Please Do Not Flush Your Goldfish Down the Toilet Share Getty To sign up for our daily newsletter covering the latest news, hacks and reviews, head HERE. For a running feed of all our stories, follow us on Twitter HERE. Or you can bookmark the Lifehacker Australia homepage to visit whenever you need a fix. As far as pop culture tells us, dead fish should be disposed of one way: down the toilet. The picture of a kid flushing their late former pet is one we’ve all encountered a number of times. (At least I know I have.) But I’m here to tell you today that it’s absolutely incorrect. According to The Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment, “Like all animals, aquarium fish can carry and transmit diseases. This includes parasites, bacteria and viruses”. And flushing Goldie down the toilet exposes waterways to all kinds of nasty possibilities.