# dead pet fish smell

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-pet-fish-smell/75127>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 6, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-pet-fish-smell/75127 "2001-08-06T15:36:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![berdollos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@berdollos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berdollos)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-pet-fish-smell/75127/1 "2001-08-06T15:36:57Z")

</div>

A large Plecko catfish died the other day. The smell was awful.

What are the components of such an odor? Is it ammonia?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-pet-fish-smell/75127/2 "2001-08-06T16:11:16Z")

</div>

Yuck! I’ve had a few plecos die over the years and they do smell pretty rancid after they die. Here’s the kicker - Unless the fish is small enough to flush down the toilet, I have to put it in a plastic bag and throw it in the freezer until garbage day. My apartment building has a communal trash facility in the basement and I don’t think my neighbors would appreciate my leaving a dead pleco in there for three or four days until trash day. 😉

While a decomposing fish will add an unhealthy amount of ammonia to your tank, I don’t think that’s what generates that godawful smell. I think it’s probably bacteria acting on the fish’s tissues.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![berdollos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@berdollos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berdollos)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-pet-fish-smell/75127/3 "2001-08-08T15:36:45Z")

</div>

produce?