euthanize fish?

[DEAD_BY_DAWN]

I could hit mine with a rock and I believe he'd think it was foreplay.

I'm not even going to comment on that one,but i will say it's one thing to love your dog,but thats a whole nother issue......

[DEAD_BY_DAWN]

Midgets bite heads off little people?? That's just wrong.

[Troy F]

Looks like I walked into a few on this topic.

[Edmonton Eskimo]

You know what I find amazing is that there is 3 pages of discussion on this and some very interesting comments

[Troy F]

I can't believe this topic even gets debated. At least our members have remained polite, I've seen this topic flame out of control on some of the other boards.

[BCWolfen]

Originally Posted by Samw

Suggested methods of choice:
The following methods are rapidly effective and straightforward to perform.
· Overdose of a soluble anaesthetic agent added to the water (MS222, Benzocaine [in acetone /alcohol], Eugenol [clove oil])
· Intravenous overdose of anaesthetic agent, primarily pentobarbitone.
· Trauma sufficient to induce complete and instantaneous loss of brainstem activity (e.g. shooting, captive bolt, massive blunt trauma, cervical dislocation or fracture)
· Dropping into liquid nitrogen to provide near instantaneous complete freezing (individuals less than 1cm max diameter only)


Methods considered unacceptable:
The following methods have been suggested for ornamental fish euthanasia in the past but should now be considered ineffective or unacceptable:
· 'Asphyxiation' (simple removal from water preventing respiratory exchange)
· Freezing (excepting method suggested above)
· Use of other anaesthetic agents added to the water (Pentobarbitone, Isofluorane, Halothane)
· Trauma (other than cranial & cervical trauma as described above)
· Carbon dioxide by non-commercial methods (Alka-seltzer® tablets, soda-stream® carbonation)

WOW, was I wrong!!!

[AndyL]

It depends on the people involved really, and their knowledge levels.

I've seen some boards where people come up with the rule that euthanasia is just plain wrong. But on boards populated by breeders and those with strong knowledge - it's generally a different answer.

Basically what it comes down to - is that the best method is the one that works best for the individual involved. Personally, I don't have a problem pulling out the cutting board if needed - but I generally perfer ice water for small fish (They've stopped breathing and moving within a second of hitting the water), larger fish, I prefer to ziplock them (in water) and put them in the freezer (We used to have a freezer supplied by hagen-dazs the first fish I put down that way - I watched, he went peacefully - no thrashing, just basically went to sleep, after 10 minutes or so he was gone).

A lot of my FW angels got culled on this last batch courtesy of the eel, wrasse and lion fish. Maybe not the nicest method - but it was good protein for the eaters - and the eatee's were put out of their misery within seconds of hitting the saltwater.

Culling/Euthanasia is an unfortunately needed/required part of our hobby on occasion. The debate over how best to do it will be with us forever, as we can't all have containers of liquid nitrogen etc at our disposal. And some of our members will always have weak stomachs, or great attachment to their pets.

Andy

I guess my years in the business end of this hobby have led me to not grow as attached to most of the fish I see dying, and I just simply put them out of their misery as soon as possible. Cervical dislocation, or cutting their head of in one quick motion works great if you have a heavy very sharp knife, and a leathered heart. Personally I have never agreed with the freezing method, always thought it was too long and drawn out. The MS222 works great but its expensive and I like to save it for tranport/surgery. Also I have used the shooting method with a couple of very large naso tangs and angels(high powered air handgun). And if the fish are smaller and I have predetors on hand, they dissapear real quick.

[Rikko]

(Note to self: Log out your account when John is nearby)

[Snappy]

Boy I've learned a lot from this....I thought Euthanasia was just talking about the child population in China