Well. Our final fish died. We’ve had this aquarium since TWO THOUSAND TEN, which is quite a bit longer than I’d thought. For awhile, we bought fish with life expectancies of 1-2 years, and periodically freshened the supply. Then I decided I was tired of cleaning the tank, and no one else was enjoying the fish anymore, not even the cats, so I decided I would let the fish Naturally Decrease Over Time and then we’d be done with fish.
I wish we’d made a note of when we bought the last batch, because it seems to all of us as if the last few fish lived WAY LONGER than they were supposed to. Finally we were down to two fish, and then to one, and it started seeming sad to have one single fish in a big tank, so I was glad when he started having balance/floating issues and we knew the time was near. Today was the day we said, “…Wait. Where is the fish?,” and soon found that he was No Longer With Us.
Now I find I am having second thoughts. Are we REALLY done with fish? Maybe getting rid of the aquarium will just mean there will be more room on that cabinet for clutter piles. Maybe if we got new, fresher fish, the cats would be interested in watching Fish TV again. And it was so difficult getting that tank from a fish-killing tank of water to a place where fish not only live but live TOO LONG; it seems a pity to waste that progress.
My condolences on the passing of your last fish. We never had any luck with fish – we immediately killed off the two we ever had. The first one we froze to death by leaving it’s bowl on the window sill when it was freezing out. The second one, which had been alive for an extraordinarily long time prior to coming to live with us, was overfed and died. After that, we gave up.
I had a seemingly unending string of sickly goldfish (probably won from fairs) as a kid, each one lasting like a month. Then I got a “real” goldfish and tank, like from a store, and that sucker lived for something insane like 8 years. I was so bored of that stupid fish by then. I, uh, am maybe not an objective voice on whether to keep the Fish Dream alive.
Are you good and sure the fish is really and truly No Longer With You? Because once upon a time, as kids my sisters and I thought that one fish kept eating the others – only to figure out later on that at least two had somehow jumped out of the tank and fried themselves to death on our floor radiators. (i.e. we found their poor little fish skeletons on the radiators weeks later after moving the furniture around)
Oh, yes: I meant he was No Longer With Us in SPIRIT. His soggy corpse was still with us.
Er. I am sorry for your loss. I struggle with how many pets is too many, or too few, and of which types, so am, I think, of no help in answering that question.
On a positive (?) note I am reminded that the last time I, personally, “owned” fish, they were the fish that my college-aged stepdaughter either left behind or brought home for us to, um, enjoy and care for. And they lived a darned long time with us after she parted with them. So, thinking of your kids growing up, you never know — perhaps you have fish in your future!
We have a goldfish that we brought home in a bag from a weddding in late 2005 (he and his fishy mates were the centerpieces). His name’s Kevin and he’s been living in a small plastic bowl ever since… we never expected him to make it to 10.
You still have the fish knowledge, so the experience wasn’t wasted. I feel like it’s better to let the aquarium go to someone whose life will be enhanced by it. As far as the cabinet goes, maybe there is something purposeful you can do with the space so that it won’t invite clutter. Could it be a place where framed photos are enjoyed? Maybe a display of current art projects? A new place just for seasonal decorations? I feel like if you have a plan for re-use of that real estate, it won’t be so hard to close the fish tank down.
About 5 years ago we bought a few 15 cent goldfish to put in my mom’s pond. 2 grew large and survived until fall so we overwintered them in an aquarium in our house (the pond freezes solid). Then the next year they had babies in the pond. We saved the originals plus a few babies and put the rest of the 125 tiny goldfish into the neighbours’ much deeper, though muskrat and turtle inhabited pond with a “good luck little guys”. Same thing happened the next year.
The year after, one of the original pair died (well, disappeared actually) and we were left with one original and 4 of her offspring. No more babies. We overwintered these fish – by now over 6 inches long each) for a couple of years. No deaths, but still the numbers did not dwindle.
At this moment we still have 5 enormous goldfish… and another school of babies. And fall is coming. And I. Am. Done. With. Fish. They are nasty, dirty creatures that splash water out the top of the tank constantly. I had no idea they’d live this long! I think we may save the original and a few small babies, but donate the other large ones to the pond of a local nursery.
If you aren’t sure, can you keep the tank/etc around in the basement for a while? That way you’ll see if you actually miss the fish (even just the white-noise of the tank), and it wouldn’t be tough to set it up again. If you go some number of months without missing having a fish tank, then you can sell or give away the supplies.