# Flush 'em or Bury 'em?



## Guest (Jul 3, 2006)

1. I flush them down the toilet. THEY ARE JUST FISH.
2. I bury them, poor guys ;[
3. I do both, depends on the size of them.
4. It depends on my mood.




I was wondering what everyone does with their fish when they die. I have never once in my whole life of fish-keeping, flushed one fish down the toilet. It is so inhumane. :chair: Anyway, What about you?


(By the way, poll got messed, that's why it's all ADSAHSFJK.)


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Depends on the size but if they are flushable, I flush. Its not inhumane if the fish is already dead.


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## northfacehiker (May 31, 2006)

Flush. I don't keep fish that are big, so they are all flushable. If I had a large oscar that died, I'd put him in the trash.


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## BIT01 (Jun 18, 2006)

If I had a fish I'd give him to the outdoor cat. Let life continue.


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## Nippyfish (Apr 25, 2006)

The problem with flushing is you can introduce disease back into the waterways. There's a big debate about what to do with tank water that has been treated with antibiotics too. I admit, I flush all my dirty tank water but I probably shouldn't. (resistant bacteria). I stopped flushing my fish. I now bag them and throw them away. I know how it sounds, throwing them in the trash, but they are only a dead body at that point. It doesn't mean I didn't love each one.


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

I've heard that argument before, too, but I don't buy it. At least not in our area. Our toilet water goes to the water treatment plant, which theoretically is supposed to get rid of the nasties. I don't worry about introducing any diseases into the waterways, not when Milwaukee is dumping millions and millions of gallons of untreated sewage into Lake Michigan several times a year.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

I flushed the first three but I buried my cory. I buried him for two reasons......I was attached to him and I also wanted him to be able to fertilize my garden (he's tiny I realize, but still). I should have buried all of them. I will in the future. Sortof a giving them back to the earth thing.


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## MaryPa (Jan 25, 2006)

Either in the trash or the flower beds.


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## book_em_danio (Jun 12, 2006)

Always into the trash here. That is the best way to prevent spread of non-native diseases.
I don't believe its "just one little fish", "just one cigarette butt", "everyone else uses disposable diapers" or what have you. I'm fanatic about the environment, because I live here.


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## Fishboy93 (Jun 11, 2005)

book_em_danio said:


> Always into the trash here. That is the best way to prevent spread of non-native diseases.
> I don't believe its "just one little fish", "just one cigarette butt", "everyone else uses disposable diapers" or what have you. I'm fanatic about the environment, because I live here.


Same here, but sadly there are so many exotic cichlids near me that its really hurting our enviroment. And also there are anacharis and cabomba in our waters too.. I do all i can not to hurt our native ecosystems...


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## railinsp (Jun 14, 2006)

I flush. I have a septic tank all the nasties get ate up


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## Mari (Jan 24, 2005)

I usually flush, unless I either can't do so, or I am attached in particular to that fish. If that is so, I usually bury them. I honestly don't see how flushing a fish will harm the environment, since if that was the case, we would all have Ecoli from dirty water etc. because our treatment plants do not work. I think everything theoretically gets killed when our water gets treated, and its not like I am not dumping the fish directly into the lake. I also agree with Boxermom about the untreated water being a bigger problem


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

How does burying them spread non native diseases? Assuming one doesn't bury near a water table or creek bed or something......


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Rain. Watering the lawn. Anything that causes moisture. It goes into the soil, where it picks up all sorts of fun stuff on its way through the various layers until it reaches the water table or stream or whatever is nearest. But throwing them into the trash does the same thing, it just relocates it from one's backyard to the dump site.  Also, not sure what a "non-native disease" is or why its any different than a native disease. :lol:


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

So no matter how you dispose of them, they get back to the earth..........basically.


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Yeah, pretty much. At least I figure by flushing, they'll get decontaminated at the sewage treatment plant. Theoretically anyway.


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## Guest (Jul 4, 2006)

I flush...also have a septic tank. I don't know what I'll do when my angels die...they are a little too big to flush. I guess I'll put them in a bag and into the garbage.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

I throw them on the roof for the herons. The only problem is, sometimes when I try to throw them, they don't quite reach the roof, and come crashing back down with a big splat on the concrete.


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## Guest (Jul 4, 2006)

Nippyfish said:


> The problem with flushing is you can introduce disease back into the waterways. There's a big debate about what to do with tank water that has been treated with antibiotics too. I admit, I flush all my dirty tank water but I probably shouldn't. (resistant bacteria). I stopped flushing my fish. I now bag them and throw them away. I know how it sounds, throwing them in the trash, but they are only a dead body at that point. It doesn't mean I didn't love each one.


