KonaBoy

What do you do with the body? When I've had fish die, they've been under "warranty", so PetSmart disposes of the body, but I was wondering what other people do? I'm in Residence so I can't really bury my fish like I used to at home, so what do you do? Sorry if this is a touchy subject. Thanks,

Cory

sirdarksol

However, for many of us, this isn't a matter of "use". It's a matter of love for our companions and the comfort it gives us to provide a decent rest after death. For still others, it is a matter of use, in which case, discarding the fish is a waste.

I bury my fish like you used to (each fish is under a different plant. I'll be busy planting next month. I had a bad winter). In an apartment, what you should do depends on how sentimental you are regarding the body after death. If you have plants (preferably one with a big pot, and not indoors if you have cats), you could bury the fish several inches into the planter. It will provide food for the plant.
If you aren't that sentimental, there is absolutely nothing wrong with putting the fish in the trash.

KonaBoy

I have no plants, and my trash (mostly paper and old wrappers and such) doesn't get empited too much. I might freeze one if they dies, then bury them this summer.

sirdarksol

Always another possibility. I have my fish in a freezer right now. (If you can, wrap the fish in paper or paper towels, then seal them in a ziplock bag. They can cause a freezer to smell if left exposed).

COBettaCouple

I'd agree that it depends on how you feel personally. Flushing, burying or putting a dead fish in the trash are all fine. (I'd take the trash out right away though.)

We bury ours when we can.

Peterpiper

We have a garden in our front yard. that has a bird bath with a water fountain. this is where our passed pets rest.

Allie

We live in a building where flushing is our only option. Tho there are a couple of frozen piranha in our freezer waiting to be buried in my parents yard, along side my cat, Winston RIP. They were a bit big to be flushed.

mrsmuffin

The first time I read that I thought that the cat was in the freezer too...

Halibut

Planting would work except everyone allows thier cats to roam free(which I am against BTW) in our community. The result would be dead fish all over the place except for where they were buried.

Phishies Inn

I would bury them but here in Virginia we don't have dirt, we have clay :| And I can't bury the fish deep enough that my dog won't find them later I usually just end up flushing them...sometimes I feel a bit like they deserve more but meh. It's really up to you! Personally I think the idea of burying them near plants is a great idea...gives the plants some nutrients and the cycle of life and etc

Lucy

I have clay also, hard in the winter..tough as cement in the summer, so I flush. I do say a few nice words about what a great fishie it was.

Morph

oh god when i firwst read your post i thought winston was in your freezer waiting to be burried too, i was all like ugh.......

beginnerfishlover

I have just thrown them away. I used to have goldfish and I remember flushing them. But, I never went as far as to have a ceremony or anything. :P

andy65

When my GBR died I buried him by our apple tree.

If I like the fish and attached to it I bury it,if not then down the toilet it goes.

chickadee

We once had a member who went out and purchase a large clay pot and buried her loved bettas in it and bought some decorative small stones at the gardening store to use as small gravestones on the dirt. She did not plant plants in it but I see no reason why there could not be a plant in the pot with them if it would seem appropriate to the one doing the memorial pot. I thought it was a wonderful idea.

There is one caution about flushing a fish who has died of some disease process. This releases the disease process into the rivers and streams among the wild fish and is not fair to do to them. If you even think that the fish is dead due to disease, it should not be flushed.

Rose

I believe the stones just said "Love" and "Peace" and other sentiments of that nature on them and they were the size of the fish in question. It was very touching.

Lucy

Wow, thanks Rose, I never gave this a thought. I would however think that the waste water is treated.
Consider all the people who flush old medication.

sckrik

i thought i was crazy when i put our precious rocky in the freezer because we weren't going to be near a river or stream for a few days. he's still there and may be for a while.

we like to release the fish in a river or stream, which is more like it's natural habitat. we're newbies, so fortunately have only had to do this a few times.

sirdarksol

Rose and Lucy:
There is a definite concern about waste products going into waterways. Yes, the stuff is treated (I think the current tactic usually involves UV sterilization before it goes through chemical removal of ammonia followed by nitrification), but there is always the possibility of something getting through.
Meds are a whole other problem. There are cities that are finding recognizable amounts of antibiotics (low concentrations, so enough to build disease resistance, but not enough to actually affect disease), estrogen, and psychoactive meds in tap water. Before completing the treatment process, these meds (as well as toxic chemicals like bleach) can have an effect on the biological treatment center, making it less effective, the same way that a dose of bleach or antibiotics can un-cycle your tank.

sckrik, I would be concerned about the same things that Rose was concerned in flushing fish. If your fish died of a tropical disease, it's possible that you could be spreading a disease to an ecosystem unprepared for it. The sentiment is beautiful, and I've thought about it a few times, but I think that burying near water is the closest I would come to that.

Lucy

Thank you for that info, sirdarksol, I think I heard on the news recently about cities in Colorado having that problem with their tap water. Scary thought.

no more flushing for me.

sirdarksol

I think the current suggested method is to put the meds in a baggy, get them wet, seal the baggy, and discard them in the trash. Of course, this is putting them in a landfill. Hopefully hazardous materials collection agencies will start dealing with them.

Lucy

You're right..I recently spoke to my pharmacist about discarding meds and thats what he advised.....he also said put old coffee grounds in the bag.

Kevin353

we always flushed our fish until one of them got to big to flush so i barried it in the front yard. my cat didn't dig it up thank god (wasn't thinking of that when we did it).

ER9

i bury mine in my house plant a couple inches down and my cat never recognizes they are there. might be time for you to buy a house plant :P

COBettaCouple

We liked to bury our lost Bettas (and other special fish) under flowering trees when we were in Florida. Since we won't be having a yard anytime soon here, I like that idea; just hope we won't have to use it for a while.

Lucy

I mentioned this post to my husband.

We both agreed we couldn't just flush Prissy Fish (my betta) when she passes (which I hope isn't anytime soon) that we will bury her.

bert2001

Ba-Woosh!!!

Bonochick

I buried all of mine, I was lucky that nobody died when the ground was frozen during this past winter. However...I had a fish die when I was out of town. My boyfriend thinks it's silly that I bury them, so I know he didn't bury her. I asked him what he did with her, and he told me to not worry about it and that he took care of her. I have a feeling she ended up in the garbage. I felt bad, but I wasn't there, and I think the ground was frozen at the time anyway, so I guess I unfortunately would have ended up doing the same thing.

Annabelle

My mums garden is my pet graveyard. I bury all my pets including fish. My dog and cats do dig them up however so I put like six bricks over the grave and around it cause I have found that they have a rather hard time digging through bricks or large stones. Also, where the bricks meet are some convinient cracks for holding flowers (yes, I even do that). If you were worried about cats and you had a pot to bury them in you could put down a layer of large pebbles and that would probably keep you buried fishy safe.