Euthanasia

[Mercado]

My Royal is very ill, and I'm starting to realise that he wont recover. I believe the best thing to do is to put him out of his misery. But what's the best way of doing that? I want him to hurt as little as possible.

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[William]

There are several ways. The most humane might be to fill a bowl with water, put it in the freezer until there is an ice crust. Break the crust and drop the pleco into the water. Since it is cold blooded it will fall asleep and die rather quickly.

You could also use boiling water.

What’s most humane depends one the size of the fish. Some methods are better for small fish, some for larger fish.

[Mercado]

I did the icy-water thing. Hopefully he didn't feel a lot before he fell asleep.
/Mercado

[CoryCat]

I know this post was ages ago, but I use clove oil to euthenase (sp?) 1 litre of water with 10-15 drops of clove oil, the fish goes to sleep and doesn't wake up, but I have not used this on a plceo and I heard there are some types of fish that try to fight the oil method, male bettas are one, but I don't know about plecos.

[William]

Hadn't heard of that method. Tanks for sharing.

[CoryCat]

Hadn't heard of that method. Tanks for sharing.

You are welcome, it is imo a very humane way of doing it, besides the freezing method, it is one to consider. :)

[Madc0ws]

I think plunging the fish into boiling water would be pure agony for a cold blooded creature at least for a couple of seconds till it would go into shock, the cold water makes more sense.

[William]

Yes. Thats why hot water only are suitabel for small fish. (that die instantly) It is not a human method for large and medium sized fish.