 What about when people do #1 and 2? lol That's dirty and what about when people vomit in the toilet, that has alot of bacteria in it. :lol: 

I flush all of my fish because I live in an apartment and they don't really want us digging and there are all sorts of wild animals that will just dig them up and eat them so I flush all of my dead fish, unless lets say when my common plec dies (which I hope he never does) I would hope that he would be nice and big so I would most likley toss him in the trash.


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

Durbkat said:


> What about when people do #1 and 2? lol That's dirty and what about when people vomit in the toilet, that has alot of bacteria in it. :lol:
> 
> I flush all of my fish because I live in an apartment and they don't really want us digging and there are all sorts of wild animals that will just dig them up and eat them so I flush all of my dead fish, unless lets say when my common plec dies (which I hope he never does) I would hope that he would be nice and big so I would most likley toss him in the trash.


Diharrea and vomit are separae cases. Because they come from humans theyre diseases that are common to us and are allready all over. When you throw a dead fish that was sick in the toilet your throwing the ffish along with its bacteria and growths that are harmful to te environment and humans. But what people dont tend to realize is that bacteria grows and it moves. All it takes is one bacteria cell to cling on the the wall of the sewage system and reproduce heavily. Then when the maintenece workers go down to clean or do repars on the pipes or what-not then they get terribly infected by this unknown disease and doctors dont know a thing about it and by the time he gets to a hospital his family will be infected along with his freinds and possibly even pets. And it spreads (could be gradually or could be overwhelmingly) throughout an area and outwards. And what people will say say is "thanks for introducing an epidemic to the United States, i hope flushing your fish was worth the convinience"

What people need to realize is that THAT IS HOW THINGS HAPPEN. You think its a long shot but MANY MANY times it is NOT a long shot. It happens just like that. Like i said all it takes is one cell.......


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

When has that *ever* happened?


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## Guest (Jul 4, 2006)

harif87 said:


> Diharrea and vomit are separae cases. Because they come from humans theyre diseases that are common to us and are allready all over. When you throw a dead fish that was sick in the toilet your throwing the ffish along with its bacteria and growths that are harmful to te environment and humans. But what people dont tend to realize is that bacteria grows and it moves. All it takes is one bacteria cell to cling on the the wall of the sewage system and reproduce heavily. Then when the maintenece workers go down to clean or do repars on the pipes or what-not then they get terribly infected by this unknown disease and doctors dont know a thing about it and by the time he gets to a hospital his family will be infected along with his freinds and possibly even pets. And it spreads (could be gradually or could be overwhelmingly) throughout an area and outwards. And what people will say say is "thanks for introducing an epidemic to the United States, i hope flushing your fish was worth the convinience"
> 
> What people need to realize is that THAT IS HOW THINGS HAPPEN. You think its a long shot but MANY MANY times it is NOT a long shot. It happens just like that. Like i said all it takes is one cell.......










just kidding harif. :lol:


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

Boxermom said:


> When has that *ever* happened?


West nile virus, the bubonic plague........
Those were just epidemics.....what about exotic strains of plants and insects... i.e. the Asian Longhorned Beetle (as the name implies theyre from asia) and Phragmites (from australia). The environment is something fragile and delicate as a thin piece of glass....its not to be taken for granted that we have been living in it problem-free for thousands of years..


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## Nippyfish (Apr 25, 2006)

Durbkat said:


> What about when people do #1 and 2? lol That's dirty and what about when people vomit in the toilet, that has alot of bacteria in it. :lol:
> 
> I flush all of my fish because I live in an apartment and they don't really want us digging and there are all sorts of wild animals that will just dig them up and eat them so I flush all of my dead fish, unless lets say when my common plec dies (which I hope he never does) I would hope that he would be nice and big so I would most likley toss him in the trash.


Well, I’m no expert on the subject but I am in your same situation (city living). I just hear about it quite a bit. I imagine a major reason is that pathogens rarely transfer from fish to humans and visa versa (tuberculosis being an exception). So flushing fish pathogens are more likely to infect native fishes then those from humans. :fish:


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

harif87 said:


> West nile virus, the bubonic plague........
> Those were just epidemics.....what about exotic strains of plants and insects... i.e. the Asian Longhorned Beetle (as the name implies theyre from asia) and Phragmites (from australia). The environment is something fragile and delicate as a thin piece of glass....its not to be taken for granted that we have been living in it problem-free for thousands of years..


And you have proof that West Nile Virus and the bubonic plague, as well as these other epidemics, were caused by someone flushing a diseased fish down the toilet? Or other proof that one bacteria cell in a sewer would cause some similar type of plague from infecting some poor sewer worker?


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

Boxermom said:


> And you have proof that West Nile Virus and the bubonic plague, as well as these other epidemics, were caused by someone flushing a diseased fish down the toilet? Or other proof that one bacteria cell in a sewer would cause some similar type of plague from infecting some poor sewer worker?


