most humane way to kill a suffering fish?

[reefaddict]

put it in a light socket and turn the switch. if it is good enough for john wayne gacy it is good enough for a fish.

 

[Krish]

Take it back to the beach and let it go. Oh sorry..Not everyone can do that(LOL). I'd just feed it to an Oscar, piranha, cat etc...Atleast let someone eat it! Just the Circle of life and makes a great show!(LOL)

 

[steve-s]

Actually you shouldn't release animals back into the wild after any time in captive care. You run the risk of introducing pathogens that the natural ecosystems may not be able to cope with. As cruel as it may sound, the animal should be destroyed if it cannot be kept. A poor adage but.. "the good of the many vs the good of the few..."

Cheers
Steve

 

[Krish]

Just curious Steve, but do you think you develop things (pathogens)within a tank that would not be developed in the wild and also, with how big the ocean is, do you think it could spread that quickly to cause any major damage! If so, I definately will not put them back into the water. Also, do you think the change in salinity will kill any of these things? I've heard before that changing the salinty kills certain things on a fish and I keep my salinity at 1.023 however, our waters here in the Bahamas is about about 1.028-9.

 

[steve-s]

In terms of fish health, 1.023 is of no concern. The drop from 1.028 to where you keep your tank won't bother them much either, it's increases that cause the damage so if not acclimated slowly on the increase it will cause damage. Keep in mind as well, SG is relative to the tempurature and how it's measured. Density is a better reference.

In terms of the SG (1.023) killing anything, definately not at those levels. A salinity of 16 ppt minimum is needed for most that are actually affected by osmotic pressures to begin with. Some parasites can actually survive in full freshwater for several hours.

The damage caused may be minimal but I would think any damage caused by the return of a captive organism would be too much. Localized or widespread, if there is any possibility it should be avoided. Kind of a far reaching analogy but think of it in terms of when North America was colonized. Many natives did not have immunity to the many viral and bacterial problems common to Europe. Many died until they built up resistances. The same can happen when returning a captive species to the wild.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Krish]

Thanks for the info Steve...If ever I have resort to killing a fish, I'll tell him, before I do it, to blame you!(LOL ...Just kidding)

 

[Angelscrx]

Sounds like the freezer bag may be the most humane way to kill a sick or dying fish or atleast speed the process.

I understand the circle of life thing but doesn't eating something that is sick make the other fish sick as well?

 

[csoonng]

i also agree that the freezer bag may be the most humane way to kill a sick or dying fish. But im sorry to say that in my term, i would not do that as it might dirty my freezer, my own quickest way is just dispost it in to the dustbin, it only cost me 5 seconds to do so.

 

[Aquatic Guru]

If I was seeing my fish struggling to live in the tank, and I would assume he would be dead soon, I would scoop him out of the tank and put it in a styrofoam cup with saltwater and wait till it dies. Put it in the plastic bag and bury him.

 

[Guppy_girl]

I like th clove oil thing best... I have put fish into a small plastic cup (i've got guppies so they are fine in the cup) and put them into the freezer over night and then take them out the next morning, by then they are dead (though I would have to say, if a fish can live through that he deserves to live! haha) one time I also had a fish (I don't know what on earth happened to it but it's nose like... rotted off from it's eye down past its gillplates, and I just scooped up some snow in a cup and put the fish in it, it was just an experiment and I don't think that I would do it again... the fish kind of flopped around for a few seconds.... but, I think that the next time I have a fish that needs diposed of I will try the clove oil + freezing method.....

 

[shallowreef]

I'm sorry guys and gals but what ever happened to just flushing them down the toilet. Thats what i've done all my life. Unless you guys are trying to flush a shark or something its quick and painless for both of you. One flush and they're gone. Now i may look like a monster but i'm sorry thats just the way i've done it my whole life.

Sorry

 

[shallowreef]

How Ironic is this!!! After responding to this thread i went home for lunch and don't you know it one of my True Perculas was stuck to the intake of my Seio 820! i peeled him off and he was some what alive but all the other fish began to attack him. so i netted him and he is in a quarantine area in my tank. I got a feeling he is going to be flushed this evening. I guess god punished me for my cruel opinion. Oh well "live and learn" i guess.

 

[morgan]

who ever said fish cant feel pain i think is very wrong fish get scared thats an emotion and it take nerves to sense distressed fish in the water so why wouldnt these nerves cause pain thats why some fish can swim and touch corals and others cant
freezer bag is good did that for an urchin was sheading spines had little movement and didnt wanna just put it in the bin and wiggle around for an hour or so before death
although enchioderms have no brains so can they feel pain?

 

[steve-s]

Fish do not have the mental capacity for the emotion placed upon them. It is strictly an instinctual reaction. While I do very much support the need for compasion and responsible animal husbandry, it is we the hobbyist that feel the emotion, not the fish...

http://www.cotrout.org/do_fish_feel_pain.htm

Cheers
Steve

 

[shallowreef]

well put steve!!!

 

[morgan]

well thats funny cause my fish are pretty smart i can scoope any of my esablished fish in to a net wiht no struggle from them but to gold chromios KNOW im after them thye know there the only fish i want to catch
i mean i could shoot them with toothpicks in lacky bands if u reackon they wont feel anything so can dolphins feel pain cause dogs can and there both mammals
if they have nerves surely they feel pain

 

[steve-s]

Hmm... guess you didn't read the article :?:

Fish, dogs, dolphins, humans etal all have differently developed brains. This is where the emotional aspects of pain are distinguished. In higher life forms, the developement of the brains frontal lobe determines how an animal "feels" pain. The more developed the lobe is, the more it becomes an emotional response. Since fish do not even have a frontal lobe, it is impossible for them to feel the emotional aspects of "pain" and is therefore simply a stimulus response.

Cheers
Steve

 

[moortim]

Since half of us are just throwing out ideas, how about a microwave?
That would work.

 

[morgan]

stimulas response so the fish is still feeling eg. if u have ever dived alot of caves and snuck up on sleeping fish just a slight touch of the finger and they shot away faster then anything if they can feel that im sure it would feel a a spear gun in the side and not being able to breath properly because of high salinity levels if a fish can be stressed it can feel pain after all being stressed is an emotion

 

[steve-s]

Since half of us are just throwing out ideas, how about a microwave?
That would work.

It is also not a constructivce addition to this thread...

Cheers
Steve