Tropical Fish Forums

[Ellylove]

No one wants to talk about it, but we all have to do it. Culling. I hope to soon have many baby fishies swimming happily in my tank. The ones I don't plan to keep I will sell or give away but what do you do with those sub-standard fish? How do you humanly put them down? I've looked around and seen weird answers to this question such as :
Putting them in the freezer
Decapitation
Carbon Dioxide poisoning via alka seltzer
Snapping the neck
Death by Overdose with Anesthetics
Death by Injection - Barbiturates
and of course
The big FLUSH

What is the BEST and KINDEST way do dispose of bad spawn?
(I'm leaning towards the freezer...)



Yes, ALL of these methods are ACTUAL mothods people use! I'm shocked by some of them; particularly decapitation and snapping the next. These aren't salmon.
I got these from this site http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/81
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RIP Nibbles

[keeno]

Clove oil is the best, IMO because the fish just sort of drift off to 'sleep' and don't feel pain. I have decapitated large fish before - it's not pretty, but it's a lot more efficient when dealing with oscars and such.

I would definitely not recommend flushing. For a multitude of reasons.
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OM NOM NOM

[nes999]

I've heard of a vinger bath, I've heard of amonnia bath, heck I've heard of droping in sand and leaving out side. if the fish are big enough cook them some times I've heard a taser to the head gill reagon will knock it out and kill. I know of some that id rather not put on here.....
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WHY doesn't my flying fish fly?

[Grekki]

[Ellylove]

Where does one get clove oil?
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RIP Nibbles

[Tigerissey]

Chemists / pharmacies usually sell it in a small bottle, it is also used to dab onto teeth in humans and acts as an anaesthtic, I can confirm this tastes absolutley fowl and leaves most of the mouth a litlle numb.
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Tina

[mandle]

I have heard flushing is actually against the law in many areas if you are on city sewers as dead tropical fish can carry diseases/parasites that can travel through the system and end up in waterways thereby threatening native wild fish populations. If you have a simple rural septic tank system then flushing is fine - hopefully nothing is thriving in your septic tank for you to make ill!

[diademhill]

You missed out one of the quickest methods - bag & brick.

Put the fry in a net, tip into a polybag without water and bash with a heavy object.
I use this for small fish and decapitate larger fish.

Freezing is, IMO, inhumane unless it is used after anesthesia to make sure the fish is dead.

[Ellylove]

[nes999]

frezzing would be humane as long as you had water because cold makes all animals want to sleep so it would fall asleep then......not wake up
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WHY doesn't my flying fish fly?