Please help, peaceful fish euthanasia.

Hello... I don't really have much to add with this except I have a beta that i rescued from the pet store for roughly a year now. He wasn't in the best condition when I got him so i tried to give him the best life I could. I kept him in a 3.5 gallon heated tank with a filter. Anyways, 3 days ago he was not moving and the pet store told me to just let him go since he might have been adjusted to a water change. Well, I did just that and he stopped coming up for food so i used tweezers to feed him.. But he stopped eating then as well. After a day or two he seemed dead. He was not breathing through his gills and he would just lay at the bottom on his side. In fact, I thought he was dead and was going to dispose of him until he squirmed.. So i just let him for another day. Today I gently applied a bit of pressure to him because i thought he had finally passed away and he was in fact not.. But his body looked like it was completely disintegrating. After applying pressure I also saw his gills breathing which i had not seen in the past. After realizing he had been suffering.. I quickly took to google to figure out a remedy to relieve him of his pain as a store is not open for me to get clove oil. So, I used baking soda.. It's been a half hour and hes still alive.. barely ... but I feel absolutely terrible that I put him through this and don't know what to do. I also stopped his heat and filter so I don't know how to end his pain. I saw him flipping around and it makes me sick to my stomach. Thanks for any help.

 

Blunt force trauma.
Not an easy job but it’s over very quickly.

Welcome to fishlore, sorry it could not be under better circumstances.

 

I agree with Flyfisha. I'm so sorry.

 

I like the clove oil euthanasia method. Nothing wrong with blunt force, its quick and effective.

 

Best option- Put him in a napkin and slam him with something heavy, sorry! Others have suggested putting the fish in a small container of tank water, and dumping ice in it to stop the heart. Others have suggested putting the fish in a small container with current tank water and put it in the freezer, ther thery is that a cold water animal will not feel the change in temperature, it will just get tired, and will fall asleep and pass on long before freezing.
Get some clove oil for next time, It is very effective and humane,

 

I dunno, the American veterinary medical association, whoever they are seem to suggest most humane ways people use, aren't humane and take too long. They suggest pulling the fish out and with a sharp knife, cutting off the fishes head which will kill him immediately and sever nerves.

Personally I like freezing a bag of water until its slushy, putting the fish in it and then back in the freezer and come back hours later when it's a block of ice. It's just too cold for them to do anything except go to sleep and freeze.

I find it funny they'd advocate for cutting a fishes head off as humane euthanasia but if you did that to a dog or cat they'd call you a monster. Likely because they want you to go to a vet and pay the bill for them to put it down instead knowing most people won't want to cut a fishes head off that they've kept for a while.

 

So sorry that you had to go through that!!!

 

I dunno, the American veterinary medical association, whoever they are seem to suggest most humane ways people use, aren't humane and take too long. They suggest pulling the fish out and with a sharp knife, cutting off the fishes head which will kill him immediately and sever nerves.

Personally I like freezing a bag of water until its slushy, putting the fish in it and then back in the freezer and come back hours later when it's a block of ice. It's just too cold for them to do anything except go to sleep and freeze.

I find it funny they'd advocate for cutting a fishes head off as humane euthanasia but if you did that to a dog or cat they'd call you a monster. Likely because they want you to go to a vet and pay the bill for them to put it down instead knowing most people won't want to cut a fishes head off that they've kept for a while.

unfortunately people do not value fish as much as other animals.