove oil, not clove oil mixed with some other oil like cinnamon) or on eBay. A little goes a long way.

In order to use clove oil, take a small amount of tank water (about a cup) and add around 10mL of clove oil. Put it in a jar and SHAKE IT until it turns a milky white. Place your fish in a bowl with about a gallon of tank water in it, add the white mixture, and cardiac failure should occur painlessly within about a minute. You should leave the fish in the solution for an hour or so, just to make sure.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do NOT mix the Clove Oil with alcohol such as vodka. This is not only a waste of perfectly good alcohol, but it will cause your fish to thrash violently before succumbing to acute alcohol poisoning.


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## goingbig14 (Oct 13, 2003)

uhhh


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## Papagorgio (Mar 30, 2004)

One of my piranha recently became sick and the others were eating at him. It was clear there was no help for him so I made the tough choice and decided to freeze him. I wish I would have known about the clove oil or thought about the alcohol option. The poor bastard lived in my freezer for much longer than I thought. After I said my goodbyes and god bless I was surprised to still find him alive even after 30 minutes. For me It was far to long and drawn out. That was a sad sad evening. I didn't have a name for him but he will always be remembered as "Polar".


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