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How To Kill Your Fish Humanely


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#1 Cawdor

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Posted 29 August 2009 - 06:48 PM

After doing a bit of research, I have found the following way is a humane and non-violent way of euthanizing your fish.

  1. put enough tank water in a container so the fish can swim upright. Count how many litres of water you are using.
  2. prepare an emulsion of clove oil and tank water in a bottle. Use 3 drops of clove oil per litre of water you have in your container/bucket. Shake the bottle so the water turns a milky colour.
  3. put the fish in the container. Slowly add the contents of the bottle. After about 30 seconds (depending on the size of the fish), the fish should sink to the bottom and you will notice your fish's breathing is much shallower.
  4. Leave your fish in this container for at least 20 mins. This ensures full anesthesia.
  5. After that, you can either transfer the container to your freezer or you can add vodka (20% of the water volume) to kill your fish.
I have chosen the freezer after my fish was "sleeping". I am confident that he was experiencing minimal stress during this whole procedure. The clove oil works very quickly. You cannot overdose on clove oil, so you can use more drops if you feel that is necessary.

Notice that clove oil is classed as a poison, so you should avoid direct contact. I bought a small bottle from a pharmacy for $13.

#2 sydad

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Posted 30 August 2009 - 11:18 PM

QUOTE (Cawdor @ Aug 29 2009, 06:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Notice that clove oil is classed as a poison, so you should avoid direct contact. I bought a small bottle from a pharmacy for $13.


I don't mean to go off-topic, but clove-oil is used in dentistry (as a pulpal anaesthetic) and as a food flavouring. The poison classification is a safety requirement only, and for most purposes the oil is safe to handle, and to use (judiciously) as a flavouring.
It can usually be purchased considerably cheaper from a purveyor of essential oils.Be sure to keep it in a dark bottle, away from light and atmospheric exposure, both of which will cause darkening, and other undesirable changes.

Syd.

#3 Poncho

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Posted 03 September 2009 - 04:21 PM

So if you don't add vodka or put in the freezer - can you return the fish to a tank with no side-effects?

Just wondering if this might be useful for other purposes that involve handling fish for extended periods.

#4 Cawdor

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Posted 03 September 2009 - 04:24 PM

Actually I have read that vets use clove oil to anesthetize fish, then perform any procedure and transfer them into normal tank water where they recover.
Maybe the FishVet can confirm this?

#5 mick

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Posted 07 September 2009 - 05:46 AM

QUOTE (Cawdor @ Sep 3 2009, 04:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Actually I have read that vets use clove oil to anesthetize fish, then perform any procedure and transfer them into normal tank water where they recover.
Maybe the FishVet can confirm this?

Yes they use clove oil alot for arrowanas.

When catching or when trimming fins etc.

I have heard of it used when trimming gill curl, not something i would do myself but i might think about it when netting my big fish out next time..

There is a video on youtube the dude had it in a small squirt bottle and just squirted it infront of the arrows nose until it was calm enough.

#6 globaljat

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Posted 11 September 2009 - 10:22 AM

clove oil is not poison for sure. i have used it many times for the pain in my tooth. it has no side effects.

#7 Cawdor

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Posted 11 September 2009 - 10:49 AM

I'm just stating what is on the bottle and it says "Poison" and to avoid direct contact. In my opinion it is better for people to be careful and treat it with caution rather than handling it casually and possibly incurring an injury.

#8 Warby

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Posted 11 September 2009 - 01:32 PM

http://caligula.bcs......Clove oil.pdf

Clove Oil MSDS.. According to this you should be using a respirator, gloves and goggles while handling.. You'd be amazed just how hazardous some common household chemicals seem when you read the MSDS tongue.gif

-Dave

#9 ado

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Posted 11 September 2009 - 01:37 PM

While researching some completely unrelated material I came across a bit of research that may be of interest to some.
It's a paper titled "Testing clove oil as an anaesthetic for long-distance transport of live fish: the case of the Lake Victoria cichlid Haplochromis obliquidens"
It adds to the discussion of using clove oil as an anesthetic during handling of fish.

