Fingers Crossed For a Peaceful and Timely Death

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When we got married, one of the first things I wanted to do was set up an aquarium. I love having fish. We got started and bought a few fish...and then realized we were PCSing to Germany in about six months. Luckily, we didn't live too far from my parents, so when it came time to move, we transported the fish to their house and they lived out the rest of their lives there after we moved.

When we arrived at this duty station, I dragged out the aquarium again and set it up. I bought five lovely black skirt tetras and a plecostomus and got started.

That was nearly four years ago. None of the fish have died of old age. In fact, the plecostomus has tripled in size and looks about ready to evolve legs and crawl out.

So now what?

I have loved having the fish tank, and it's even more fun now that our baby can watch the fish and try to grab at them through the glass. But if these fish don't die of old age sometime in the next six months, I don't know what I'm going to do. I am absolutely morally against flushing them, and they sure can't handle a 16-hour car ride back to my parents' house this time!

I find myself hoping for a timely demise. The average lifespan for these fish is about 5 years, so I keep hoping mine were teenagers when I got them. But I'm out of luck with the plecostomus; they can live up to 15 years!

I would love to start another aquarium when we move so that our daughter can enjoy the fish, but I hate to go through this all over again. I still don't know what I'm going to do when it's time to move. Ideas? I would give all of them away for free if someone would just love them until they die. How have you dealt with non-dog or cat pets when PCSing?


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