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Every once and a while , every aquarist has tried to help a

sick fish and failed , and seemingly sent the fish into the long swim

to death . Out of empathy for the fish , and all of its suffering ,

you decide to euthanize your fish . But as with anything that comes to

personal opinion , this is a well debated subject . These are all the

methods that I have been told and/or have used .

CLOVE OIL & VODKA

The best method that I have found to date is a clove oil/vodka

mixture added to some aquarium water . A mixture of 2 ml of clove oil

mixed with 8ml of vodka (the vodka breaks up the oil so it'll mix

with water) will be the cocktail that puts your fishy friend down for

the sleep . You must pre-mix these two ingredients before you add it

to the water , if not the solution will not mix with the water evenly

thus making pockets of clove and vodka . These pockets will stress

your fish out , making the death very terrifying to the fish thus

nullifying the reason for choosing this method .So add the pre-mixed

mixture into one gallon of the fishes tank water in a bowl or bucket

and mix for a few moments . When this is all done and ready ,

retrieve the fish from its home , and gently place the fish in the

solution . Upon doing this the fish should swim around for a moment or

two , but movement should slow quite quickly until , no movement

occurs . Now I have found that occasionally after being still for a

few seconds a fish may suddenly jolt forward , this is normal and not

a sign , that your fish is a "fighter" and should given a second

chance . It is a normal unconscious reflex action when approaching

death . But after all is said and done the fish should obtain a

restful sleep it will never awake from . To be safe I always left fish

in the solution for an hour before discarding the body .

FLASH BOILING

When I first heard of this method , I had a betta with dropsy

and didn't want him to struggle so hard for the rest of his life so I

decided that I needed to euthanize him , this was the first time I

would decide to do this . So when looking on the internet I found this

method along with the rest in this article other than the clove oil

method . The flash boiling method seemingly made sense to me , take

boiling water , and throw your fish in there . I thought that the

water would be so hot that the fish would die instantly , but it

didn't , it swam around the pot one whole time . Now , you may tell me

, and I may already know this , that as stated above , that lap around

the pot was an involuntary muscle

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