Freezing culling method on Betta Fry

[fabienne]

I have a bunch of betta fry, and some of them had swim bladder disorder. One of them died, one of them healed, and the other 2 are still sick. I have them separated to control the amount of food they get. This morning, I noticed one of the 2 remaining sick ones got worse, showing the same symptoms as the one that already passed. That one suffered for quite a long time before it passed, and I don't want this fry to go through the same thing.
I already decided that my way to cull fry would be clove oil and that I would get it when needed, but at the moment I don't have any access to clove oil. I don't have a fish large enough to eat the fry and I will definitely not squish it, so that leaves the freezing option. I have read that the freezing option isn't very humane because with adult & larger fish it actually hurts a lot, but I was wondering if a 7 week old small betta fry would also get hurt, or if it would be too small to get hurt by the freezing method. It's just over a cm long, being one of the smallest due to less food, and it's pretty weak. Any help/opinions/other options?

 

[Demeter]

Fill a cup with ice, then with water. Swirl it around for a while till it’s ice cold then remove some of the ice. Toss the fish in the cup, making sure it is in the water, not the ice part.

This works on fish up to ~2in. A smaller fish will pass almost instantly while a larger fish may take a few moments.

 

[SM1199]

There are a couple times I've had to use the ice water method to do an emergency euthanasia for small fish. I myself prefer the clove oil method, as do many others, but ice water works and it works fast, and I won't judge someone who decides to use it.

Do what Demeter advises. Don't put the fish in a cup of tank water and put it in the freezer. That is not fast, nor peaceful or painless. But if you do it right with cold enough water, it'll shock their systems so that it's fast.

I keep them in a net when I drop them in the ice water so that they don't come in direct contact with the ice, as Demeter mentioned. It also makes for easier removal and disposal after they're gone.

 

[angelcraze]

I had to euthanize a small angel, it was not a fun time, but I used an ice water slurry and it took care of the issue instantaneously. Even better than clove oil for me (for tiny fish).