Euthanization - Personal Question

HI guys, please read the whole story. So today I came home to a bad situation. I came home and after about two hours I notice that my angelfish was faced down in a plant. I pulled him out of it and he was still breathing so I placed him in a net. He must have been getting nibbled at because his tail was bone. Anyway I put him and my second angelfish in a 1 gal plastic betta tank and set them on the floor. I also took a black fin tetra out and put him into a cup.

Now you may be wondering why all of these came out, and I will tell you. I had them in brackish water for a few months (BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER) and now I believe they have became sick from this and have internal problems now.

I placed them next to a running tank that only had a female betta (taken out), 1 glofish and a pleco in it. I put a dripper in and allowed them to accumulate to the water. For the tetra I put him in my 125 gallon tank with angelfish, rainbows, danios and a red shark (and crayfish). After both were adjusted to the waters, I put them in each tank, added a little medicine and shut off the lights. After a little cool down time, I came back and saw the sick angelfish on the ground being sucked by he pleco! I got him away from him and his whole left side was scaleless. I then looked in my 125 and the tetra had both of his eyes gone!!!!!!!! (I think from popeye) I got them both out and put them in the same cup. There was no way either of them would have survived. One barley moving with torn fins and a scaleless side, and an eyeless fish that would never have been able to see his food.

I resulted in an awful subject to talk about... euthanasia. I placed them both in a basket and they suffocated. I stayed with them through the whole thing to pay respect to them though.

I should have removed them from that tank a while ago, but they angels were too aggressive to be housed with my other angels so I let them stay in the brackish tank (had mollys and a dragon goby) They are now dead, and the other angel doesn't look too happy now that his only tank mate is gone. He looks as if he will become sick as well.

I want to learn from this mistake from you guys on how I can manage another situation like this in the future. Please let me know what you would of done if you were in my shoes. (besides saying a quarantine tank)

I just want to see if you guys would have done what I did, because I feel so sick to my stomach for what I just did and I want to throw up. I had the tetra for years and stupidly allowed my angels to slowly suffer in brackish water.

***Also, would it be a good idea to move the second angel to another tank the same day as all this happened? I don't want the pleco to go after him, but I don't want him to go into shock***

 

Personally, I probably would have moved them each into breeder boxes to see if they might be able to recover the damage, and to see if the tetra may still have been able to find food other than by sight. Fish, from what I have found, can be surprisingly resilient if they're given some quiet time. One of my danios, actually, the only one I still have after a heater issue, spent about 2 weeks doing almost nothing. I moved him from lying on the gravel under a decoration into a breeder box, and after spending days literally just lying in the breeder box barely breathing and showing no interest in food, he made a full recovery. I like going the breeder box route because it gives you somewhere to put the fish that it can have some quiet time without having to acclimate it to a new tank.

Additionally, while it is hard, I probably would have either gone for clove oil or cutting off the head for the death part. Not easy, I know, but that would either be more peaceful or a lot faster than allowing them to slowly die because they couldn't breath.

 

Perhaps the most humane way to euthanize fish is to put them in a small bowl in some tank water then set that bowl in a bowl of ice water, with a lot of ice cubes. They will start to swim very slowly and then simply stop moving. I would like to think they do not suffer with this method. JMHO.

 

+1 to what bithimala said. I have researched euthanasia should it ever be necessary and have come to the conclusion that clove oil is the best bet. They simply drift away to sleep and don't wake up. It isn't painful but you have to be careful and make sure that they are dead.

Using the ice cube method described above is inhumane. Imagine getting thrown into freezing water with no clothes and freezing to death.

Decapitation is the second best method, imo. Just be sure to get it done in one strike and completely sever the head.

I hate talking about killing fish but sometimes it is necessary. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

Actually, I think that there is some suffering with the slow freezing to death, which is why most people prefer clove oil. I have never actually euthanized a fish, so just going with others' experiences and knowledge.

 

I have used the clove oil method. I particularly like the fact that it's used as an anaesthetic at lower doses so your fish really does drift off to sleep.

I'm really sorry about your fish x

 

I agree with both Bithimala and Jaxsco, The only problem with severing the head is that it isn't over after you sever it. You have to also pith it as well. And I don't know if I could do it and know many would have a hard time doing that to their beloved fish. I personally would try carbon dioxide before this method(as long as the fish can't breath carbon dioxide). And before both, clove oil. I'm so sorry this has happened to you, I know how hard it is. Trust me though, you'll feel better over time, even though it's really depressing right now. I'm so sorry once again.

