Euthanasia

[Reefnoob84]

I've heard of alka seltzer. Shuts them down within seconds.

 

[tarpon]

Just a point to keep in mind--slow and stressful (for the fish) aren't the same thing.

Would you rather die slow or in an instant?

 

[KaylNeko]

Considering they're not aware of actually dying, let's toss that out and compare stress levels. I don't know if boiling was tested for stress hormones, but considering hot water hurts even if you're dead in 3 seconds, and chopping their heads off is not instant as it requires the stress of being caught and of being out of water for the amount of time it takes to get them into position, and they tested stress hormone production via freezing and it was minimal....I'd take slow in this case. Or vodka and clove oil, which is supposed to be about 6 seconds, but that does require having those things on hand.

 

[Alyxx]

Would you rather die slow or in an instant?

I would rather slipping off in my sleep to being beheaded. Goldfish go into hibernation in the cold, and just slow down and sleep. By the time it is frozen solid enough to kill them they are in full hibernation mode and are unconscious. To decapitate the fish, you have to stress it out to take it out of the water, and if you miss because the fish is flailing around in stress at not being able to breathe, you cause a lot of pain before you cause death. While a slow freeze would stress tropicals, for goldfish it is a peaceful way to go.

I'm sorry you have to go through this, it has to be hard to put a beloved pet down yourself. He sounds like he was a nice fish, and you gave him a nice life for as long as you could. I'm sorry for your loss. Just be sure to leave him in the freezer long enough for the water to freeze solid, then you can give him a nice funeral.

 

[tarpon]

First off, you dont know whether the fish is aware of dying or not.
Second, i hope youre not actually trying to suggest you can get the goldfish into a bowl of ice water without netting and putting it in. If you have the cutting surface and knife ready it will take just as much time.
And as far as the fish flailing around, if its weak enough to be euthenized you dont have to worry about it.

All of this talk about the goldfish "sleeping" and having a "peaceful" death just sounds like theory. But we do know that if you sever the head of something its going to die (save cockroaches) one movement and its done with.

 

[KaylNeko]

I've already stated scientists have done lab studies that prove that stress hormones were minimal. That's the best way to figure out whether any animal is stressed--all make stress hormones. And no, you don't have to net a fish to get it into a bowl. It's actually recommended you catch a goldfish and other types of sensitive or barbed fish with a bowl in the water by herding them with hand or net. How stressful that would be for the fish depends on how much your hand in the tank stresses them out and whether you chase them around or spend the time to do it quietly.

And no, it's not theory that a goldfish's metabolism slows down to almost nothing in the face of cold water temperatures and they pretty much sleep their way through it. That's why you stop feeding goldfish once the water drops below a certain temperature in outside ponds and don't start feeding again until it's warmed back up and stayed warm--their metabolism has slowed down enough that they die. So long as they have water that's not frozen, they won't die, but they don't swim around much in water that's frozen over on top.

 

[Hholly]

Tarpon, I don't get why you want to make the OP feel worse than she already does. It serves no purpose. She did the euthanasia in the most humane way she felt she could. What's done, is done. She doesn't need to be judged for it. If you want to debate methods of euthanasia, maybe you should start your own thread.

 

[tonyf1971]

I use Koi Calm for these unfortunate circumstances that all fish keepers face at some point.

Its used to sedate and calm Koi when transporting etc.

I set up a bowel/ basin of aquarium water, put my fish in and give it a dose, enough so it never wakes up.

 

[KaylNeko]

I've never heard of that one...how much of an overdose does that take?

 

[cichlid.greenhorn]

If you are prepared for it, blunt force trauma is best period. I can do it in a five gallon bucket just like a water change. Hold them one last time and end it in less than a second. I understand its two hard for some, I'm a hunter and fisherman, one thing we teach in our family is a clean kill. Finish it and finish it quickly no matter how you plan it. No matter what animal you have to end.

 

[tarpon]

Tarpon, I don't get why you want to make the OP feel worse than she already does. It serves no purpose. She did the euthanasia in the most humane way she felt she could. What's done, is done. She doesn't need to be judged for it. If you want to debate methods of euthanasia, maybe you should start your own thread.

The OP asked for euthenasia reccomendations and thats what i did. Other people did as well, and argued their point as i did. If you want to make irrevelant posts, why dont you start your own thread in aquaria off-topic

 

[Hholly]

No, you criticized her after she had already euthanized her fish.

