How do I kill of a sick fish humanely ?

[af330i]

I have a puffer who looks like he is going to die for the last few days. He won't eat any food, he sits at the bottom of the hospital tank and once in a while moves.
he had ick (display tank is in hyposalinity for past 3 weeks) but hwe developed cotton/pop eye.
I started meds on him and I know it is a matter of time for him to go ... plus 2 of my bangaii cardinels are so ick covered and are breathing sooooo heavy (also in the QT) that I feel VERY sorry for them. They really look like they are all suffering.
I want to let the puffer go ... what can I do ... a garbage disposal is out of the question
thanks

 

[yimmy]

that situation would suck...with freshwater fish(goldfish) they go down the toilet. I would put it into a QT and wait unless anyone else has opinions. There was a person who said they put motor oil into their tank but that just seems wrong. Sorry to hear about this good luck
Jimmy

 

[kolizion]

place him in a ziplock bag with enough swimming water, and set him in the freezer...
I have been told by a few different pet stores this is prolly the easiest, humain way to kill a fish....

 

[anthropo]

Originally Posted by Kolizion
place him in a ziplock bag with enough swimming water, and set him in the freezer...
I have been told by a few different pet stores this is prolly the easiest, humain way to kill a fish....
i was goin to say the same thing except in a container of some kind, reason this is a humain way to kill a fish is it slows their heart rate down, they fall asleep and then their heart stops a few minutes later.

 

[speg]

Actually that freezing method was found to be very painful to fish. Freezing fish will cause them extreme pain before they ultimately die.
Here is a small article in a book I have.
Disposing of Fish humanely
At some point in your fishkeeping career, you may find it necessary to dispatch a fish because of illness or old age. If a sick fish is beyond saving, the best thing is to dispose of it humanely. If you can bring yourself to do it, the quickest method is to sever the spinal cord behind the head with a sharp knife. Aternatively, obtain the fish anaesthetic MS222 from a veterinary surgeon or pharmacist and leave the patient in a solution of this for several hours. Never flush a fish down the lavatory, throw it on the floor or place it alive in the freezer. Freezing affects the capillary blood vessels just under the skin, causing the fish great pain before it loses consciousness.

 

[yimmy]

Yeah I agree with the person above me...freezing it would hurt...imagine yourself being put into a freezer to die.

 

[tormented]

Several years ago I had a freshwater discus that had been so devoured by another fish that he had lost all fins, to the point of him looking like he was half prepared for dinner. I put him in a plastic bag and slammed him against a wall. Instant death.
Of course you have to do it with enough force or its not instant.
WHat a depressing thread.

 

[ssweet1]

I have heard clove oil makes them go to sleep painlessly. Boiling water would be quick also but I cant even bring myself to do lobsters that way, Carrie

 

[bunnyl99]

How long does it take them to die if you flush them down the toilet?

 

[reefnut]

I have great respect for anyone that is concerned enough about the suffering of their pets to humanely euthanize them.
Thank you Speg for bringing that to our attention... I would have said the same thing as the others before reading your post. I have always heard the freezer was the best way.
The only advise I can give is to make it quick... at this point it's not about how we feel about things, it's what will be the easiest for the animal.
Do not flush a live fish... depending on the septic system it could live for a while and who knows what will finally cause its death.

 

[speg]

I personally cannot come to do anything at all to a dying fish... other than let it have every chance at life it can get.
I guess im just a wuss.

 

[aredmon]

I know it sounds horrible but we have a family friend who is a vet. My brother had a freshwater fish that was looking its age after having him awhile. He wouldn't let any one flush him and the vet told my brother that it is horrible to watch but a hammer really hard to the noggin would do the trick and it wouldn't feel a thing. Just a nasty way to go but painless.

 

[yimmy]

I feel really bad for you...I would give it the best chance...even though it might be bad for us just think about what is good for it.

 

[bang guy]

Use a large sharp knife or hatchet to sever the spine just behind the gill plate.

