Culling your discus

[HappyFace]

Has anyone else culled their discus or tank mates? Any stories to share, please?

[Kyla]

I've tried numerous methods as I learned more in the hobby, some methods are more humane than others I think.

I now use a product called AquaSed which I highly recommend: http://www.vetark.co.uk/pages/Fish-Anaesthesia-anesthesia-with-Aqua-Sed.aspx?pageid=473

If you are in the hobby long enough, you will eventually find that you need a plan for euthanasia.

[HappyFace]

I've tried numerous methods as I learned more in the hobby, some methods are more humane than others I think.

I now use a product called AquaSed which I highly recommend: http://www.vetark.co.uk/pages/Fish-Anaesthesia-anesthesia-with-Aqua-Sed.aspx?pageid=473

If you are in the hobby long enough, you will eventually find that you need a plan for euthanasia.

Thank you for the recommendation and link, Kyla!

[Bizarro252]

Thankfully I have not had to use it on my Discus yet, but I have used it on angel fry and Mbuna - Clove oil, it works great and it wouldn't surprise me if its the active ingredient in that Aquased :)

First learned about if from Joey (DIYFishKeeper guy on youtube) - you can sedate them or if you need to euthanize just up the dose and leave them in the container. It seems to be painless, they dont seem to panic, etc.

[HappyFace]

Thankfully I have not had to use it on my Discus yet, but I have used it on angel fry and Mbuna - Clove oil, it works great and it wouldn't surprise me if its the active ingredient in that Aquased :)

First learned about if from Joey (DIYFishKeeper guy on youtube) - you can sedate them or if you need to euthanize just up the dose and leave them in the container. It seems to be painless, they dont seem to panic, etc.

Thank you for the suggestion Bizarro. :)

[Kyla]

I used clove oil prior to obtaining the AquaSed. Clove oil was also effective, but I prefer the AquaSed (it's more expensive tho). You got me wondering what the active ingredients were in the two products... here's what I could find.

For AquaSed:
Aqua-Sed is based on a well-tried and tested active ingredient, 2-phenoxyethanol, Aqua-Sed makes anaesthesia straightforward - easy dosing with a measuring pump. (http://www.vetark.co.uk/pages/Aqua-Sed.

And for clove oil:
There are three types of clove oil:[1]
- Bud oil is derived from the flower-buds of S. aromaticum. It consists of 60–90% eugenol, acetyl eugenol, caryophyllene and other minor constituents.
- Leaf oil is derived from the leaves of S. aromaticum. It consists of 82–88% eugenol with little or no eugenyl acetate, and minor constituents.
- Stem oil is derived from the twigs of S. aromaticum. It consists of 90–95% eugenol, with other minor constituents. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_of_clove)

There are also some comparisons online it seems:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0044848605001316
https://jifro.ir/browse.php?a_id=1352&sid=1&slc_lang=en

[HappyFace]

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing this Kyla. :)