Do Fish Get Sad When Other Fish Die

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Accept you come home and found your favorite fish dead in its tank? Did one of your fish die recently and you tin can't cease thinking about it? Getting over the loss of any pet tin can be hard, but with the time you tin can motion on.

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Take time to grieve. There is nothing strange or wrong with mourning the passing of a living beingness that was important to you, indeed it is a natural reaction.^[1] Don't feel the need to hurry up and go over the decease of your fish. People need different amounts of time to grieve - there is no set corporeality of time when grieving should end. Accept the fourth dimension that you need to work through this.^[2]
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Understand your grief. Grieving is a procedure. Although some people may non understand, you may go through all of the five stages of grief (or but a couple of them) due to the loss of your fish.^[3] The emotional hurting you experience equally a result of losing your fish may be deeper than you expected. The stages include denial, anger, bargaining, low, and finally acceptance.^[4]
- Y'all may not want to believe that your fish is dead. For a few days, you could be in denial, not wanting to accept that your fish is really gone.
- Feeling angry at yourself for what you think you could or should take done to save your fish is too a normal phase of grieving. Don't be too hard on yourself, however.
- Many people feel depressed subsequently the loss of a pet. It is okay to weep or feel sad for a while immediately post-obit the decease.
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Talk to people that understand. These may exist family unit members, friends, or even an online forum. Share what you are feeling with them. These are people that care about yous and sympathise with what y'all are going through. They can help you piece of work through what you are feeling.
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Give your fish a memorial service. This result will not only allow yous to remember your fish and say good day but can also exist the time that you take intendance of the remains. This tin be a few last words earlier a trash receptacle service, or a total-diddled funeral with burial, it is your choice.^[5]
- Take a few moments of silence to reflect on your human relationship with your fish.
- You may want to say a few words, play a song, or read a poem that reminds y'all of your fish.
- Some people light a small candle in accolade of their fish.
- You could also plant a flower or a tree in retentivity of your pet, describe or pigment a picture of your pet fish to place in a special spot in your home, or write a alphabetic character to your pet expressing your gratitude for the life of your pet had.
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Relieve your memories. Although it might be besides painful for y'all to look through now, afterward you lot volition be glad you preserved the memories. If you lot take things that remind you of your fish, put them away so that later you tin can reflect on your pet.
- Create a scrapbook. You might include a brochure from the pet store near the fish, drawings, photos, the leaves of the fake or live plants from the tank, etc.^[vi]
- Write a verse form, short story, or biography about your fish.
- Make a slideshow or frame a photo of your fish.
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Use your aquarium every bit a memorial. Y'all can employ your tank to accolade the retention of your fish in a variety of artistic ways.
- If you are still using the tank for other fish, you may want to put something in at that place in memory of the fish y'all lost. It could be a tiny mitt-made tombstone or a pretty stone or seashell with coloring and blueprint that reminds y'all of your fish.
- If you don't have other fish, yous can clean the aquarium out and utilize it to hold a memorial plant or flowers.
- If the tank is empty, and looking at it causes you too much pain, and then clean it out and put it away. Put a nice plant or ornament in the place where the fish tank used to be.
- Yous can too decide to go on your fish in a rubber place like a box, it can be homemade, or take your little one cremated.

