Is this going to be a problem? (1 Viewer)

[E-Z Glider]

I have a freshwater fish tank in the basement. It's mostly filled with shiners/minnows that my kids and I caught from the local creek 4-5 years ago. Turns out, they're are dirty AF, so I also had one of those sucker-things that cleans the tank. Friday night, I noticed that the sucker-thing was dead. It was wedged down in the corner and kinda bent in half. I was half-in-the-bag when I noticed, so without much thought, I scooped it out with the net and flushed it down the toilet. In hindsight, I shoulda chucked it in the woods, but it was cold and I didn't really want to go outside. 

Yesterday, I went to flush the toilet and noticed that something is "obstructing" the flow of water. The water fills up pretty high in the bowl before slowly draining down and gurgling when it gets to the bottom. I got out the plunger and it seemed to help a little, but did not completely fix the problem. Obviously, this dead fish is wedged down there in the pipes somewhere. So my question is this, will this fish eventually decompose and go down the drain? And if so, is it gonna be a stinky problem for a while? Or worse, is this going to require additional work on my end to fix this? I would estimate that the dead fish was about 5"-6 in length when flushed.  PS - I do not own a toilet snake.

 

 

[gianmarco]

Username does not check out.

 

[eoMMan]

Just don't flush a cat down the toilet thinking it will get the fish.

 

[coyote5]

Flush a small alligator down there.  Problem should resolve naturally.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Just don't flush a cat down the toilet thinking it will get the fish.

If the cat gets stuck he can always send a dog after it.

 

[gianmarco]

If the cat gets stuck he can always send a dog after it.

Makings of a new nursery rhyme

 

[ChiefD]

You will need to bring in the heavy artillery. You basically just flushed a hot dog down there. Now it's wedged in there sideways, creating a turd dam.

 

[arrow1]

It'll be fine. Just keep flushing.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

It'll be fine. Just keep flushing.

These people are experts.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lBl_pkNfO9g/hqdefault.jpg

 

[dino259]

Should have put it in the ceiling tiles.

 

[E-Z Glider]

You will need to bring in the heavy artillery. You basically just flushed a hot dog down there. Now it's wedged in there sideways, creating a turd dam.

It was fatter than a hot dog.   What's the heavy artillery? 

 

[ChiefD]

It was fatter than a hot dog.   What's the heavy artillery? 

Call a plumber. I spent an entire Friday night trying to snake my drain with a 50 footer. Couldn't get it. Wasn't long enough.  :(

Save yourself the agony. Trust me on this one.

 

[E Street Brat]

It was fatter than a hot dog.   What's the heavy artillery? 

For starters. Go to Taco Bell.......

 

[KCitons]

Call a plumber. I spent an entire Friday night trying to snake my drain with a 50 footer. Couldn't get it. Wasn't long enough.  :(

Save yourself the agony. Trust me on this one.

Just curious, what did you flush down your toilet?

 

[wilked]

Try and snake it.  Do you have any friends?  If you have at least 3 friends chances are > 80% one of them has a 50 ft snake.  Give it 2 hrs of commitment, if problem not cleared call a plumber

 

[ChiefD]

Just curious, what did you flush down your toilet?

Nothing major. Just years of build up. My main drain has several twists and turns that I know about, and I also have a floor drain that turns in such a way that it becomes a pinch point for stuff. 

So I wanted to take a crack at it first. Thought the clog was within 20' of my clean out.

Turned out to be 95' out. 

So basically 4 hours and a lot of cussing wasted. Cost me $97 to get it cleaned out on a Saturday morning.

 

[ChiefD]

Try and snake it.  Do you have any friends?  If you have at least 3 friends chances are > 80% one of them has a 50 ft snake.  Give it 2 hrs of commitment, if problem not cleared call a plumber

Yep. I'm that friend that has this kind of stuff. I'm an old contractor with about every tool in the book and the know-how to use them.

But that drain kicked my ###. 

 

[gianmarco]

Yep. I'm that friend that has thing kind of stuff. I'm an old contractor with about every tool in the book and the know-how to use them.

But that drain kicked my ###. 

Any shovels?

 

[WDIK2]

You flushed a plecostomus? That exoskeleton might be a problem. 

 

[ChiefD]

Any shovels?

Listen here you smart-###:

My kids utilized those shovels yesterday to clear the snowy driveway while I sat on my butt in front of a fire drinking beer and watching football. IN YOUR FACE!!!!!!

 

[gianmarco]

You flushed a plecostomus? That exoskeleton might be a problem. 

:reported:

 

[wilked]

Nothing major. Just years of build up. My main drain has several twists and turns that I know about, and I also have a floor drain that turns in such a way that it becomes a pinch point for stuff. 

So I wanted to take a crack at it first. Thought the clog was within 20' of my clean out.

Turned out to be 95' out. 

So basically 4 hours and a lot of cussing wasted. Cost me $97 to get it cleaned out on a Saturday morning.

Time to add a clean out 

 

[ChiefD]

Time to add a clean out 

I'm actually pretty lucky the way my plumbing lays out.

