Executing your fish

[nautilus83]

What are some good ways to kill your fish if they get sick?

One of mine is bobbing around at the surface, stomach side up. He looks like he is suffering and about to die.

One idea I've had is to turn on the garbage disposal in my sink and throw him in there. It would be an instant death, kind of like the guillotine.

Alternatively, I could put him in the freezer. I've heard you get kind of a euphoria right before you die of hypothermia. I'm sure the fish would feel the same way.

What are some other ideas??

 

[Sake]

The way I would do it (would because I haven't had to yet) is get some vodka put it in the freezer overnight then toss it in there. The combo of cold/vodka should kill it pretty much instantly. Some people use water right before it freezes, I figure since vodka doesn't freeze...well you see where i'm going. Sorry about your situation

 

[nautilus83]

Can't you just put him in a bowl of his own water (room temperature) and stick him in the freezer for a few hours? It seems like that would be more comfortable since he would freeze gradually than shocking him by throwing him in frigid water.

 

[Luananeko]

I've heard of people using clove oil, but I'm not familiar enough with the method to say. I would imagine the garbage disposal would be rather terrifying and painful if it didn't slice just right at the very start

 

[absolutangel04]

You actually want the fish to go into shock rather than slowly freeze. Quick is more humane. Here is a thread about it: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/an-overview-of-euthanasia-73775.html

 

[paytertot]

Put a good amount of salt in a bowl of water, and let it freeze through the whole day. If it should start to freeze over, break through and let it keep freezing. You could sedate him a little first by putting him in a bowl of tank water and slowly add a few drops of clove oil until he is very lethargic. Then put him in the freezing water.

Edit: just to clarify, you would put the fish in after letting the water freeze all day

 

[jetajockey]

I wouldn't call it execution but rather euthanasia as it is done in an act of mercy rather than judgment. Cutting the head off with a sharp knife or smashing it with a blunt object works quickly and effectively assuming the fish holds still long enough. The garbage disposal idea sounds gruesome but it also sounds pretty effective at giving a quick painless death. It wouldn't work for larger fish, of course, but for a small fish it'd be over quickly.

I've used salted icy cold water and it works really well.

 

[Josh1158]

Just stick him in freezer over night. When I go ice fishing I just toss them out on the ice and they slowly turn into fishscicle. There cold blooded so I would think they would just drift off.

 

[paytertot]

Just stick him in freezer over night. When I go ice fishing I just toss them out on the ice and they slowly turn into fishscicle. There cold blooded so I would think they would just drift off.

I think that sounds slow and not very comfortable. It's just the same as us slowly freezing to death.

 

[bobc4d]

Garbage disposals are blunt he would get tossed around. The only humane way is with clove oil whiich is an anesthetic and will him to sleep. Then you put him in a bowl with water and vodka. You only need a coupe of drops of clove oil in a bowl.

Freezing is not quick nor painless he will suffer

 

[Gboy66]

I think that sounds slow and not very comfortable. It's just the same as us slowly freezing to death.

Ya definitly dont do that. Heres the quickest way IMO..dont know if it has already been said

Take a cup of water and put in freezer. Take it out when it is slushy and icey. THEN put the fish in

 

[Fishandmusic81]

I think the smashing with a blunt object would be best completely gruesome when you think about it but I mean it'll smash every organ and other body parts instantly

 

[jetajockey]

Yeah the garbage disposal thing wouldn't work unless the fish was small enough to get chopped up by it, a larger fish would bounce around on top of it.
The clove oil thing is good if you have it on hand, but most people don't. A salted ice water bath is the next best thing, the fish goes to sleep instantly and dies after a few minutes, and everyone has a freezer and salt in their house.

 

[jkdubs2]

I vote for choping head of quickly and all the way through. Takes alot less time than freezing water and personally I don't think the ice cold water is a very good idea anyway. Have you ever fallen into a frozen lake and tried to breathe? It's like thousands of knives stabbing you and makes breathing very uncomfortable. I vote no on ice water.

 

[emerald76]

Can't you just put him in a bowl of his own water (room temperature) and stick him in the freezer for a few hours? It seems like that would be more comfortable since he would freeze gradually than shocking him by throwing him in frigid water.

It's very painful for the fish because ice crystals form in the blood

 

[jkdubs2]

It's very painful for the fish because ice crystals form in the blood

Wouldn't lethal levels of hypothermia set in before crystals would form in the blood? Or the fish would fall into a deep sleep long before it began to crystallize? That's how it works in warm blooded animals at least I'm not to sure on the cold blooded animals.

 

[emerald76]

Wouldn't lethal levels of hypothermia set in before crystals would form in the blood? Or the fish would fall into a deep sleep long before it began to crystallize? That's how it works in warm blooded animals at least I'm not to sure on the cold blooded animals.

Apparently not from what I've read
It's supposed to be VERY painful to the fish because the crystals form quickly

 

[paytertot]

I vote for choping head of quickly and all the way through. Takes alot less time than freezing water and personally I don't think the ice cold water is a very good idea anyway. Have you ever fallen into a frozen lake and tried to breathe? It's like thousands of knives stabbing you and makes breathing very uncomfortable. I vote no on ice water.

This water would be much much colder because the salt allows the water to get colder without freezing solid. It causes instant death.

 

[jkdubs2]

This water would be much much colder because the salt allows the water to get colder without freezing solid. It causes instant death.

This is tru that its colder. But how do u know the fish dies instantly? The shock of the cold water would still be painful I'd think. There's no scientific experiment to say whether or not the fish feels pain in the water.

 

[absolutangel04]

Read. The. Link.