What Do You Do With Dead Fish?

[Inchworm]

Waste basket or toilet, whichever is closer to the tank it's coming out of. When I flush it gets taken to a sewer processing plant so no worry about spreading disease.

 

[ian]

i mount mine and they are all above my fireplace.


j/k

wrapped in paper and in the bin.

 

[kelly528]

I prefer to trash mine; anyone who knows a thing or two about waste treatment or bacteria knows that there is a big difference between the bacteria that break down predigested food and the bacteria that break down rotting meat. Guess which one they don't treat sewage with. It's a crap shoot, we already know the story with how prescriptions that end up in the sewer affect fish.

Some jurisdictions actually ban the disposal of dead animals in the trash, however, I have emailed my city about what they actually want us to do with dead fish but they never got back to me.

I have also heard of people burying their fish at the bottom of a flowerpot then putting a nice plant/flower over top of it. Then every time you see the plant it will remind you of your fish.... migt want to keep it outside for the first few weeks though!

And of course I never freeze or flush live fish.

 

[Bebobb]

Thats rubbish! Where do you think your poop goes - straight into the local waterways? Everything that is flushed goes to the sewage plant and is made safe - and thats where your flushed fish will go too!

Think about it .

Of course she knows poop goes down the loo too .

But tropical fish are shipped from all over the world, and often carry different diseases/parasites from those found here. Just because the fish is dead, doesn't mean the disease that killed it is. Even a fish that didn't die from a disease could easily still carry something.

Just look at the crayfish plague, or that virus grey squirrels carry. It doesn't effect the non-native animals because it has a resistance to it, but our native ones don't.

shut up its a load of bull theres nothing wrong with it

Chill out.

When one of my fish dies, I usually throw it in the trash. Or if it is a larger fish(more thatn 3") then I burry it in the back lawn.

 

[Gilli]

Thats rubbish! Where do you think your poop goes - straight into the local waterways? Everything that is flushed goes to the sewage plant and is made safe - and thats where your flushed fish will go too!

Think about it .

Of course she knows poop goes down the loo too .

But tropical fish are shipped from all over the world, and often carry different diseases/parasites from those found here. Just because the fish is dead, doesn't mean the disease that killed it is. Even a fish that didn't die from a disease could easily still carry something.

Just look at the crayfish plague, or that virus grey squirrels carry. It doesn't effect the non-native animals because it has a resistance to it, but our native ones don't.

You are totally missing the point here - the dead flushed fish wont go into the waterways......it will go to the sewage plant where chemicals are added to kill all germs and bacteria and its made safe. Therfore flushing it is safe - it cant pass anything on!

You are using squirrels and crayfish as an example but those are living things! Crayfish are put into rivers - we are talking about flushing DEAD fish into the sewer!

 

[Ryandsimmons]

well i cba to argue cant be asked

Can someone please translate this into english for me?

 

[jennybugs]

cba - can't be arsed

I have read this with interest. Most of my fish are big and I would be in all sorts of trouble if I tried to flush a big fat goldie carcass down the loo! I wrap them and bin the little'uns or wrap, freeze and then send the big'uns off to work with the OH to dispose of for me(I can't stand the thought of a much loved goldie or puffer or such being in my bin every time I walk past it to the doorstep).

 

[andywg]

Devil's advocate time!

Fish pathogens are water bourne (well duh), it's feasible for them to spread to the waterways. Unlikely, maybe, but there's a definite non-zero probability.

What do you do with your waste water from a water change then?

If the disease is such a risk that it can escape from a sewage pipe and get into the water ways, surely just putting the water into the sewer will also be bad.

And if you put on your garden then you are almost guaranteeing it will find its way into the open environment.

 

[BrianM41]

I bury them next to my rose bushes . Between that and using my fish water after a PWC makes for some beautiful plants .

 

[OohFeeshy]

What do you do with your waste water from a water change then?

If the disease is such a risk that it can escape from a sewage pipe and get into the water ways, surely just putting the water into the sewer will also be bad.

And if you put on your garden then you are almost guaranteeing it will find its way into the open environment.

Trust you to get involved... I never said it was a large risk, just 'non zero probability' which you can't say isn't true. I'd imagine a dead fish would have a higher pathogen concentration than water, and a dead fish in the sewer is a target for rats which could carry it to other bodies of water. Or... something. It's hypothetical.

 

[karin]

Keep in mind that many people have septic systems, so flushing could more easily release foreign bodies into the environment. In addition, so sewage treatment plants do a minimal treatment and then dump into waterways. I believe that Victoria Canada does this on a regular basis. Also in big storm events local sewage plants can be overwhelmed and then they dump raw sewage into the environment. Happenned in Seattle US on a regular basis during the rainy season.

 

[Cossie333]

just flush the fish if its small no harm

 

[Paradise3]

I freeze, Bury then dig up up and clean then i bury them in a certain plant pot which is empty atm Which is good. Phew. -wipes hand across forhead- Obviously baby fish get frozen then put in the bin.

Xxx~misscosmo~xxX

 

[doresy]

I have heard it all now

Flushing a fish is going to start a natural disaster?

So burying it would also allow 'stuff' to get into the environment also

So would putting it in the bin eventually

OMG better treat dead fish like nuclear waste!

What a load of *%"t

 

[Cossie333]

just flush it