For my kitchen drain, I have a cleanout right above where it goes into the basement floor. My main stack is across the basement about 20 feet. I then have another cleanout under my laundry utility sink, which is only about 5' from my main drain.

My upstairs bathrooms are above my garage, and that stack goes under my garage floor and feeds to the main stack. So I have a cleanout right at the garage floor so I can get anything stuck there. But it's a straight shot to the main stack, which is nice. No elbows or turns under there. 

So for my clog, it just happened to be 95' out from the front of house, so basically underground where my main line hits the sewer. I ain't digging up my yard to put a clean out up there. 

 

[E-Z Glider]

Call a plumber. I spent an entire Friday night trying to snake my drain with a 50 footer. Couldn't get it. Wasn't long enough.  :(

Save yourself the agony. Trust me on this one.

It's only been a couple days? I'm definitely willing to wait a few weeks/months to see if it fixes itself. Do you think it's possible it just rots away and disappears into the night on its own?

 

[E-Z Glider]

You flushed a plecostomus? That exoskeleton might be a problem. 

Damnit. Yes, this is exactly what it was   You talking from experience here?

 

[arrow1]

My brother tried to flush an Oscar which was palm-sized....Didn't work...

 

[ChiefD]

Damnit. Yes, this is exactly what it was   You talking from experience here?

HOLY SHEEEEIT!

Dude, you need to shoot a freaking laser down your pipe.

 

[coyote5]

HOLY SHEEEEIT!

Dude, you need to shoot a freaking laser down your pipe.

Yeah I suggest taping it to the mini alligator's head.

 

[Angry Beavers]

Snake down the drain.. either  a live one or the plumbing kind.. either way.

If that doesn't help, either wait it out or make the call. In the meantime, no pooping in that toilet... P only. 

 

[E-Z Glider]

Snake down the drain.. either  a live one or the plumbing kind.. either way.

If that doesn't help, either wait it out or make the call. In the meantime, no pooping in that toilet... P only. 

This is the guest bathroom. Bad time of the year for it to be out of commission. Maybe I'll make a sign with that pleco pic on it. That oughta frighten people away.

 

[WDIK2]

Damnit. Yes, this is exactly what it was   You talking from experience here?

No. Who would do such a thing?

 

[[scooter]]

You flushed a plecostomus? That exoskeleton might be a problem. 

Maybe if he flushed a small asteroid it would solve the problem.

 

[Galileo]

What's the heavy artillery? 

C-4

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

cherry bomb, IMO

 

[Sputnikv8]

Yep. I'm that friend that has this kind of stuff. I'm an old contractor with about every tool in the book and the know-how to use them.

But that drain kicked my ###. 

Strike that.  Reverse it.

 

[ShamrockPride]

Damnit. Yes, this is exactly what it was   You talking from experience here?

Wtf is that thing. Good God.

 

[NutterButter]

Clog hog.   Love this thing. 

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Wtf is that thing. Good God.

I'd probably flush it too. Go find Nemo.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

You flushed a plecostomus? That exoskeleton might be a problem. 

Yeah I flushed a fist sized parrot fish Be time and it cleared up a few days later, but yeah I recall whenever I had a smaller pleco die it would usually leave a pretty good hard skeleton 

id still give it a few days, maybe flush a bag of rock salt down a few handfuls at a time, then try snaking

or call a plumber but if it were me that would be my last result

 

[NotSmart]

Now it's wedged in there sideways, creating a turd dam.

Don't get all technical on us.

 

[Nigel]

Damnit. Yes, this is exactly what it was   You talking from experience here?

Lol at thinking since folks routinely flush dead goldfish then dead fish of any size are flushable.

 

[shuke]

Damnit. Yes, this is exactly what it was   You talking from experience here?

Dude what in the world were you thinking?

 

[jamny]

What was his name?

 

[Joe Summer]

Can't you just flush a bottle of Draino?

 

[NotSmart]

What was his name?

His name is Robert Paulson.

 

[Johnny Rock]

As an aside, I believe in MN it’s illegal to keep and transport live fish that you caught. Not sure about your state. 

 

[Ron Swanson]

Can't you just flush a bottle of Draino?

This.  Get some Caustic Soda or Drano. Dump it in and let it sit for a couple hours and then flush with warm water. It should dissolve the body.

 

[[scooter]]

Can't you just flush a bottle of Draino?

BAD IDEA

Drano creates a thermal reaction that can cause pipes to burst. It can also send boiling sewage back up through the toilet.

 

[ChiefD]

BAD IDEA

Drano creates a thermal reaction that can cause pipes to burst. It can also send boiling sewage back up through the toilet.

Well, then he definitely needs to do this.

Take video and report back. 

Edit to add: Please take video in landscape mode. 

 

[E-Z Glider]

Dude what in the world were you thinking?

That's not the actual fish. Mine was about half that size. I regretted it as soon as I did it. Figured it could've at least provided a meal to the woodland critters. Then I forgot all about it. It was two days later when I saw that the toilet backing up that I remembered it again (and regretted it again).