 

[diane4]

I would have a hard time cutting the head off of my fish I loved. There has to be an almost equally humane method that doesn't tear the owner apart either. boy thats a tough one, I am sorry to hear he isn't well. Are you sure there is no hope for him. Have you tried reducing his salt.
When my DF puffer had ich, I removed the live rock and put it into a QT tank, and then did the hypo routine for my puffer in his tank. If a fish already is stressed with ich and it is moved to a QT tank, I think it stresses them out further, and that in turn reduces their imunity and ability to fight anything they have going on.
I never used carbon or chemicals, just hypo in the main display tank, where the fish did not have to endour the stress of moving. It worked for me and I would recommend it.
I will pray for your little guy, whatever his future holds. And a hug to you too.

 

[1journeyman]

Speg, what book is that in? I know I own the book cause I read that too, but now I can't find it.
As for putting a pet down... I'll never do it again... I took our family Sheltie to the vet.. it was 14+ years old, congenital heart failure... they had drained the fluid off of his heart twice, kidneys were failing, etc. vet said there was nothing else that could be done.
So I took it to the vet. Held it for a couple of hours before I could get the nerve up to tell the vet I was ready (the office had been closed for close to an hour at this point).. so I laid across him petting him while they did the IV and then the medicine that killed him..
Needless to say I've spent a lot of time thinking about that... it's a personal opinion, but like I said for me I'll never do it again (at least I hope not.. I hope I never face that again). Not for a dog, cat, ferret, fish, etc. An animal doesn't really understand life and death imho. All an animal understands is survival. We can end it's suffering sure, but by doing that we are taking away it's life. "Life" is all that an animal has... I've never seen an animal badly injured just "give up". A mortally shot deer can run for 100's of yards before it falls (I come from a family of hunters... conservation conversations at the Christmas Dinner are always fun...), some species of fish will struggle until they die when hooked, a bird with a broken wing still feeds, etc.
Death is brutal. Hope your fish each recover!

 

[slugger]

sorry bout the fish
i had a wrasse that was incredibly sick, i thought he would die overnight, i tried two medicines simultaneously and he was back and swiminning around and eating the next day. truly a miracle recovery.
if he truly won't recover, i agree with all that said sever the spinal cord...i read that several places as well. i know it sounds uncivilized and cruel...but decapitating the poor fellow quickly would probably be the fastest way...i have a feeling that boiling/freezing/slamming into walls would be quite painful
i feel bad for you...i never had the courage to do that to my fish...but if you thinks it would be in the fish's best interests...good luck
sorry again

 

[speg]

The book is 'Complete Encyclopedia of the Saltwater Aquarium' By Nick Dakin, Foreword by Julian Sprung. That info is in the disease section of the book.

 

[chipmaker]

MIght be due to the fact we raise cows and chickens now, and if need be I put them down, so I really do not have a problem disposing of a fish. A swift whack with a knife and sever the head will be very very quick, or if that bothers you, get a container with water in it, place fish in the container, and add a couple of drops of clove oil. Swish water around, and within 2 or 3 minutes fish should basically roll over or get inactive. At this point add more clove oil. Clove oil is used as an anesthetic n goldfish and koi and works on other fish as well......Its done quite frequently by folks with koi so they can scope their fish for parasites. ONce fish is anesthetised, place container in freezer, or just aloow fish to eventually go totally out under the clove oil....I have read a lot of articles and attended lots of meetings dealing with koi, and it seems to be the consensus fish may have a nerveous system, but its not as complex as a human or a mamals system is....so its doubtfull they feel pain like we do, and their reactions are more from being in a different environment or restrained, when they flop around and not from any pain. But then again it all depends on who wrote the article as there are arguments that say they do have a pretty complex nerveoous system. Use the clove oil if your squimish about Euthanizing it but do not flush it down the toilet while its still alive. If you can flush it you can humanely kill it...

 

[reefnut]

Death is brutal but living in pain and suffering every day, every hour, every minute can be pretty brutal also. Believe me, I know...