What is the humane way to kill a sick fish?

Question

I have a 5" Angel fish that is looking very poorly. Not sure what the problem is or what I should be doing for it. All of it's fins are looking very ragged and worn away. Is there something that I could put in the tank water to help mend the fins? If the fish does not get better, is there a humane way to put it out of it's misery? The Angel fish is in a tank with two other Angels that are very small and one Clown Loach. I've had the large Angel for about 3 years.

Answer 1

it sounds like he has severe fin rot, this is treatable. Melafix is good for fin rot when it's in it's beginning stages, but not strong enough for severe fin rot. get some Myxazin by Waterlife if you can, this is the best product i've found for treating severe fin rot.

as for sending a fish to the big pond in the sky, the most humane and quick way is actually the most gruesome for you, and that is decapitation, puncturing the brain or severing of the spine. It's quick and less stressful for the fish. Freezing is cruel, would you like to be frozen to death? No, it would hurt! Clove oil i've heard mixed reviews, which includes active fish jumping and flopping about stressed in the solution before succumbing and i'll it does is put them into a sleep like state, there has been talk of them still being able to feel pain whilst in this state. If I have to use a method, I quickly move the fish onto damp kitchen towel, wrap him up, and bonk him on the head HARD. And then dispose of either by burial or in the trash. Never flush fish! If anything it could block up your toilet heh!

Answer 2

It sounds like your fish has fin rot, this very often happens if the water quality in the tank is not so good, or a secondary infection to a wound, I suggest that you should do a 25% water change, someone else has suggested Mela fix, This is a good product and does help, as long as the fin rot has not started to affect the scales. There is also another product which I swear by It is called Multi cure, although this is from Australia but can be bought on line www.aristopet.com.au This treatment looks aggressive as it will turn your tank green, but it deals with a multitude of sins, Try the Water change and Mela fix first as this is a natural remedy and you are able to treat the whole tank with no harm to your other fish, Hope this helps as for a humane way to put your fish out of it;s misery, A fish owner told me to lift the fish and smack it again something. i personally could not do that and I have generally left my fish to die, If a fish is really sick it goes down very quickly and die naturally.

Answer 3

Never flush a live fish. That's torture. But flushing a dead fish isn't a good idea either, because who knows what kind of pathogens it's carrying.

Try healing with Melafix and/or pimafix. Both are natural remedies that help to heal fins very effectively (and they smell good, which is a bonus). If your fish has fin rot, that could be something altogether different. Research fin rot...there are lots of suggestions on curing it.

If no method of curing works, put the fish in a container of your aquarium water and stick him in the freezer. He'll just go to sleep as the temperature drops and his body will eventually shut down. It's humane and doesn't cost anything - taking a fish to the vet for euthanasia is a bad idea because the travelling will just stress it even more. The fact that the fish often is frozen right side up also proves that freezing is a humane method.

I hope it doesn't come to that however...good luck with your fish.

Answer 4

Best method to euthanize a fish is 2 parts.

First & most important is put him to sleep - Emulsify 5-10 drops of clove oil per cup of tank water by shaking in a closed continer like a gatorade bottle until the solution turns a milky white (use a container like a large cup, not your tank...). You can acquire clove oil at GNC for about $5 a vial that will last your lifetime. Place him in this soultion. He may try to jump when first put in, so try to cover things up to keep him from flying out. After 10-20 seconds, he will fall into a deep sleep. He may sink to the bottom of the container. He's just asleep & not dead, so don't flush him here.

Next is your preferred method of killing. Systemic shock is the best way to do it. If you can do it so intensly that its instantaneous, they will not feel a thing. Add either lots of ice or 80+ proof liquor like vodka to the mixture.

I prefer vodka. It seems to work more quickly.

Either way, the fish will have to sit in the vodka / ice solution for at least 10 mintues to ensure death. Often times people make the mistake of pulling the fish out early & they are still breathing too faintly to notice.

After 10 minutes you can flush the whole solution with the knowledge that you did your part to end his suffering in the most humane way possible.

Answer 5

I would suggest you take a small glass of warm water mixed with 2 spoons of salt and pour it gently over the angel fish.Note: The angel should be held inside a net, in water). If this doesn't work out then you could get some tetracylin powder and reapeat the same process mentioned above and use tetracylin instead of salt. Sounds like your fish is suffering from bacterial infection.
......If you have had the angel fish for 3 years you should not be thinking about disposing it but should try to do everything to save it. For more info contact: [e-mail].

Answer 6

He doesn't have Ich or Velvet! He is being improperly cared for. A Betta requires at least a 5 gallon tank with hood, heater, and gentle filter, that has been cycled. Bowls are death traps. Full water changes are very hard on fish, and if the water you are changing is a different temperature, he will most likely suffer temperature shock and die. Either get a proper habitat and quickly learn everything you can about Betta care and tank maintenance, or give him to someone who can nurse him back to health. He will soon die otherwise.

Answer 7

You can add some Melafix to the tank to help those fins heal as much as possible in the meantime, BUT most important is to try to figure out what is causing the poor health in the first place. Do you have test kits to see if your tank is free of ammonia and low in nitrates? Are you changing the water regularly? Your angel should have lots of years of life left in it yet (they live an average of 10 years or more) so there's just something wrong that hopefully you can fix!

If you need to put the poor thing down, probably the best way for a large fish like that is either freezing or decapitation.

I highly recommend checking out www.aquahobby.com and going to their forums to ask for advice there. There are thousands of members there, lots of expertise and knowledge there. Lots of them keep angels and might be able to give good advice that could save your angel.

Good luck!

Answer 8

please listen to the people's instructions on how to treat it first. do EVERYTHING possible to save it. ml;y if the fish's health continue's to decline should you even consider "putting ti to sleep"

the ONLY humane way to kill them is to first add clove oil to their water to make them sleep before you do anything. after that because your fish is a tropical fish, the humanest way to kill it is to freeze a container big enough to hold the fish until there is a small layer of ice on the top. break the ice and put the fish in right after it has fallen asleep. the shock will kill the fish either instantly or within the minute usually.

simply freezing the fish is inhumane. it's like slowly freezing any other animal. flushing the fish is simply horrible. the toxins in the water will burnt he fish as is slowly dies of it's disease, the poison in the water, and being tossed around in the pipes.

Answer 9

Clove oil, from the pharmacy, is used to put fish under for surgeries, with an overdose they just go peacefully to sleep.

When you flush a live fish it goes down in the septic system where is lives a few days in the horrible water getting chemically burned alive. This is not a nice death.

Answer 10

After you do everything you can to try and get the fish better and it still doesn't work then use clove oil to euthanize. Here is a site with instructions on how to use it, like how much to use and for how long the fish needs to be in it. It also lists the unhumane methods, like freezing, boiling and flushing. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-most-humane-way-to-euthanize-a-fish.htm