Why You Shouldn’t Flush Goldfish Down the Toilet

Goldfish (Carassius auratus) are cheap and proliferous which means that most people in the United States will own one at one point in their lives. Unfortunately, most people don’t know that goldfish need a lot of care and room to live their best lives. They also don’t realize that their dead fish friend can’t go in the toilet after they die. Why you shouldn’t flush goldfish down the toilet is discussed in detail.

Dead Goldfish May Carry Diseases and Parasites

Most of the time, when goldfish die in human homes, it isn’t from old age. They usually die because of their water quality, type of food, size of their environment, parasites, or because of disease. Goldfish are most at risk when they are first brought home or when new fish and plants are introduced to their environment.

If a dead fish that died from an infectious disease or parasite comes in contact with another creature, it can transmit its illness to them. As a result, diseases common in the aquarium trade can reach natural ecosystems and cause devastation.

Goldfish May Block Your Pipes

Goldfish are essentially raw fish meat when you flush them down the toilet. As a result, they get stuck as they aren’t as soft and don’t break down as easily as flushable items.

As a stuck goldfish rots anywhere in your pipes, it can cause backups in costly places to repair. If it’s close enough to a drain or other opening, it may stink up your space while it slowly decomposes.

Dumping a Pet Fish in the Toilet Lacks Dignity and Effort

Pet fish are animals that are alive. Even if you didn’t like your fish very much, it deserves a better sendoff after its death than to be flushed where your excrement regularly goes. Fish can be disposed of properly without much more effort than flushing a toilet, so they pose a minimal risk to your home and the environment.

Dead fish that can be disposed of unceremoniously should be bagged in plastic and thrown in the trash. The plastic protects garbage workers and the environment from exposure to possibly diseased and decomposing fish.

A deceased goldfish is also a great addition to an indoor or outdoor garden. If you have a flower pot, put the fish on top of a few inches of soil, then plant something green on top of it. By the time you need to repot the plant, if ever, the fish should be decomposed. You’ll need to make sure the pot is big enough so the fish doesn’t stink through the soil.

Burying a fish away from open water sources on your property is also a responsible choice. Like a potted plant, putting a fish in the ground to decompose is good for the environment. A hole at least a foot deep with a brick or concrete statue on top is suggested so local wildlife won’t dig it up.

Goldfish Are Invasive in the United States

There are no natural predators for goldfish in the United States or elsewhere, and goldfish overfeast on the eggs of native species. As a result, they irreparably damage fish populations when given long enough. Also, the amount of waste they produce causes algae blooms that are destructive to the waterways they’re forced to inhabit.

It Is Unethical to Flush Live Goldfish

It is unethical to flush live goldfish down the toilet because it’s not an instant or painless death. It is almost certainly a prolonged and traumatic experience for even the sickest of fish.

Most sewage systems do not flush directly into a major water source. A live fish will experience water pressure it isn’t built to withstand, and it will be subjected to levels of water pollution via waste and chemicals that are not suitable for life. If this doesn’t kill them, they’ll die on their way through a water treatment facility.

There are other options for flushing unwanted or dying fish down the toilet. They can be euthanized at home, or if they’re healthy, they can be returned to a pet store and rehomed elsewhere. Lots of people will take in fish if the pet comes with all of the equipment it needs like food and a tank.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © chrisbrignell/Shutterstock.com