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Brand sure it's really dead. Sometimes fish can appear dead but are actually sick or in distress. Earlier you dispose of the body, make sure that your fish is actually dead.^[vii]Sometimes fish can swim on their side or upside down considering they are constipated. Check the gills, optics, and skincare.
- Lookout man the gill covers closely. For a few moments, lookout your fish make certain it'southward not just breathing very slowly.
- Does it respond when you gently nudge it?
- If the peel has become discolored or white, it may indicate rotting, parasites, or illness.
- Await at your fish's eyes. If the eyes have turned gray, then the fish has passed on.
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Effort to determine why your fish died. If possible, expect the fish over and endeavour to figure out why information technology died. Especially if you have other fish in that tank or plan on getting another fish in the future, this can help you prevent future deaths. It can also give you a sense of closure and then that you aren't continually wondering why your fish died.
- Check the water levels. Was the tank too total? Did the fish jump out because the water level was likewise high or considering at that place wasn't a lid on the tank? Was there enough water in the tank?
- Test the h2o quality. Is the pH, ammonia, nitrite, etc. levels what they should be?
- Is there an obvious injury (split fins, open wounds, etc.)? Does it appear the fish got into a fight or injured by some of the tank equipment?
- Do you meet any signs of affliction, infection, or parasites? Is the body discolored or bloated?
- Is it possible your fish ate too much or became poisoned by something foreign in the tank?
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Properly and respectfully dispose of the body. Once y'all are sure your fish is dead, then you need to take care of the remains. There are several options you take for taking intendance of the trunk, and the final decision is up to y'all. While many people flush their fish down the toilet, this is not recommended.^[8] If the fish died of a disease, it could pollute the local h2o.
- Don't put your dead fish in a trunk of water, such as a swimming, river, or sea. Your fish could be carrying a disease that can infect wildlife.^[ix]
- You tin can bury it in the backyard, a composting expanse, or a flowerpot. Make sure you bury the torso at least ii feet deep (60 cm) then that other animals don't dig the torso upwardly.
- Some people believe that the torso doesn't comprise the "spirit" of the fish anymore and only identify their fish's body in the trash.^[ten]

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Make sure your other fish are salubrious. Check your fish often to brand sure everything is okay. Is there annihilation yous can do to forestall your other fish from dying? If your fish died from a disease or parasite, keep a close eye on any remaining fish in case they get sick, also.
- Change the h2o immediately afterward yous remove your expressionless fish. This will help remove harmful viruses, bacteria, etc. that may be in the h2o.
- If you don't take one already, invest in a filter and, for tropical fish (including bettas), a heater.
- Brand sure that your tank is big enough for the fish you keep or program on keeping.
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Invest in a quarantine tank. This can be a smart motion if a fish falls sick in the future. Putting it in the quarantine tank can give y'all fourth dimension to closely observe it and try to determine what is wrong. It too helps protect whatever other fish you may take.
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Consider getting a new fish. Y'all may want to go a new fish (or ii), not necessarily to replace the fish that died but to continue the type of human relationship you had with that fish. You tin even get a new fish that resembles the one yous have lost.
- If yous're thinking about getting a new fish, call up that you lot volition have to wheel the tank again before adding your new fish.
- If the h2o and everything else seems okay, add more fish to the aquarium after near a week. This will give you lot time to monitor the other fish, the water, etc. to make sure everything is as it should be.
- Only add a few new fish at a time. This will make it easier for yous to watch all the fish to see how they are getting along and to make certain that they are all good for you.

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How can I get over the loss of my pet since I am very young and don't want another pet?

Tasha Rube is a Licensed Social Worker based in Kansas City, Kansas. Tasha is affiliated with the Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical Center in Leavenworth, Kansas. She received her Masters of Social Work (MSW) from the Academy of Missouri in 2014.

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If you have tried the tips outlined in this article to assist you lot overcome the loss of your fish, and you feel it is not working, and then you may want to ask your parent to help you connect with a grief counselor. Sometimes talking to someone who is non a friend or family member is helpful.
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What should I practice if I already flushed my fish?

Tasha Rube is a Licensed Social Worker based in Kansas Urban center, Kansas. Tasha is affiliated with the Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical Eye in Leavenworth, Kansas. She received her Masters of Social Work (MSW) from the Academy of Missouri in 2014.

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If yous're too depressed to fifty-fifty look at your other fish, take them back to the pet store or give them to a family unit fellow member or trusted friend. They will take good care of them. Just remember that if you requite them back to the store, they volition exist resold.

Do not flush your fish down the toilet, as that water volition be contaminated also.
Sanitize anything that came in contact with your fish before you use it again.^[11]

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Article Summary Ten

Getting over the loss of a pet fish can exist difficult, simply with time you'll exist able to move on. Take time to grieve, which is a natural reaction to the decease of a pet. As you work through your feelings, talk to someone who understands, like a family member or friend. When you're ready to say goodbye, requite your fish a memorial service to share some memories and take care of the remains. This tin be a few words in forepart of a trash receptacle or a total-blown funeral, depending on what feels right to yous. If you want to create a memorial, apply your fish's erstwhile aquarium as a planter for a blossom or found. To learn how to accept care of the remains of your fish, keep reading.

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