How do you assist a dyeing fish?

[Vegas.]

My Firefish recently jumped while I was cleaning the glass. He went unnoticed for 2 maybe 3 minutes. I carefully placed him back into the tank and seemed ok, the next day his health degraded by the hour.

I ended up placing him in to a bag of ice water and he stopped breathing within 5 seconds, then came the traditional "Flush".

So how do you do it?

Before anyone comments on "you should have placed a cover on your tank".
I know all about fire fish jumping I had him for 2 years and it was never a issue.

 

[crazylegs]

I do the freezer thing too. Except I place it in a cup or bag of aquarium water, then into the freezer. I hope it slowly lowers the body temp until.. well, you know. I feel it might be a little better than the initial shock of ice water, but either way it's quick i guess. Then there's always the fast, hard, bump on the head thing.

 

[uhuru]

Freezing is not a good way to kill a fish. First ice crystals form on the skin and tissues which is painful (if fish can feel pain - since we don't know we should assume that they can).

Get some finquel from DFS. A concentration of 500 mg/L should do the job. After the fish stops breathing leave it in there for another 10 minutes, then if you want you can freeze it.

I'm not sure if finquel is buffered, if not buffer it with sodium bicarbonate because it's acidic by itself.

 

[reefWW96]

i have heard to sever the spinal column because it takes pain away and kills it quickly.
i tried it on my kole tang who was dying from ick and he died the second i did it.

 

[Flazky]

hmm I find that just crushing it with your fingers kills it quickest...and then rip it into pieces to feed corals.....

 

[jasonrp104]

These threads almost always turn into an argument. My advice would be to do whatever is the fastest and then tell nobody what you did

 

[uhuru]

There's really nothing to argue. You can go with science or you can go with non-scientific opinions. It's really a personal decision since no one is going to come after you over how you kill a fish.

 

[uhuru]

i have heard to sever the spinal column because it takes pain away and kills it quickly.
i tried it on my kole tang who was dying from ick and he died the second i did it.

An example of the difference between science and opinion. Fish, reptiles and amphibians can maintain consciousness after the spinal cord is severed.

From the American Veterinary Medical Association:
"It has been assumed that stopping
blood supply to the brain by decapitation causes rapid
loss of consciousness. Because the central nervous system of reptiles,
fish, and amphibians is tolerant to
hypoxic and hypotensive conditions, decapitation must
be followed by pithing."

 

[Vegas.]

Thanks for the info uhuru, Finquel seems like the most humane way to go but it's kind of pricy and for me fish don't die very often, I'm wondering what the shelf life of it is? I did a little research and Clove Oil came up, anyone ever used that?

 

[Engloid]

I would imagine that the fish has died long before its skin temperature gets so cold that ice crystals form on it.

 

[GhostCon1]

hmm I find that just crushing it with your fingers kills it quickest...and then rip it into pieces to feed corals.....

:thumbdown

 

[lisafoster]

This is good advice very touchy subject

These threads almost always turn into an argument. My advice would be to do whatever is the fastest and then tell nobody what you did

 

[dread240]

when I was a newbie I did the terrible thing of leaving it to the hermit crabs :-\

at the time it seemed like that 'should at least let them have a snack' type deal... but now I know it's way off

 

[DeepSeaHunter]

if i see a fish dying in my tank or anything for that matter i usually just net it out and toss it in the front garden. i know it sounds ruthless, but the birds in my front yard eat it right up. i love my fish, but i don't love my dying fish. i do everything possible to keep them happy, but i get angry if something jumps out of my tank even if it's in their nature, and so when that happens i can't care anymore, so i just toss it into the garden.

 

[jd474]

MS-222 (finquel). Available through aquatic eco systems and DFS.

 

[GhostCon1]

if i see a fish dying in my tank or anything for that matter i usually just net it out and toss it in the front garden. i know it sounds ruthless, but the birds in my front yard eat it right up. i love my fish, but i don't love my dying fish. i do everything possible to keep them happy, but i get angry if something jumps out of my tank even if it's in their nature, and so when that happens i can't care anymore, so i just toss it into the garden.

Um... get a cover

 

[twiggyb]

The clove oil is used to anesthetize the fish, but you have to know how much to use. If you do, IMO that would be the best method that way it just goes to sleep and never wales up. I know when I got my wisdom teeth cut out, I wouldn't have known if I stopped breathing, all I know is the next thing I was laying in a different room wondering where I was

 

[uhuru]

Thanks for the info uhuru, Finquel seems like the most humane way to go but it's kind of pricy and for me fish don't die very often, I'm wondering what the shelf life of it is? I did a little research and Clove Oil came up, anyone ever used that?

You can buy MS222 (the active compound used in finquel) by the gram ($7.95) in powder form here:

http://www.wchemical.com/TRICAINE-S-MS-222-P43C7.aspx

Shelf life is 3 yrs.

 

[bleedfire]

hmm I find that just crushing it with your fingers kills it quickest...and then rip it into pieces to feed corals.....

Its worst in the wild.

 

[dixiedog]

These threads almost always turn into an argument. My advice would be to do whatever is the fastest and then tell nobody what you did

:thumbsup:

You're a wise man.