[gzeiger]

When I saw Irate had posted I thought for sure he was going to advise just placing it in a standard aquarium and letting nature take its course.

Related to the original discussion, I've had some fish recover from terrible things by placing them in a 50 gallon plastic swimming pool on the porch with sunlight, algae and abundant live food (my mosquito pond normally). How does NANFA decide when a fish must be killed?

[lozgod]

schambers, on 29 January 2010 - 11:06 PM, said:

This is for cases where there is no other option, usually because the animal is sick and suffering.

ok, so why not just sell it on Aquabid anyway?

[Newt]

Lozgod- I hope you're kidding.

Gzeiger- It's going to be up to individual judgement every time, so I don't know that a set of guidelines will be all that useful. The fish's condition, it's value to you, the resources and knowledge you have available, and your optimism all play a part. You know when it's time to give up.

[jase]

gzeiger, on 08 February 2010 - 11:41 PM, said:

I've had some fish recover from terrible things by placing them in a 50 gallon plastic swimming pool on the porch with sunlight, algae and abundant live food (my mosquito pond normally). How does NANFA decide when a fish must be killed?

If I see a small fish simply gasping on the bottom and no longer swimming, it goes in the freezer. I've also euthanized a few fish with diseases/parasites that I wasn't equipped to treat and when I didn't have confidence the fish would recover recover on their own.

Unfortunately, I've also found it necessary to euthanize a few healthy fish that I simply wasn't able (willing?) to provide adequate conditions for. Before I even knew NANFA existed, I collected both a tiny smallmouth and largemouth bass. At that point I thought I would just release them when they got too big. 2 years later the fish were both 7" or so and my "big" tank was a 29g, and I was moving to a different state. By that time I was convinced that release isn't acceptable and wasn't prepared to upgrade my tank enough for black bass, so I euthanized them (clove oil). I did, however, preserve them in alcohol and ship them to my old college biology department (with permission) to be added to the fish teaching collection, which made me feel quite a bit better about it. It's an option worth exploring if you find yourself in a similar situation.

[lozgod]

Newt, on 09 February 2010 - 12:30 AM, said:

Lozgod- I hope you're kidding.

Gzeiger- It's going to be up to individual judgement every time, so I don't know that a set of guidelines will be all that useful. The fish's condition, it's value to you, the resources and knowledge you have available, and your optimism all play a part. You know when it's time to give up.

Of course I am.

I read through most of the thread but may of missed it. Where do you acquire MS-222?

[lozgod]

Nevermind. I reread through the thread and got my answer.

I do not know if this is realistic or not, but what about electrocution like when "shock fishing" or "electro-fishing", forget the term? Shock them to unconsiousness then decapitate them.

[Irate Mormon]

fundulus, on 08 February 2010 - 10:36 PM, said:

You have a rotovap, right?

Perhaps I could make one...

[fundulus]

Running electricity through water is a seriously dangerous proposition without the right equipment. Unless you have something like a Root-Smith electroshocker, I have to assume you're kidding again. A cheap, available euthanizing agent is to dissolve about 1 ml of clove oil in about 10 ml of alcohol such as isopropanol, and put about 1 ml of that in roughly 250 ml of water. Not only will fish die in it, they won't smell like dead fish...

[Irate Mormon]

fundulus, on 09 February 2010 - 07:55 AM, said:

I have to assume you're kidding again.

One should not assume...Thou knowest with whom thou dealest, Yes?

[icasey]

Freeze em. And if they weren't diseased, I unfreeze and chop them up to feed to my other alive fish. Little do they know it was their friend.