Do you really have to be a wise guy by instigating while not even caring to use your own common sense?? ...I seriously pity you

Those were not examples of outbreaks caused by flushed fish (as you seem to think) but by something alien being introduced to an environment that was not meant for it to habitate. And if you cant see how an infected goldfish, who originates from south/centeral china, can cause widespread population of either other overwhelming strains of goldfish or a foreign disease, then i truly suggest that you consider doing a little reading


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## ladypirate (Jul 3, 2006)

I flush the little ones and bury the big ones


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## vinimack720 (Apr 20, 2006)

I dont know why everyone is arguing about diseased fish, the bird flu is gonna kill us all any way.


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## harif87 (Jun 5, 2006)

vinimack720 said:


> I dont know why everyone is arguing about diseased fish, the bird flu is gonna kill us all any way.


lolllll thats funny stuff man....talk about sounding cynical aye? lol jkjk


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## girth vader (Apr 24, 2006)

if you dont think burying them is any better then flushing the, try burning them in a small fire pit. then nothing gets affected.


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## msdolittle (Mar 4, 2006)

Ah, but then you aren't considering airborne contaminants......... j/k.


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## CVV1 (Oct 7, 2005)

Cichlid Man said:


> I throw them on the roof for the herons. The only problem is, sometimes when I try to throw them, they don't quite reach the roof, and come crashing back down with a big splat on the concrete.


What the fudge?


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## SkipT (Jun 15, 2006)

harif87 said:


> Then when the maintenece workers go down to clean or do repars on the pipes or what-not then they get terribly infected by this unknown disease and doctors dont know a thing about it and by the time he gets to a hospital his family will be infected along with his freinds and possibly even pets. And it spreads (could be gradually or could be overwhelmingly) throughout an area and outwards. And what people will say say is "thanks for introducing an epidemic to the United States, i hope flushing your fish was worth the convinience"



I would not be to worried about your fish in your fish tank killing off the US hehehe, there are far worse things you can get from the sewers. 

After all what happens to all the fish that get sick in the wild and die? They float to the top and rot and really stink up the air and lots of animals, and bugs eat them. 

If you have something in one of your tanks that will kill people that all I can say is GL to you, after all you will be the first one to get it (dead or alive fish) and you will be the one that gives it to all the rest.

Here are some facts 

Several human activities have led to the emergence and spread of new diseases:

*Encroachment on wildlife habitats.* The construction of new villages and housing developments in rural areas brings people into contact with animals--and the microbes they harbor. 
*Changes in agriculture.* The introduction of new crops attracts new crop pests and the microbes they carry to farming communities, exposing people to unfamiliar diseases. 
*Destroying rain forests.* As tropical countries make use of their rain forests, building roads through forests and clearing areas for settlement or commercial ventures, people encounter insects and other animals harboring unknown microorganisms. 
*Uncontrolled urbanization.* The rapid growth of cities in many developing countries concentrates large numbers of people in crowded areas with poor sanitation, which foster the transmission of contagious diseases. 
*Modern transport.* Ships and other cargo carriers often harbor unintended "passengers," such as insects and rats, that can spread diseases to faraway destinations. 
*High-speed globe-trotting.* With international jet-airplane travel, people infected with a new disease can carry the disease to the far side of the world before their first symptoms appear.

So is it possable to get something that would wipe out the US in your fishtank, maybe if you went to the remote rain forest and found a new fish and brought it here to the US ( by passing all the regulations put in place to stop this kind of thing) and then with you starting as the new host. But with fish from the LFS, ummmm no. You have a better chance of winning the lotto 2 weeks in arow I would think

Flush them and don't worry about it, if you do bury them do so in a dry place away from a fresh water drinking sorce. After all no one like dead fish in there drinking water 

Cheers


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

If something like say one of my neon tets from my school dies ill flush but if I have any attatchmeent to a fish I ziploc bag him, put him in a cigar box coffin, and bury him in the garden. My 8 inch goldie died in the middle of january... boy was that hard to dig!


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## KiltyONeal (Jan 25, 2006)

Bread 'em and fry 'em for a tasty afternoon treat!


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## northfacehiker (May 31, 2006)

Unless they're too big, just flush the dang things and get it over with.


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## SkipT (Jun 15, 2006)

KiltyONeal said:


> Bread 'em and fry 'em for a tasty afternoon treat!



Mmmmm nothing like a good Oscar deep fried Hehehehe.

BTW people do eat them. And many of the other fish we keep for pets.


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2006)

KiltyONeal said:


> Bread 'em and fry 'em for a tasty afternoon treat!



YOU EAT 'EM?!


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## KiltyONeal (Jan 25, 2006)

TessaAndFishies said:


> YOU EAT 'EM?!


I was just kidding!  Most of my fish are too small anyways!


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## CaysE (May 21, 2006)

Disposal. They make a nasty sound when you turn the switch on.

Bravo on the bird flu comment. LOL


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