Goldfish in too small tank, what to do?

[gm72]

The problem with flushing fish is that, if the fish is still alive, it will die a horrible death in the chemical baths at the treatment plant.

[Wild Turkey]

The problem with flushing fish is that, if the fish is still alive, it will die a horrible death in the chemical baths at the treatment plant.

Good point, probably even worse if you have a septic tank....Also, in maryland water treatment is a very large problem, as the biggest issue is water not being treated enough that flows into the Bay. We have lots of problems, due to the large amount of animal waste and plant fertilizers that farmers are washing into the bay, via irrigation so our treatment is below par to say the least. And im sure that diseases of dead fish can also be passed onto fish in our beatufiul bay with a little bad luck...getting less beautiful every day. It kills off the seaweed, and thus the crabs, and then everything that eats the crabs, including rockfish.

This is kind of unrelated, but ive always used very, very cold water to euthanize...ive heard of people using boiling water and was wondering if anyone has any clue about the humanity of such a method? More or less than the cold, anyone?

[gm72]

I am just guessing, but I would think that the cold water would slow down their system relatively painlessly whereas boiling water would...well, boil them. I guess the analogy of which I am thinking is--what would be worse for us? Jumping into a freezing cold lake or into a vat of boiling water?

[Wild Turkey]

I am just guessing, but I would think that the cold water would slow down their system relatively painlessly whereas boiling water would...well, boil them. I guess the analogy of which I am thinking is--what would be worse for us? Jumping into a freezing cold lake or into a vat of boiling water?

Thats exactly what i was thinking, just wanted to make sure there wasnt something i was missing that was contributing to me giving my fish a more painful than needed-death.

[ravenfern]

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies.
Like i said i want to do whats best for the fish. I would never just release a fish or anything else into the wild, apart from anything else i would be worrying about them and how they were doing. Also where i live in England we dont have any large bodies of water close by, we have rivers but they are so dirty i would be surprised if they had anything living in them apart from the odd shopping trolley.
I think i am going to take them to the LFS as that seems the best answer.
I might take the crayfish too and go for a tropical tank.

[goleafs]

A 20 gallon's not too bad for 2 goldfish just do a lot of water changes. It's supposed to be something like 20 gallons per goldfish though. I made a stupid mistake of accepting someones "cycling goldfish" and put them in my 15 gallon that I had just setup (I was 8) and they have been fine ever since. That being said they were going to be flushed and I still don't really think it's 100% right keeping them in a 15 gallon.

[silkiechicken]

Yeah, don't release... they made a huge "natural" pond to help restore the frogs and other natural wild life... and somebody dumped some feeders into it... it's now a dirty mass of goldfish and no frogs to be seen or heard.

[Mvjnz]

I've heard that boiling should only be done to very small fish, because then death will be instant. Freezing should not be done becaue it's painful and horrible. Most people I've talked to consider beheading or a good knock on the head the most humane way for bigger fish.

[Fishguy2727]

Unless the fish is ill and without hope, it should not be killed. Google 'fish euthanasia with clove oil' for directions on properly putting down a fish.

[pes142]

If you want to see what a couple of goldfish will do to an ecosystem, just look at the carp epidemic in the U.S. google jumping carp into boat, and you will see what happens when people release fish into an ecosystem.