what is the most humane way to kill a fish

[Japheth]

I have a yellow tang, that was stuck to a powerhead when I came home today and has been doing terrible since then. I just found it being eaten by one of my crabs and thought it was dead until I took it away from the crab so I could flush it and it started swimming. It is rapidly turning white and there's no chance it will live.

Any suggestions for a quicker painless death?
Thanks

 

[Lou Cifer]

Put it in the freezer.
Thats what I've done, quick and easy.

 

[reeferkid]

put it into a qt tank on its own and you maybe able to cure it feed it with garlic enriched food etc and it may recover

 

[Japheth]

it was WAY past recovery, Probably had an hour max left to live. I put it in the freezer last night.

 

[Lou Cifer]

You did a good thing.

 

[Ericp2311]

This may be sound horrible, please don't flame me if you disagree... but I had a similar situation with a yellow tang, and I wanted the deed to be done quickly, so I netted it into a plastic bag, which I placed on the counter. Then I used a rolling pin...

It's grisly, but I know for sure that it was all over insantly.

Just my two cents

Eric

 

[Lou Cifer]

No, no, that sounds really pleasant.

 

[WILDTHING]

It may not have been pleasant but I'm sure it was over for the fish in an instant.

colleen

 

[cwbroden]

i have done the freezer thing on beyond recovery fish. The rolling pin does sound qicker, but i just don't think i could do that.

 

[tekknoschtev]

My personal opinion is that the freezer is emotionally easier on the person doing it. Think about it. How long does it take a few ounces of water to freeze. The fish is alive during some portion of this. Keep in mind, I'm not being super eco friendly crazyness, just some thoughts from a physics standpoint.

I agree, the rollingpin method is faster, but many cannot bring themselves to do it.

 

[WILDTHING]

If the rolling pin is too up close and personal, I've always found it quick and not so personal to wrap the animal in some paper towel and put it in a plastic bag then tuck the bag under the tire of my car ....very quick and there is no way to mess it up. For a fish I'd probably wet the paper towel with tank water to make it more comfortable while I was working.

colleen

I really don't know enough to comment on fish anatomy but I've always heard its painful to mammals to freeze to death

 

[LunarFlame]

The freezer is actually one of the least ethical ways of killing a fish. It's actually quite painful for the fish.

A very humane and almost painless way to kill a fish is in water and adding clove oil. It's like euthanasia.

Next time, stay away from the freezer.

 

[bigreddog]

We use denatured alcohol, ethanol, for field collections. Most drug stores sell it cheap and it's safe. It euthanizes them quickly.

 

[LunarFlame]

alcohol is pretty painful too though, unfortunatly, it burns the fish's bodys very much.

 

[chicod00]

wow

this is very interesting. I have not had to deal with this situation.

I would like to see if we could get a consensus on the most humane thing, not just the most emotionally appealing for us.

I dread the day I will have to do this...

 

[tekknoschtev]

Clove oil is very powerful stuff. I have read experiences where people use it as an anestetic<sp?> for their puffers to trim their teeth, and one drop too many in the water can euthanize the fish.

Clove oil, it is my belief is the most humane way for the fish to euthanize it. This also isnt too difficult on the person doing it either, just put the clove oil in a bowl of water, and then the fish. Its pretty quick, and painless (as far as dieing goes).

 

[bigreddog]

Unfortunately, there is no painless way of euthanasia just less painfull methods. I agree that the freezer is not very humane and clove oil will do the trick much more humanely.

We use denatured alcohol because it is quick and doesn't "burn" the tissue, otherwise the specimens would be useless for research purposes.

 

[Japheth]

I read about the clove oil method a little bit ago and it does seem better than anything else.

Soon as I get a chance I'm going to run out and get some and keep it on hand. I just hope I won't have to use it for a long time.

 

[Cluckr7]

Why isn't a freezer good? Fish aren't mammals, they're cold blooded. Wouldn't their metabolism just shut down? I don't know, I'm curious too, but I thought freezing was painful to mammals cuz we're warm blooded and our body tries all sorts of stuff to keep our body temps normal.

 

[deedo]

The IACUC (intstitutional animal care and use commision) requires that fish be euthanized by icing. In my lab we work with zebra danios. We do genetics so that means lots of breeding but we can't have lots of fish so many must be sacrificed. We have to write into our protocols that fish will be sacrificed by icing or we aren't allowed to use the fish. We make up a tub of icewater and float a tank in it, no need to actually freeze the water with the fish in it. It is very fast.
Fish are cold blooded and don't experience freezing the same way a mammal does. I'm not sure how much they can feel temperature at all. This is testable though, cells that sense temperature are well described and it is simple enough to ask if fish have these. I'll look into it.