I've copy pasted part of the abstract below:
Clove oil can be used as an anaesthetic in the handling of marine and freshwater fish. Few studies report on its use for periods up to 48 h, for example, under long-distance transport conditions. This study tested the effect of different clove oil concentrations for 1–48 h on recovery and survival of the cichlid Haplochromis obliquidens, an ornamental fish species endemic to Lake Victoria. Haplochromis obliquidens were anaesthetized for 1 h using 5–25 μl L−1 clove oil. There was no correlation between clove oil concentration and post-anaesthesia recovery time (P = 0.15). On average, fish recovered within 9.5 ± 2 min, and no fish died within 24 h after recovery. Results from exposure of fish to 18–20 μl L−1 clove oil for up to 48 h suggested a narrow margin of safety as this concentration range induced mortality. At 18 μl L−1 recovery times ranged from 3 to 43 min between 24 and 36 h exposure, while fish exposed longer than 36 h recovered within 1–10 min, or within 1–2 min after 44–48 h. At the end of a 48-h transport experiment total ammonia levels were higher in transport water containing anaesthetized fish than for non-anaesthetized fish. The combined use of clove oil and the selective ammonium ion exchanger zeolite was considered feasible as ammonia levels could be reduced by up to 82% compared to control bags without zeolite.

Cheers, Ado


#10 Jeromy_Syndrome

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Posted 12 September 2009 - 06:22 PM

When i was doing work experience in the aquaculture industry i found out that clove oil is used extensively as an anesthetic for fish as a cheaper option to certified brands. Fish did recover quickly when in use but overdosing sometimes caused mortalities. Higher O2 content in the water ensured a safer process and increased the fish's recovery.

just my 2c

Jeromy

#11 tranced

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Posted 14 January 2010 - 04:08 PM

err can you use methylated spirits instead of vodka?? i dunno what monstrositys you guys have in your liquor cabinets, but wouldnt metho be far cheaper and more effective?

#12 Hydonia

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Posted 14 January 2010 - 04:10 PM

Don' tknow about metho, but clove oil is what I use, buy it from a chemist, and it is only about 8 bucks a bottle and lasts a LONG time.

#13 Cawdor

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Posted 14 January 2010 - 04:27 PM

Putting them in the freezer after treating with clove oil is the cheapest method. Putting the fish in solvent could get messy.... wacko.gif

#14 Anita ozfish

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Posted 16 February 2010 - 04:04 PM

Is this how they catch marine fish? With clove oil? I had heard that whatever they use when catching marines has a long term detrimental effect on the fish. Any salt water catchers here??
I think it would be fine if you wanted to put your fish down but I would be reluctant to use it at any other time wacko.gif

#15 ado

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Posted 16 February 2010 - 04:24 PM

Do you mean catching marine fish from the wild?

I know someone who does that for the aquarium trade. They use divers and fine nets, not any oil to my knowledge

#16 Iamsam

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Posted 16 February 2010 - 04:38 PM

some imported marine fish are caught using cyanide gases, however any self respecting marine store will refuse to stock these and only sell hand caught marine fish, all australian marine fish are hand caught as far as i know, unfortunately there is no real way to know if the fish has been caught with cyanide or by hand, except to ask your LFS, hopefully most would tell you the truth and you usually get what you pay for, hand caught is usually more time and effort so are generally slightly more expensive , and yes cyanide gas has a detrimental affect on the fish's long term health
more in depth info about it HERE

#17 Anita ozfish

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Posted 17 February 2010 - 10:13 AM

Thanks guys - net catching sounds much better biggrin.gif
It must have been the cyanide story that I had heard - BOOO HISSSS angry.gif

To put fish down I normally just put them in a bag and then the freezer - or feed them off.
Was not familiar with the clove oil

#18 Hydonia

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Posted 17 February 2010 - 10:58 AM

Hi Anita,

the reason you should use something like clove oil is because freezing to death would not be a pleasant experience. Think of your fish already stressed out, temperature slowly dropping.....

Atleast if you OD them slowly on clove oil its just like putting them to sleep. Then chuck them in the freezer to make sure, at least then you don't have to think of them suffering. You only need a few drops of oil for it to be effective so it doesn't cost allot either.

#19 joey

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Posted 17 February 2010 - 11:16 AM

i heard that freezing them actually puts them in a peaceful state of mind. (this is just what i heard).
that is how i kill the crayfish we catch, it is the only way we make sure the cray is actually dead, and didnt feel to much pain during it.

sounds horrific, buts thats my input.
thanks joe

#20 Guest_Fish-lips_*

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Posted 23 March 2010 - 04:00 PM

Hey guys when i get a mass spawning of the koi im always culling so i get fry about 50 at a time in the blender and feed it to my plants great for them and also quickly done, i prefer to use M.S.222 to do small surgery on my bigger koi i use cloves too
these are all to be used with caution as i have learnt in the past timing has to be spot on




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