Best way to put down

[JesseCSUB]

My tank got infected with ick pretty bad. I dont think two of my fish are going to make it. My question is if you know it has to be done, what is the most humaine way to put the fish down?

 

[Somonas]

put some aquarium water in a container, put the fish in the container, and put the container in the freezer.
your fish will fall alseep very peacefully.

 

[Managuense]

i have heard mixed opinions on the freezer method, but i dont see a problem with it ..... well at least i dont think, but someone may change my opinion.

some people place the fish in a glass with some alcohol (drinking, not rubbing) i hear that the fish leaves pretty painlessly.....so if you have any whiskey sitting around....

 

[FroggyFox]

I think it pretty much comes down to there is no "good" way to do it. We've had this discussion a few times if you really want to hear everyone's in depth responses...

I haven't had to put any fish down...usually if they're sick I move them to the hospital tank and let them pass on their own.

 

[Igor The Cat]

I o the it the freezer way just i add few drops of clove oil.

-Java

 

[420Loach]

i usually like to let them pass in the QT tank like froggy, but if i know theyre suffering ill do the freezer method.

 

[JesseCSUB]

Thanks everyone but it dosent matter any more. The two that looked pretty bad died. I found them when I came home for lunch. It looks like the medicine is working for the others. I am hopeing for the best.

 

[Leopardess]

I know this is late...but the info may help someone. I believe colesea wrote a post about this once...but I've also heard that the freezer method works well because the fish is coldblooded. We, as humans, think it would be an awful way to go...because we associate a struggle with keeping our temperature at the proper level with being frozen. A fish, however, will have a body temp equivalent to that of the water. As it lowers, the fish's organs slow down...at some point making the fish go "unconscious"....which then leads to it passing away while it is under.

other, supposedly good, yet MUCH yuckier methods involve taking the fish and GULP...throwing it as hard as you possibly can at the shower wall...or stepping on it quickly with force. Or, for larger fish to decapitate it I couldn't do that one though, or any of the others. i use the freezer method.

I'm not sure what hte regulations on it are...but the vet has a euthanasia solution that can be put in the water which literally puts the fish to sleep. I'm not sure if you can even obtain it, but It wouldn't hurt (if you can) to keep a small bottle of the stuff around....

I'm sorry about your loss It always sucks. No getting around it.

 

[Zoidfarb]

I just decided to euthanize a pygmy cory that was very ill and covered in fungus/bacteria (the other cories in the tank are fine).

It looked bad, and b/c pygmy cories are both tiny and scaleless, I didn't think chemotherapy would be likely to save it.

I used the whiskey method. It stopped moving pretty quick, but it got pretty erratic for a few seconds when the booze hit the water (in a separate container).

After a few seconds, it was floating, but still moved when prodded and righted itself. I took it out of the container, put in another one with aquarium water, and put it in the freezer.

I don't know of what to make of the alcohol method. It may be fine...it's hard to fathom the piscine mind, after all, but I think I'm sticking to the freezer. Hopefully, I will not have to euthanize anything again.

Even though it is sometimes the most humane and responsible thing to do, it's still a bit painful and guilt inducing to have to put down an animal.

 

[Somonas]

I did the Leopardess method with a fish that had bloat once on my Balcony.
Never again.