Does Anyone Do Funerals Or Something Special For Their Dead Fish?

I will be putting my sick betta fish, Pearl, to sleep come Saturday due to her having a large tumor on her head that has been causing lots of problems for her (she's blind in one eye, she has trouble breathing air from the surface, that sort of thing). Pearl is a beloved pet of mine (the first fish I kept as a serious fishkeeper), so I wanted to do something special for her aside from just burying her.

This got me wondering if anyone else does something special for their fish when they die. Do you give them heartfelt eulogies before you say goodbye? Do you bury them under homemade headstones in the backyard? I'm curious.

 

ive never done any funeral or the like for any previous fish but I was never serious about the hobby until last year. I would probably get a little headstone or marker of some sort so I know where they are buried (I'm not one for speeches lol)

 

My three favorites all got their names painted on rocks which was them sprayed with a clear coat of spray paint (don't want the paint coming off and hurting the environment!!) on top of the spot they were buried in the garden.
one of them is my boy in my picture

 

@madelyn.anne I know you do!

 

My three favorites all got their names painted on rocks which was them sprayed with a clear coat of spray paint (don't want the paint coming off and hurting the environment!!) on top of the spot they were buried in the garden.
one of them is my boy in my picture

That's such a lovely idea. I wish I would of thought of that for my first betta, who is just buried under an unpainted limestone. I'm sorry for your loss...the betta in your profile pic is gorgeous

 

I recently just lost one of my absolute favourite fish in a horrible messy way. It happened in the middle of the night, so honesty I didn’t know what was happening. When it (kinda) kicked in what was going on, I just ended up throwing him in the garbage. When it *really* kicked in, I had a full on panic attack because the chewed up hotdog the cat was chewing on at the foot of my bed was actually my headless dojo loach. Long graphic story made short, full fledged panic attack that ended with me having to call my parents at 2 am because I stopped breathing every time I tried to calm myself down.

I might still do something for Diego come spring, but I dread the day my goldfish dies. I will not be going to work that day I will be such a mess. Diego I’ve had for a year, but Jupiter I’ve had for 9. It’s gonna be ugly.

 

ive never done any funeral or the like for any previous fish but I was never serious about the hobby until last year. I would probably get a little headstone or marker of some sort so I know where they are buried (I'm not one for speeches lol)

I feel that. I've only recently gotten serious in the hobby as well (it'll be a full year come April).

 

I do funerals, I did a fish funeral for my beautiful Arrowana Bean (my female betta) recently. I don't keep schools or communities, so every single fish is a precious pet.

I am very sorry about your loss. I'm sure she made your life special, so it follows that you should do something special in her memory.

 

I recently just lost one of my absolute favourite fish in a horrible messy way. It happened in the middle of the night, so honesty I didn’t know what was happening. When it (kinda) kicked in what was going on, I just ended up throwing him in the garbage. When it *really* kicked in, I had a full on panic attack because the chewed up hotdog the cat was chewing on at the foot of my bed was actually my headless dojo loach. Long graphic story made short, full fledged panic attack that ended with me having to call my parents at 2 am because I stopped breathing every time I tried to calm myself down.

I might still do something for Diego come spring, but I dread the day my goldfish dies. I will not be going to work that day I will be such a mess. Diego I’ve had for a year, but Jupiter I’ve had for 9. It’s gonna be ugly.

Goodness, that sounds awful! I'm sorry you had to go through that.

 

Goodness, that sounds awful! I'm sorry you had to go through that.

Yeah that was the que to go retry those anti-anxiety meds. The part that makes this whole thing worse is that dojo’s are illigal in Manitoba. I can’t even get more if I wanted to. (And then my other idiot blonde loach got stuck in a pot not even 24 hours later and I thought SHE was gonna die)

It’s SO hard loosing pets, even if they are “just fish”.

 

I'll lose it over Melvin (GBR) the betta, or my platy Phyllis. Even my schoolers I get a little sad.
I'm a flusher, so before I flush them, I'll look at the body and say something like "Bye, Colombian tetra. You were a good fish."

 

I do funerals, I did a fish funeral for my beautiful Arrowana Bean (my female betta) recently. I don't keep schools or communities, so every single fish is a precious pet.

I am very sorry about your loss. I'm sure she made your life special, so it follows that you should do something special in her memory.

I tried keeping a small school of neon tetras once. I honestly prefer to just keep single fish...I feel like I actually bond with them better, if that makes sense. I'm sorry for your loss, I can tell Arrowana Bean meant a lot to you.
And yes, Pearl brought a lot of joy into my life. I know it sounds corny, but when I first got her, we instantly clicked, and I knew she was the one I needed to take home. Now that she's going to be gone, I want to make sure she is treated well, even after death.

 

I share those exact feelings, and it's exactly how I'd expect anyone to feel about a living creature that made you happy just by existing. Pearl sounds very special on her own merit and very special to you, which is how I know she had a great life. She'll swim in peace and with dignity and that's very respectful and kind of you. Make her proud.

 

@madelyn.anne I know you do!

LOL DaleM yes I do! Well, I don't do full on funerals, no - but my Mum is a huge animal lover as I am, and growing up she always made caskets for my animals who'd passed. She's continued to do that even today, with my fish. She takes old Altoid's boxes and lines them with gauze, then we place the poor fishy in there and put it in a ziploc baggie, and duct tape the outside to make sure it's really sealed.

Currently, we have an ADF, two Bettas, and 3 White Skirt Tetras in my front yard. We buried them. Put pretty little marbles and pebbles on top. But I have 22 fish currently, and are already out of space out front so we've decided to transfer them to a "tomb" (lol) made out of a coffee can. We'll take the caskets and fill the coffee can(s) and then bury the cans. On top, instead of continuing the old tradition of choosing an individual pebble or rock that suited their colors/personality, we got an uncracked geode, cracked it ourselves, and will place that along with cool marbles and stones on top.

I love my fishies, and would never ever flush them or discard them like that. I think any living creature deserves a proper burial, especially one that you cared for as a pet.

I do have an Angelfish who's currently 3.5" tip to tip, so a bit too large for an Altoid's box...he's obviously still growing, and he'll get to be a very big boy. When that sad day comes, I'm not too sure what we'll come up with for him, but I'm sure we'll find something suitable.

My Mum has even thought about starting a side business in pet caskets, lol. She's a pro at this point.

 

My funeral visitors for fishes are assassin snails and shrimps they always came and I guess they will come
My assassins devoured a full grown dead rummy nose tetra in 4 hours and leave nothing from its corpse for me to pick I know it is creepy and sometimes disgusting but that’s the mother of nature funeral