Things You'll Need:
- Plastic cup big enough to fit the fish
- Water
- Clove Oil
- Vodka or Grain Alcohol
- Freezer
- Knife and Cutting Board
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Step 1
Choose which method of aquarium fish euthanasia you want to use: freezing, anesthetizing, or beheading. These are all acceptable, humane ways to euthanize your sick aquarium fish.
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Step 2
For the freezing method, scoop the sick aquarium fish out of the tank, place it in a plastic cup or container filled with tank water. Put this cup into your freezer and wait. The fish will fall into a stupor and expire. When it is frozen solid, dispose of the ice block in the garbage.
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Step 3
For the anesthetizing method, you also scoop the fish out of the tank and put it in a cup or container filled with tank water. Then, drop in a few drops of clove oil. This numbing oil can be found in most drug stores or pharmacies. Either keep dosing with clove oil until dead, or pour in vodka or grain alcohol to complete the kill after the fish is anesthetized.
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Step 4
For the beheading method, simply take the fish out of the tank and - very quickly - chop its head clean off with a sharp knife. You might want to anesthetize the fish first with clove oil.
