There has been a lot of talk on here about flushing fish down the toliet, and I am sure I have not helped this issue any by recommending that very sick fish be "flushed" rather than having them infect an entire tank. Being a life long keeper of a variety of tropical fish, early on in my time keeping our aquatic friends, I flushed many of my already dead fish down the toliet to dispose of them.
I want to emphasize when I use the term "flush" or say things like "let the toliet take its course" I of course mean this to be a method used only once your fish is dead. The thought of our beloved fish swimming and drowning in a sea of human waste is not a pleasent one at all, though if you flush a living fish that is what you will get.
Though, I must admit, putting your fish in a cup of water in the freezer is not really a whole lot better. They will be introduced to a hyopthermia like condition, systematic shock, likely seizure, then death - not a fun expierence.
And then someone suggested putting your fish down the disposal with the drain - well that is just gross!!!
So what do we do when we know our finned friend is in pain, and likely not going to see another day? Hospital tanks are the right choice for any fish keeper. These tanks offer a refuge, away from your main tank that allows for the incubation and quarentine of sick animals, so they dont effect your other fish, and in turn can be treated for thier condition. If you have a sick fish in a hospital tank, let nature take its course. On several of the posts I have read, the ones I called "disturbing" in my last post, people where putting fish is grossly small aquariums, with no heat or filtration. Life in a fish bowel is a far more prolonged torture then the possibly thirty seconds your fish will live once flushed down the toliet.
For keepers whom keep a lot of fish, several hospital tanks are needed. These are cheap to set up and a must for every aquarist. That way when a fish is on thier way to heaven's shores, they dont have to travel there to the sound of a flush, via an icy grave, of the spinning turbine blades of a trash disposal, but can go thier in peace and harmony, and only after every measure to ensure thier survival has been taken.
I want to emphasize when I use the term "flush" or say things like "let the toliet take its course" I of course mean this to be a method used only once your fish is dead. The thought of our beloved fish swimming and drowning in a sea of human waste is not a pleasent one at all, though if you flush a living fish that is what you will get.
Though, I must admit, putting your fish in a cup of water in the freezer is not really a whole lot better. They will be introduced to a hyopthermia like condition, systematic shock, likely seizure, then death - not a fun expierence.
And then someone suggested putting your fish down the disposal with the drain - well that is just gross!!!
So what do we do when we know our finned friend is in pain, and likely not going to see another day? Hospital tanks are the right choice for any fish keeper. These tanks offer a refuge, away from your main tank that allows for the incubation and quarentine of sick animals, so they dont effect your other fish, and in turn can be treated for thier condition. If you have a sick fish in a hospital tank, let nature take its course. On several of the posts I have read, the ones I called "disturbing" in my last post, people where putting fish is grossly small aquariums, with no heat or filtration. Life in a fish bowel is a far more prolonged torture then the possibly thirty seconds your fish will live once flushed down the toliet.
For keepers whom keep a lot of fish, several hospital tanks are needed. These are cheap to set up and a must for every aquarist. That way when a fish is on thier way to heaven's shores, they dont have to travel there to the sound of a flush, via an icy grave, of the spinning turbine blades of a trash disposal, but can go thier in peace and harmony, and only after every measure to ensure thier survival has been taken.
