From Stan & Debbie Hauter,
Your Guide to Saltwater Aquariums.
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At some point during the ownership of an aquarium, whether salt or freshwater, you are going to encounter a fish that is sick and dying from disease, old age, or has stopping eating altogether for any number of reasons. Many times, despite the healing efforts you make to save a fish like this, it cannot be saved. When this happens you have to make the choice of putting the fish out of its misery or watch it suffer.

Euthanasia can be a very sensitive, as well as a taboo subject to discuss for many people. The definition of euthanasia from the American Heritage Dictionary is, "the act of painlessly ending the life of a person for reasons of mercy." Pet euthanasia is the act of painlessly ending the life of a pet for reasons of mercy. People make this heart wrenching decision for cats, dogs and other pets all the time, so why not fish euthanasia to end a fish's needless suffering?

When any pet dies you have to deal with the grief of the loss. To complicate things even further, if you decide to euthanize a pet, you also have to deal with the guilt of having done so. Who wants to face the reality of that? Just like any other kind of pet, fish can be family members too. It is not unusual for aquarists to have fish friends that have been with them for many long years. They are truly loved, cherished, have distinctive personalities all their own, and the idea of loosing one may cause you to react in the natural instinct to hang on and not let go. But, is that fair to the fish? How long do you hang on in the hopes that it will get better? Wouldn't you think you should do the most humane thing you can do for the fish and not let it suffer needlessly, no matter how difficult it may be for you?

If you are not sure if fish euthanasia is appropriate, ask yourself these questions:

• Does my fish have a good quality of life?
• Has my fish been sick for some time?
• Have I exhausted all possible medication treatments for what ails my fish within a reasonable amount of time?
• Has my fish responded or shown any signs of improvement with treatment?
• Is my fish suffering?
• Has my fish been eating?
• Is my fish emaciated (nothing but skin and bones), starving to death?

By the way you answered these questions, you should know if it may be time to consider euthanizing your fish or not. If you decide this is the best way to go, of course you want to choose the most humane method possible, meaning one that is quick and painless, but this is where things can get even more controversial.

What may be considered to be humane to one person may not be to another. To me, flushing a still living fish down the toilet is totally out of the question. How humane is that, not to mention strangely enough as Shirlie Sharpe, About Guide to Freshwater Aquariums points out, possibly unsafe? We all know that if a fish is deprived of air it will suffocate. Is this humane? From my years as a youth fishing with my dad, and later years fishing with Stan for salmon in Washington State, they always knocked the fish on the head with the butt end of a knife. They said that it was not good to allow the fish to suffer by letting it thrash around gasping for air, and that by doing so the fish may poke you with a sharp spine causing injury to yourself as well. It was best to make it quick for them. So, is this humane or not?

The decision to practice fish euthanasia, as well as which method to use to end a fish's needless suffering is something only you can decide for yourself as humane, or inhumane. If you would like to share any input or discuss this topic with other aquarists,] go to the About Saltwater Aquariums Forums Board, and be sure to participate and/or view the current results of ourFish Euthanasia Poll.