Here is an excerpt from an article I've read. Pick your poison.
Only a year or so ago putting them in boiling water or leaving them in the refrigerator would be considered ok. Both of the above can be painful, although the boiling is very quick.
I have favored a super cold ice solution as quicker and less stressful than the slow freezing of a fish put in the refrigerator. Now I have to reconsider this too.
Some people are repulsed by the violence of pulling the fish on a hard surface and making a quick knife cut to the brain. Likewise hurling the fish at a cement wall is quick, but unpopular.
Decapitation can also be quick and effective. But sometimes the disconnected body doesn't know that it is dead and this can be very disturbing to the aquarist.
Suffocation in soda water has been used too.
Clove oil is gaining acceptance with some aquarists as an accessible and relatively inexpensive anesthetic. Use a drop at a time until the fish is asleep.
One source suggested "Start with 5 drops per gallon and wait about 10 minutes if (the) fish has't gone over on it's side or is deep enough to be worked on add 2-3 more drops per gallon and wait tem more minutes." Clove oil sometimes is labeled "Eugenol" It can usually be found in most large pharmacies and health food stores in liquid form in small bottles. In one case a guy found it in a drug store as "Red Cross Toothache Medication."
Only a year or so ago putting them in boiling water or leaving them in the refrigerator would be considered ok. Both of the above can be painful, although the boiling is very quick.
I have favored a super cold ice solution as quicker and less stressful than the slow freezing of a fish put in the refrigerator. Now I have to reconsider this too.
Some people are repulsed by the violence of pulling the fish on a hard surface and making a quick knife cut to the brain. Likewise hurling the fish at a cement wall is quick, but unpopular.
Decapitation can also be quick and effective. But sometimes the disconnected body doesn't know that it is dead and this can be very disturbing to the aquarist.
Suffocation in soda water has been used too.
Clove oil is gaining acceptance with some aquarists as an accessible and relatively inexpensive anesthetic. Use a drop at a time until the fish is asleep.
One source suggested "Start with 5 drops per gallon and wait about 10 minutes if (the) fish has't gone over on it's side or is deep enough to be worked on add 2-3 more drops per gallon and wait tem more minutes." Clove oil sometimes is labeled "Eugenol" It can usually be found in most large pharmacies and health food stores in liquid form in small bottles. In one case a guy found it in a drug store as "Red Cross Toothache Medication."
