What Do You Do With Your Fish Once They Die?

I've had my tank going since January, and I experienced some deaths. My boyfriend tells me to flush them, but I've been burying them in the back yard. However, winter will be here soon, and the ground will be frozen. If one of them dies then, I will have to do something else.

So...what do you guys do?

 

I know it sound inhumane and a lot of people on here say that it's inhumane to flush them, but I flushed mine. I didn't have any other choice. I live in an upper condo so I have no back yard. I don't have space for a big planter to bury them in, so my last option would be to flush them. I'm not at all suggesting this of course. If you have the space you get a big planter and some dirt and bury them in that and make like a little memorial or something out of a rock.

Natalie

 

We don't have much space in the back garden, so I've only buried mine if it was a particularly large fish, or one that I had become attached to. Otherwise then yes, they have to be flushed

 

The ones I really love, I bury in the yard(bag 'em, throw 'em in the freezer, then bury 'em in the summer), the ones I can't tell apart ot don't love as much as some, I just flush 'em.
Tom

 

Unless they were too big, I used to flush them. But now my 5 year old son is more attached to my fish than I am (except Mr. Jones, he thinks plecos are scary looking, but I dig him and hope to have him many many more years.) So now if I loose one, we must have a proper burial for them or I'll never hear the end of it.

 

I bury them. The ground never freezes here....

 

You could bury them or you could put them in the freezer in a bag/baggie and right before you take the trash out toss them in it. If you have a large yard, like we do, we just toss them down in the woods.

 

They go in the garbage.

 

we buried ours in FL underneath trees in the back yard. here, we'll need to get a flower pot with some soil if we want to do that.

 

Normally they go in the garbage, but the last one had a funeral. We buried her in a little cardboard in the garden.

 

Normally they go in the garbage, but the last one had a funeral. We buried her in a little cardboard in the garden.

Was this one extra special?

 

Yeah, she was. I was in floods of tears for like two days last week. It really caught me by surprise. I had no idea I was THAT attached to her.

 

I usually toss them in the woods, as I'm surrounded by them on 3 sides, and fish are kind of hard on a septic system...could clog the field lines, so flushing is out.

 

Well, so far I've only had Neon Tetras die. They're very small as you know. So, I flushed them. I thought since they were already dead, they wouldn't know they were being flushed, lol No suffering or dying by flushing ... lol. So what difference would it make if I flushed them or buried them?

But, if any of my Angelfish died, I'd bury it, and not flush it. Firstly, because it would be too large to be flushed, and secondly, because I am very attached to my Angels and I'd want to give them a "proper" burial, heh Don't get me wrong, I love all of my fish the same, but Angels just seem so much more intelligent than all the other fish I have. I just wouldn't know how to flush them!

 

I toss them out of my window and with in few minutes some bird has a meal of it....natural disposal.

 

I toss them out of my window and with in few minutes some bird has a meal of it....natural disposal.

LOL, good way to put it, heh ...

 

But if the fish died of a disease, isn't it a small risk that this will spread the disease. For example, if it's a parasite that got it, and if the bird is a fish-eating bird, chance is that the digestive track of the bird is a part of the parasite's lifecycle. Isn't that a bit of a risk? Especially if it's a tropical fish and you don't live in a tropical area, then you actually risk introducing a problem.

Just so you know, this is just me playing worst-case scenario. I don't actually know whether this is a serious risk or not, but I would say it's a remote possibility so personally, am not sure I would do it.

My :

 

Isabella. I don't love all my fish the same, and I think that's OK. As long as we give all our fish our best shot, regardless of whether they're our favorite or not, right?

I think flushing (after death, of course, like you say) is fair enough. But like you said, if it's one you're really attached to, maybe a burial is more therapeutic for you. So you feel you can say proper good byes.

Well, so far I've only had Neon Tetras die. They're very small as you know. So, I flushed them. I thought since they were already dead, they wouldn't know they were being flushed, lol No suffering or dying by flushing ... lol. So what difference would it make if I flushed them or buried them?

But, if any of my Angelfish died, I'd bury it, and not flush it. Firstly, because it would be too large to be flushed, and secondly, because I am very attached to my Angels and I'd want to give them a "proper" burial, heh Don't get me wrong, I love all of my fish the same, but Angels just seem so much more intelligent than all the other fish I have. I just wouldn't know how to flush them!

 

Oh dear i'm sorry.

 

I throw mine into the flower beds, so they'll either get eaten by a bird or something, or rot into the ground. by the time I get to any dead fish in my tank they are half decomposed anyway (I do check the tanks thoroughly at feed times morning and night). I guess the other greedy fish/shrimp make a meal of them very quickly which is why I get 3/4 of a fish to dispose of rather than a whole one! I also think that when they go off to die they hide in the plants which is why they aren't immediately apparent to me.

 

I flush them. Florida don't really have sewer sytems (not here anyway). We got a drain feild (I think that's what it's called).

If they're too big I'll bury them. If I'm really attached to them, such as my clown, firefish, Blue tang, and now foxface rabbitfish, I wil bury them with little gravestones. Haven't had a fish that I was attached to die yet.

 

Apart from the odd special ones that are buried they go in the food recycling bin wrapped in tissue paper

 

We flush the small ones...can't leave a dead fish in a garbage bag around here. We live an apartment with 4 cats so....ewww.
A few times our cats have had tetra & danio jerky...the tetra who jumped tank end up behind it so it's a tasty snack for a nosey cat.

 

I buried two that died that I'd had for almost a year in our newly planted tree in our yard. I found some of the mollie fry that died and I did flush them. They were so small and there was not much left of them by the time I'd found them, not enough to really bury.

I too cried and cried when my first guppy, Mr. Darcy died back in July.. he was sick and I tried to nurse him back but he was just too sick...I felt a little silly but I had grown quite attached. It was other posters on here that made me feel better about feeling so sad...!!

 

yea, no need to feel silly to mourn a beloved pet.. fur, fins, feathers, etc.. it's our bond that makes them all pets.

we had a flower pot that we would put the dead fry in and it actually caused some (we thought) dead bulbs for aquarium plants to sprout and grow very well.