jude Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Can someone help me here please. Every so often I see people mention flushing sick fish. I am sure that years ago I read that you shouldn't do that because it could spread diseases through our waterways. I think it also said that on the odd occasion the fish might survive and multiply - though how a single, sick fish could manage that puzzles me ........... :lol: Is my information correct or am I well out of date? - No smart replies about use-by dates please!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 I've never read anything like that. The couple times I've had fish die I've flushed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 I have also been puzzled by this myself and I have asked my husband about it (plumber). Flushing a fish has no chance of spreading disease or surviving due to... 1. the strong content of what is in the sewers there is no way it can survive. 2. the sewerage goes through a processing plant before it goes anywhere. 3. anything flushed down the loo NEVER reaches any main water supply/stream. So with all that in mind I am guessing that its pretty safe to flush dead/dying fish down the loo with out the worry of contamination. If you happen to be on a farm then you are even more safe because all waste goes into a septic tank which has no chance of accessing main water ways Just thought I would share that with you all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 Don't quite agree with that at all. Ours can go down the pipe, ok, I don't think they will survive, but the only treatment the sewerage goes through is to get minced up, seived, then into ponds for settling out. I have seen eels in these ponds, they can pick up the pathogenes (spp) then off they go back to the river. mmmmmm Then we have a little town up river from here and they are always saying that we drink their sewerage, makes ya think if you are an Aucklander. YUK Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 If its a tropical fish,(& still alive but no good) I usually just freeze them. Then throw them into the bin on rubbish day. frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 I bury mine in the garden. good food for veges later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 go go mysterious magical apartment rubbish chute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 lol misnoma now thats a new one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted May 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 LOL, well I am still none the wiser. I agree with Penejanes comments and with Alan's .............. so I am no further ahead Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joze Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 lemon tree got to keep up with the gin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 My opinion of this... (and it's just my opinion).. is that you are being concerned over nothing really. When you think of the effulent, garbage, and "other objects" that "are" flushed down the loo.. or get into the sewage systems.. then I really can't see how the dying fish population of the NZ Aquarist would effect the environment. The treatment plants often boast that their water is "so pure" it is drinkable after leaving their processing plants.. along with the fact that many of the parasites that tropical fish die of require a new host in a short time if they are to survive. Being on tank water and septic tanks we don't have this prob.. however.... I suppose we all have to think about what the re-cycled water is used for.. or where it goes.. once we push the old flush buttton. Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted May 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 :lol: I can't say I am overly concerned, just interested in whether what I thought I knew was right or not ........... if that makes sense. There's a lot of other things I think that probably aren't right either but I don't intend to share them !!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Cheers Jude (who intends to keep some secrets) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynz Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 For what its worth. If the sewage treatment plants around the country are anything like the plant at Mangere, flushing fish down the loo shouldnt cause a problem. After spending 28 days in the digesters All waste is exposed to a massive dose of uv before it leaves the plant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 6, 2005 Report Share Posted May 6, 2005 I think the reasoning behind not flushing fish was referring more to live fish. People would flush unwanted or sick live fish down the loo which was cruel to the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted May 7, 2005 Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 When you consider the other stuff that gets flushed...a lil wee dead fish isn't going to be causing me sleepless nights (apart from the fact it died in the first place)...with being flushed.... as for sick fish....now this is something i really want help with.... i have 'euthanased sick fish by putting them in a small amount of water in the freezer (as recommended on this site)....to me this seemed horribly cruel, and i felt absolutely awful doing it. I could not bring myself to chop off their heads (also suggested) or smash their skulls in with a rock...... i haven't had to euthanase a fish for a while (poor little buggers have been dying in droves of their own accord as per previous posts) but i am almost of the opinion that flushing them might be a more instantaneous death (when you consider the temperature and force of the water flooding into the bowl and them being whisked away into ....what they are being whisked away into.) If anyone can tell me of a more humane way......please do.....the freezer death gives me the shudders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted May 7, 2005 Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 IMO blunt force trauma or severing their spinal cord are the most humane methods and the quickest. You could try putting them into a weak solution of alcohol (to anaesthetise them) then into a stronger solution (to kill them and they won't feel a thing) if you wanted to get really into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted May 7, 2005 Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 To kill them quickly, slam them onto the concrete footpath. Dead straight away Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted May 7, 2005 Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 Oscars work well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 7, 2005 Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 After a bit of in-house fighting, one of my Africans was really bad. So bad in fact I thought it was dead until I went to net it out and it moved slightly. To put it out of its misery I put it in a plastic bag (white so I couldn't actually see the fish), swung it around a couple of times and whacked it on the concrete as quickly as possible. It then went in the rubbish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted May 7, 2005 Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 I've heard you can put them in the fridge and they can pull through apparently Caryl... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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