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Re: Dead fish
> Question is: in a 75 gallon tank how essential is it to recover dead fish?
> I do not want to tear apart the tank to do this nor stress the other fish.
> Will the breakdown of the fish's body pollute the tank too much? I have
> lots of snails and about a half dozen shrimp.
>
Well, that's a tough one to answer. I would say it's essential to recover
any dead fish because the putrifying body will dump quite a load of nasties
into the tank. On the other hand, snails are the little morticians of the
tank, often devouring a dead fish overnight. I have occasionally found a
cluster of snails dining on a dead fish and having it half-consumed, where I
had observed the fish alive just that morning. They do work fast. I would
advise you to make an effort to recover the body, but if it's going to
require tearing down your tank, and if it's a small fish (as a Cory would
be), then just let the snails do their thing. I'm sure some will agree with
me, and others will vehemently disagree.....