 

[Critterlvrok]

I had not heard of the Vodka but what I do is fill a glass with tank water, add enough clove oil that the water appears milky. Sometimes depending on the size of the fish and glass this might require quite a bit more clove oil than a smaller fish, once I have enough oil that it is cloudy when I stir it up I quickly net the fish and drop them in. I have only had to do this twice but in both instances the fish didn't struggle just took a breath and was gone. I'm always afraid I did not get enough so I watch to make sure there is no more signs of breathing and then I place them in a bag and freeze them solid to ensure they are gone. Hope this helps for future issues, and I feel your loss and I had to put down beloved's last night myself.

 

[Laurencallen74]

I want to sincerely thank everyone who replied, even if I myself couldn't grasp how to employ a method I couldn't wrap my head around. Let's put it this way, I love animals. I adore my pets and even though I feel I tried so hard to keep my fish well, I couldn't allow him to suffer any more. My husband would have flushed him. Which is why he really doesn't understand why I have (had) two fancy goldfish in a giant tank. They made me and my 6 year old very happy and allowe me to reach him many responsibilities and lessons about work, patience, failure, success, and reward. That was Jack's first fish, so I remember his face when I got our first fish for him. After 4 years or so of your fish recognizing you and eating from your hands, he becomes a beloved pet you truly adore. Being as I'm not a guy, and probably have vested a lot of mutual bonding with my son over this fish, watching his tears roll down his face made the decision all the more desperate.

Tarpon, I hope you were not insinuating that I didn't know he was dying.

However, you gave me advice and I asked for that, so I offer you thanks, but I simply couldn't go there, or fathom it.

Theoretically, the ice and metabolism is on point. He didn't suffer from that. He was suffering before it.

I'm just bummed because I can if I need to be. I miss him and the tank is missing his fabulous puppy like energy and my Ryukin is clearly missing him too.

Please, try not to platform on my page. I wasn't trying to cause discord.

Thank you all for your sweetness, your understanding of my situation, and always managing to extend yourselves out of nowhere.

Can't explain how much that means to me.


Lauren

 

[Chronos313]

Ya it's never easy to have to do something to another living thing especially one that's like family. I recently had to do what was best for my male Praecox who was recovering from abdominal swelling but unfortunately his tank mates decided on survival of the fittest and nipped his tail to nothing so that when I came home from work he was on the bottom in pain. So I took a container of water, cupped him up with my hand, dug a whole in my apartment blocks front lawn and gave him a proper burial outside. Keep in mind I added snow to the water and right now it's -20 Celsius so it froze in no time.

I'm not a fan of flushing, I am a fisherman myself as a hobbyist but I do what's best in my eyes. Also it's different if you have children especially young ones. My 3 year old understands sickness and that what we did was best. Obviously she's sad but moves on over time.
I give you props on how you handled the situation. Animals grow on you and like I said become family. Fish are no different then other animals. Some people just respect their pets more then others.

I wish you the best moving forward and in time hope that another fish can bring you the same joy and happiness that this little one did

 

[Laurencallen74]

I absolutely love everything you said. Made my night. Thank you so much.

 

[tonyf1971]

I've never heard of that one...how much of an overdose does that take?

As rule i add ten drops and wait 10mins, i then add another 10 drops and again wait 10mins, if there is no gill movement after another 10mins then thats it, this is normally enough for a platy sized fish, for larger i use the 10min / 10 drops rule, until its passed away.

 

[ocminpin]

Lauren, please accept my sympathy in the loss of your fish. I've unfortunately had to euthanize a few myself. I'm glad you did what was best for him...
I too have a 6 yr old son, Jordan. We had an unfortunate mishap a few months back which resulted in the death of a fish he really loved. My little man was broken hearted and instantly welled up with tears when I told him the fish was gone. "But Mommy, why did he have to die?" .... Still gets me to this day...

I wish you all the best with you and your fish.

 

[KaylNeko]

As rule i add ten drops and wait 10mins, i then add another 10 drops and again wait 10mins, if there is no gill movement after another 10mins then thats it, this is normally enough for a platy sized fish, for larger i use the 10min / 10 drops rule, until its passed away.

Thank you. I'll have to keep that in mind.