A couple of years ago, Aunt Suzy lovingly gave Ricky some fish for his birthday. All the fish died off, except two. A few months ago, we lost another fish. That left us with the algae eater. He was big and ugly and creeped me out. The boys called him “the shark.” He was big! He outgrew his cave home and we had to turn it upside down so he could hang out in it like a hammock. I was SO ready to get rid of him. I didn’t even feed him for over a month – yet he just grew bigger.
Finally, I had an opportunity. I couldn’t just flush him (I avoid murder when possible) and he wasn’t dying off from natural consequences (lack of fish food) – but I discovered that a friend had a heated pond in her yard. I asked if she’d like an algae eater and she warned that she wasn’t sure he’d survive the winter. I told her that I didn’t care! (call me heartless) She welcomed us to drop the fish off any time
We made it a family affair and because it was such a fun and different activity, there were no tears about getting rid of the shark! It was perfect for me!
See? He was a big fish …
And ugly …
Our friend’s pond is really neat and the boys thoroughly checked it out before approving of it as a home for the shark. (Rusty had brought the fish net along … just in case)
There he goes … So long, Shark!
He seemed to settle right in. Maybe one day we’ll stop back and see how he is doing!
