Unlike veterinary anaesthetics, clove oil is readily available from most chemists. Around 0.4ml of clove oil per litre of aquarium water is sufficient to cause death in exposed fish. The clove oil should be mixed with a little warm water first before slowly adding it to the aquarium water containing the fish.
Fill the container with water from your tank and add 4 drops of clove oil. Note: This is for fish less than 4 inches in length, increase the amount of drops for larger fish. Put a lid on it and give the container a good shake, until the water turns a milky white color.
Freezing is a commonly used method for euthanizing warm water fish. To freeze your fish, freeze water in a small bag until it becomes slushy. Next, place your fish in the water and continue to freeze it.
The Clove Oil Method
Clove oil is a great method for euthanizing fish. It is highly recommended for its peaceful nature, as the clove oil acts as a sedative and puts the fish to sleep. Using this method, it is highly likely that your pet will not feel any pain, though that fact cannot yet be proven.
In case you have a bigger fish, more species, or do not have enough clove oil, then adding Alka Seltzer tablets to the unconscious fish is a humane way to put them down. This is a great option for euthanizing the fish at home since both clove oil and Alka Seltzer are readily available.
Clove oil is used as a fish anesthetic because it is a natural and inexpensive product with low toxicity risks.
Clove oil is an effective, local and natural anaesthetic. Many hatcheries and research studies use clove oil to immobilize fish for handling, sorting, tagging, artificial reproduction procedures and surgery and to suppress sensory systems during invasive procedures.
One of the safer chemical anesthetics that can be used in anesthetizing fish is sodium bicarbonate. It is also known as baking soda and when dissolved in water, it liberates carbon dioxide, which has an anesthetic effect on fish (Bowser 2001).
In high enough doses, it is toxic to humans. Case studies have been reported involving the ingestion of toxic amounts of clove oil (10-30 ml, or roughly 2-6 teaspoons). Symptoms include agitation, declining consciousness, and coma.
When Disease occurs: The most appropriate time to consider euthanasia, is when a disease occurs. In cases when diseases are highly contagious, or very hard to treat or even untreatable, then the old adage of one bad apple in the barrel, can be synonymous with one sick fish in the tank.
Tie it up in a bin bag and place it in the waste. You can bury fish in the garden although make sure you bury it deep enough to stop foxes digging it up, or cats. If your local fish store has asked to see the corpse keep it in the freezer as dead fish rot and smell very quickly.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) accepts rapid chilling in an ice bath with water that is 2°-4°C for euthanasia of zebrafish. The fish may then be disposed of properly (no transgenic animals down the drains) and humanely.
Dilute your Pure Clove oil by mixing it with a carrier oil like coconut oil or pure olive oil. Mix 5-6 drops with 50ml of a carrier oil of your choice. Gently massage into your scalp and hair with the tips of your fingers and leave overnight.
Why Is My Fish Swimming Upside Down? If your fish is swimming upside down, it has a problem with its swim bladder. Your fish has stopped being able to control its swim bladder and has got stuck with too much air inside it. The reason for this could be constipation, a poor diet, eating habits, or an infection.
Most dying fish can be easily revived with changes to the water. Maintaining water quality is essential to keeping your fish happy and healthy—and alive. You can buy a fish tank water testing kit at most pet stores. These tests can help you identify any problems with the water, such as high ammonia.
If fish are experiencing acute stress (i.e., gasping up at the surface, lying on the bottom and not moving, or darting around the aquarium), you can be pretty sure that the water has been poisoned in some way. Maybe cleaning sprays got into the aquarium, or something released toxins into the water.
Clove oil is a sedative which at high doses, can be used to euthanase small fish. Unlike veterinary anaesthetics, clove oil is readily available from most chemists. Around 0.4ml of clove oil per litre of aquarium water is sufficient to cause death in exposed fish.
The thought went that when a fish is gill hooked or gut hooked, you could pour Coke on the wound to stop the bleeding. The soda provided a combination of carbonation and acid to clean and cauterize the sore, saving the fish from bleeding out.
Reduced growth rate has been reported in fish treated with high doses of hydrogen peroxide (Speare et al. 1999). In addition, damage to the gills has been reported in some species when hydrogen peroxide has been administered at high or lethal concentrations.
Improper clove oil use can decrease fish viability, distort physiological data or result in mortalities.
To euthanize koi: Add 20-25 drops per liter of Clove oil to the bucket. It will send the fish into a peaceful deep sleep, from which it will not regain consciousness and will pass away painlessly and with the least stress.
The effect of clove oil as an anesthetic plays a sufficient role in the red spotted grouper, Epinephelus akaara. As the water temperature and concentration increased, both the anesthetic time reduced and the recovery time increased.