 

If you have a fish that is injured or weakened by tank water parameters I would not put them in another tank with more fish. You need a quarantine tank not just for new fish but for issues like this. A place to put fish until they adjust or heal and are strong again. The pleco probably wouldn't bother a healthy, fully mobile angelfish but sucker fish of all kinds can be a risk if they get big. After the 2nd set of injuries I probably would have put the angel down with clove oil and separated the tetra until it learned (or proved it couldn't) to find food by scent. Blind fish can adapt and there are even species of cave fish that are fully blind and occasionally kept in aquariums.

 

Thank you all so much for your feedback. I will definitely consider all of your advice if anything like this ever happens. I actually have euthanize a fish a long time ago as well, a neon tetra. I was told to use hydrogen peroxide but it didn't make it any faster than suffocation so I did not use it this time.

Now I wish I knew about the black tetra being able to eat without eyes. I thought he was not going to make it because he could barley straight. Right now my quarantine is being occupied by another fish so I couldn't use it. I will try to look for another tank somewhere so I can set up another quarantine in the future.

Thanks again everyone.

 

Such a difficult topic. Thank you all so much for educating me. There is no way I could do the decapitation method, and as for the ice, I was told by someone that this would be the best. As I understand it, when a human freezes to death, the sense s/he feels is one of warmth and peace, so I thought the same would apply to fish. Would one of you please describe how one goes about using clove oil? Thank you.

 

Here's how-

I'd have a very hard time with the decapitation method as well. But I think I might, and it's a very strong not might, do it if was the best way available.

 

P.S. I just wanted to add that the ice process is not like being "thrown into freezing water" as the method that was described to me involves the gradual cooling of the tank water in which the fish is placed. It would be a gradual, slow process not shocking or swift. Thank you

 

What a sad and painful situation. While most people outside the hobby will shrug it off and say " They're just fish, just get another one", it's remarkable how attached we all become to our fish. I was a mess when I lost all of my fish in my first tank at the tender age of 10 (parents wouldn't believe me when I told them the tank was crazy overstocked and they just kept throwing in more fish) and for years couldn't bring myself to set up another tank with more fish. I am so sorry for your loss.

 

P.S. I just wanted to add that the ice process is not like being "thrown into freezing water" as the method that was described to me involves the gradual cooling of the tank water in which the fish is placed. It would be a gradual, slow process not shocking or swift. Thank you

Imo, it's still inhumane since the fish is still freezing to death. The best method is clove oil since the fish simply becomes drowsy and passes away in its sleep.

 

I've used Tricaine (I think that's what it's called) at work, the fish slowly falls asleep, and then you overdose until it does not breathe or move for a good while. We store the bodies in the freezer anyway until they are picked up for cremation, so on the rare chance that a fish is still alive, they then are frozen while anesthetized. At home, the clove oil works exactly the same way for a fraction of the cost. I've only had to euthanize one fish. A black phantom tetra that had mouth rot. He tried to eat and for a while he could, but when he no longer could and would desperately try, it made my stomach turn and I knew I had to end his suffering.

 

According to this, there has been an update on the freezing method. It may actually be humane as long as the fish is very small because the body cools down so quickly.

 

As I understand it, when a human freezes to death, the sense s/he feels is one of warmth and peace, so I thought the same would apply to fish. Would one of you please describe how one goes about using clove oil? Thank you.

I always wonder if the people who say these things have ever been in a cold climate. It hurts to start freezing to death. The body goes into panic and screams at you to reach warmth. The start of frostbite is a burning sensation. I'm sure somewhere after that you go numb and the body gives up so you feel tired and go to sleep. I can only tell you first hand the parts that happen leading up to permanent health problems and risk of death for humans. Who truly knows what the fish feel....

 

I think the difference is their nervous system is not at all as complex as ours. We can't even definitively say if they feel pain, or rather, how their brains process it. I would do the ice method before flushing or suffocating. Though I still stand by the clove oil hands down because they are in their tank water and go to sleep. No changes (outside of being caught) and much less stress.

 

Yeah, with the way the metabolism of coldwater fish slows. They may have a lot less sensation than warm bodied humans who have a very narrow safe internal temperature range. You can't say for certain though so I'd still choose other methods over freezing.

 

Yeah, with the way the metabolism of coldwater fish slows. They may have a lot less sensation than warm bodied humans who have a very narrow safe internal temperature range. You can't say for certain though so I'd still choose other methods over freezing.

I agree

 

I have heard of people using vodka to euthanize fish. I would research it more before attempting.

 

I have heard of people using vodka to euthanize fish. I would research it more before attempting.

Vodka is commonly advised in conjunction with clove oil, because the amount of clove oil used isn't enough. It's commonly advised to use 10 drops per gallon of clove oil, which is actually the standard dosage for anaesthetising fish before surgery (by vets), and does not kill the fish. The vodka does, but it's a painful process for the fish. Use the correct dose of clove oil (25 drops per litre) and the vodka isn't necessary.