What If You Had No Way To Get Clove Oil?

Like the title says "What if you had no way to get clove oil" , let's say you are 100% certain that you beloved fish is very very sick and is in pain and is suffering and the best thing to do is to let him/her rest. The most humane thing to do as a Hobbiest is to let your fish sleep, right?

The most common way to put our fish to sleep is by using clove oil.
BUT what if where you live there isn't any possible way to get clove oil and if you had to order it online it would take maybe 2-3 days to get to your house.

What would you do? I ask this because if I couldn't get any clove oil I honestly don't know what the next humane thing to do is.

Let's hear your thoughts!

 

This thread should help

 

If you can, it is pretty hard to do, but you could simply cut the head off. It is instant death, no pain whatsoever.

 

This thread should help

Thanks Coradee.

 

Small fish? Chop and pith. For a very large fish...I don't know, honestly. I've never had to euthanize a fish bigger than a betta.

 

Paper towels and a hammer. It seems brutal but is quick. Or dehead with a shovel.

 

I've heard of people burying their fish in flower pots but that's after they have passed...but I thin k I would take 2 big scoops of soil and lay them to rest in a flower pot...some of the other methods i've seen seem simply inhumane...but then again maybe mine is right up there with those methods...I don't like to think about things like that

 

I've heard of people burying their fish in flower pots but that's after they have passed...but I thin k I would take 2 big scoops of soil and lay them to rest in a flower pot...some of the other methods i've seen seem simply inhumane...but then again maybe mine is right up there with those methods...I don't like to think about things like that

Not real sure if being buried alive would be very quick especially with a bigger fish.

 

Not real sure if being buried alive would be very quick especially with a bigger fish.

agree...I thought about what I posted afterwards...honestly not looking forward to that day with any of my inhabitants :/

 

agree...I thought about what I posted afterwards...honestly not looking forward to that day with any of my inhabitants :/

I fish as well so at the lake or streem its usually the hammer or a rock techneat.

 

Icewater or a hammer.

 

Icewater or a hammer.

I read that icewater is a cruel way to euthanize a fish. It has to do with ice crystals forming In between its muscles. Try and think about if you put your hand in ice water after a bit it will start to hurt but think about having your entire body in ice water.

 

I read that icewater is a cruel way to euthanize a fish. It has to do with ice crystals forming In between its muscles. Try and think about if you put your hand in ice water after a bit it will start to hurt but think about having your entire body in ice water.

Fish are ectothermic, they're metabolism shuts down instantly before the body even has time to freeze, so they are gone before they feel it.

You feel it because your body is endothermic and is producing its own heat thus why it takes time to become hyperthermic...

I believe that is much more humane than drowning in clove oil.

 

Decapitation (if done cleanly and quickly) is always good. I'd imagine any blunt force type thing like a hammer or mallet to the head would work just as well. I once used the water and vodka method as a kid and it worked pretty quickly (fish was a honey gourami).

 

Alcohol.

 

Fish are ectothermic, they're metabolism shuts down instantly before the body even has time to freeze, so they are gone before they feel it.

You feel it because your body is endothermic and is producing its own heat thus why it takes time to become hyperthermic...

I believe that is much more humane than drowning in clove oil.

But they don't "drown" in clove oil. It's just like someone being put to sleep under anesthesia, then overdosing them on it after they're already asleep. I wouldn't mind dying like that.

 

Fish are ectothermic, they're metabolism shuts down instantly before the body even has time to freeze, so they are gone before they feel it.

You feel it because your body is endothermic and is producing its own heat thus why it takes time to become hyperthermic...

I believe that is much more humane than drowning in clove oil.

That is true with small fish but larger fish it takes quite awhile to cool their core to the point of shutting down. Every route will not work for all fish. I couldn't imagine using clove oil on something like an oscar. I would imagine some of the largest species you would have to harpoon.

