The Death of a Sucker Fish

My friend Harry has a fish tank with an assortment of different little fishies. There is a little white and orange fish that I call Petunia, a few goldfish, and some others. I think last New Year's Eve our friend Brian may have tried to swallow one of the goldfish whole. That didn't work out so well - he ended up spitting the fish right back into the tank. I'm pretty sure that had everything to do with the vodka and orange soda concoctions they were drinking. Maybe next year.

Anyway, there used to be a sucker fish in tank as well. This little guy swam around and sucked all the algae off the sides of the tank. It was pretty amusing to watch, actually. His mouth would stretch out and stink to the sides of the tank- and he would move around the walls sucking up all the green gook.

One night, when the boys came back from getting pizza - we discovered the dead little sucker fish. He was laying at the bottom of tank, belly up, with his mouth wide open. Did he eat too much algae? Or was it just his time to go? The other fish were swarming around him. I wondered if they were looking to eat their dead friend or mourning the loss of an important citizen to their fish-tank-town.

A day or two later, Harry decided it was time to flush the fish. As you see in the picture, the poor guy looks so pathetic sitting at the bottom of the toilet bowl. Good thing my slinky was there to get in the shot! I suppose we had a brief moment of silence before flushing the fish. With a flush of the toilet - the little sucker fish was ironically sucked down to the depths of Stroudsburg.

I found the whole concept of flushing dead fish to be interesting. After doing a little research, I found out what other people do with their dead fish besides flushing them. Caution: you might not want to try all of these methods.

• Bury it in the yard or with other plants: Hey, its the circle of life. Bury a dead fish in the soil and new plants will grow. I read in some online posts that fish make really good fertilizer.
  
• Feed it to your pet turtle: My sister Aimee has goldfish in her turtle tank that are there specifically to feed her pet turtle. Instead of wasting the fish down the toilet, you could use it to feed another animal. Another circle of life.
  
• Throw it in the garbage: I suppose this is the easiest way to go. Just grab the little fish out of the tank and toss it in the trash. This could be easy if you have no emotional attachment to the fish, or if you don't mind your trash stinking for a couple days.
• Deep fry the dead fish: This ones seems a little morbid if you ask me. I know some people really like fish - but dead goldfish? It can't be healthy either. But, I guess if you're really hungry - and craving fish - there is a first time for everything, right?
• Cremate the fish - Here is an interesting idea. The girl who posted this idea said she actually held a lighter to her dead fish until it turned into ashes. This too seems a little bizarre. It would be a good way to remember your fish, though. You could save the ashes in a little matchbox or an empty fish food can. That way, you'll always remember the little guy.
  
• Throw it out the window - I am doubting that the person who posted this had any emotional attachment to their fish at all. I guess if you really don't care about the fish, or the environment, you could toss the fish out the window and be done with it.
  

Well, there you have it folks. Next time you find one of your fish floating at the top of the tank, or belly up at the bottom- you have a few ideas for what to do. I don't know if the deep frying idea is such a good one - but hey, I'm not here to judge.