Tropical Fish Tanks- Disposing of Plants and Fish

Sometimes, you can no longer take care of your aquatic plants or animals. What do you do with them? This is quite a challenge and the internet can find you a solution. Here are some tips&tricks.

Plants

Let’s suppose that you have an aquarium and a particular aquatic plant has grown in excess. What do you do with it? Here is a list of way in which you can deal with the problem and dispose of the plants in a safe way:

1. You can burn the, in a safe area. By burning the plants you also destroy the seeds and they will not multiply.
2. Freezing them or drying them is another solution. This process kills the actual plant but saves the seeds. After the freezing and drying, you can take the seeds, put them in a plastic bag with zipper and throw them away.
3. The process of composting can also be helpful. But just like freezing and drying, composting will allow the seeds to survive and be carried away by other birds or animals.

Animals

One morning you wake up to see that your fish have babies. You can not take care of this many fish. What do you do?

LFS: the organization will take your pet and sometimes find a new owner. It is much better than euthanatizing or flushing. Flushing is quite cruel because it gives the fish a sow and painful death by poisoning or suffocation.

Friends: before you consider other alternatives, take to your friends. Maybe one of them would enjoy the prospect of having an aquarium and would like some fish friends. Tell them about all the species’ particularities so that they know everything and know how to deal with it. Also, help the friend in the first few weeks after the pet adoption.

Whatever your method is, don’t leave your pet into the wild. First of all, it is cruel to do that. Second of all, the aquatic plants and animals could inflict diseases into the native population. Sometimes, the species released into the wild compete with the native ones for food.
Aquatic pet release into the wild is even punished in some states and the penalties are really severe.

And don’t forget that you can always contact your local Department of Natural Resources or Health Department for specific information.