 

It's all ugly.
There are apparently quick acting poisons for fish, but they are harder to get than clove oil.
Clove oil is the gentle technique, and all the other involve a violent action. I always make certain I have basic supplies like Malachite green, prazi, and clove oil here. I order them before I need them. With luck, I waste my money and never use them!

 

Something I need to do as well, go get some clove oil for my bent spine guppies. I put a sick fish down because I know it won't live anyway and its better to be squished then allowed to suffer and slowly die, then get the entire tank sick as well. But I had a big HB Red female that has a bent spine, shes had like 20ish fry many with the defect, I wanted to cull her but I couldnt bring myself to do it. She seemed so innocent and I chickend out when my kids asked why she was in a small tank by herself. So I just put her in the female grow out tank. Bottom line is they are our pets, and we should put them down quickly and humanely, if that means decapation or clove oil or icewater, it it best to do it nicely.

 

Are you asking hypothetically? Or do you want a practical solution?

If you want a practical solution just order a bottle of clove oil online now and keep it in the back of a drawer

 

But they don't "drown" in clove oil. It's just like someone being put to sleep under anesthesia, then overdosing them on it after they're already asleep. I wouldn't mind dying like that.

If you put them in an oil, that obviously doesn't have barely any oxygen in it it's more like filling our lungs with liquid anesthetiser void of oxygen and saying oh you won't suffocate...They are passing t through they're gills that they usually use to take oxygen out of water. They have to pass the oil, which is way more dense and is virtually void of oxygen over their gills, sounds like suffocation to me.

 

If you put them in an oil, that obviously doesn't have barely any oxygen in it it's more like filling our lungs with liquid anesthetiser void of oxygen and saying oh you won't suffocate...They are passing t through they're gills that they usually use to take oxygen out of water. They have to pass the oil, which is way more dense and is virtually void of oxygen over their gills, sounds like suffocation to me.

But you start with only enough oil to put them to sleep. After they're asleep you can still see their gills moving, hence they're still breathing. Only then do you add more oil. Even if I did suffocate under anesthesia and was unaware of it, I still wouldn't mind dying that way. We'll just have to disagree.

 

But you start with only enough oil to put them to sleep. After they're asleep you can still see their gills moving, hence they're still breathing. Only then do you add more oil. Even if I did suffocate under anesthesia and was unaware of it, I still wouldn't mind dying that way. We'll just have to disagree.

Yeh I get that, I just find it hard to see how oil coming into gills wouldn't cling and severely constrict respiration in the process. Maybe I am overanalysing it...

 

Gruesome read but a reality that has to be dealt with. Icewater was my preferred thought with this.

Fish are ectothermic, they're metabolism shuts down instantly before the body even has time to freeze, so they are gone before they feel it.

You feel it because your body is endothermic and is producing its own heat thus why it takes time to become hyperthermic...

I believe that is much more humane than drowning in clove oil.

That's good to know.

 

Fish are ectothermic, they're metabolism shuts down instantly before the body even has time to freeze, so they are gone before they feel it.

You feel it because your body is endothermic and is producing its own heat thus why it takes time to become hyperthermic...

I believe that is much more humane than drowning in clove oil.

Try and read this. I am not sure if this is 100% accurate but it seems to be legit.
If this statement is true, then what should I think.

Also, freezing is considered inhumane by the American Vetinary Medical Association. Fish are cold-blooded - they don't "fall asleep" like we do, they stay awake the entire time.

Are you asking hypothetically? Or do you want a practical solution?

If you want a practical solution just order a bottle of clove oil online now and keep it in the back of a drawer

When I asked this question it was because something had happened, not with me but it made me think. And that's why I asked this question. When I first got Into the hobby it never dawned on me that I, one day might have to put my fish to sleep. I don't think a lot of us when we first started thought that "hey maybe I should get a bottle of clove oil" just in case. I sure didn't think about it. What I thought about was what can I put in this tank.
This question hopefully will help someone be prepared for the day that they as Hobbiest might have to do something like this.

Thanks!