CO2 is the cheapest and it's in your medicine cabinet-- Alka Seltzer. Just
a pinch, because too much will kill it. I'd test it on fish you don't care
about to get an idea of dosage. Depending on how much water you have, pinch
off a piece of a tablet and put it in the water with the fish. I recommend
not starting with the shallow tray or whatever you plan to photograph it in.
Anesthetize it in a deeper vessel, possibly with dark sides to calm the fish
and keep it from damaging itself, then when the fish turns on its side,
transfer it to the shallow vessel. You can use CO2 in the water in tray as
well, but keep an eye on the gills. If you don't see any opercular movement
get it in freshwater pronto (unless you don't mind killing it. Alka Seltzer
is a good way to euthanize fish, too.).
This all pertains to photgraphing live fish for ID purposes. You'll be able
to position the fish and photograph it from many angles and get a number of
key characters. I'm no expert, though, so I'd like to read other ideas.
Jay DeLong
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-nanfa_at_aquaria.net On Behalf
> Of CEFCHURCH_at_aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 1999 9:36 PM
> To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
> Subject: NANFA-- was Help with Unidentified fish;now anesthetizing fish
>
>
> In a message dated 10/13/99 9:24:55 PM US Central Standard Time,
> thirdwind_at_att.net writes:
>
> A better way to photograph a fish is to first anesthetize it, then
> photograph it on its side against a solid color background.
> From my limited
> experience, white is good for contrast as long as you're careful not to
> underexpose the fish. Maybe other people have better ideas.
>
> Jay DeLong
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