Yay!
Posted by Anja on March 13, 2012 at 14:33 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 17:32All three of our goldfish survived the winter. The pond is mostly ice-free by now, and I also saw 5 of the minnows and a frog.
Tags: Carassius auratus, Pimephales promelas, survivors | Categories: Pond | Comments Off on Yay! | PermalinkQuiet Sunday
Posted by Anja on October 17, 2010 at 12:47 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 15:59A bit of clean-up around the house in preparation for The Big Freeze ™. I was just going to do a round of checking on things, but it was so nice outside that I spent about 2 hours, snipping here, moving there, weeding a bit, storing pots, watching the fish in the pond … Very restful.
Otherwise spent the day around fish tanks, doing water changes and cleaning filters. The guppy family seems to have settled in nicely, as have the little goldfish, who don’t scare the minnows anymore. Not too much, anyway.
Tags: breeding, Carassius auratus, Poecilia reticulata | Categories: 10G River, 10G Tropical, Pond | Comments Off on Quiet Sunday | PermalinkWe had another glorious day
Posted by Anja on October 10, 2010 at 23:47 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 16:18… and did the fall clean-up. The tiger raked leaves, and I heaved the tropicals out of the pond (he helped me with the big one) and potted them up, and cut down the perennials. Most of the water hyacinths landed on the compost. I just left three in there to give the fish some cover, but they do turn very icky after the first frost.
Finally I netted the goldfish babies (I found 5) to overwinter them in the tank downstairs. Two of them are about 1 1/2″ inches and thus prolly big enough to survive on their own, but the other three are under 1″, so they all came out. Easier than trying to catch only the little ones, and why take chances.
The minnows immediately schooled tightly and went into partial hiding, but the suckermouths were completely unfazed by their new tankmates:
Newcomers
Posted by Anja on May 2, 2010 at 16:11 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 16:26
The new guys are doing well so far, and Rosy (the minnow we got last year to see how well she’d make it thru the winter) seems thrilled but confused. She frequently joins the school of minnows, only to then go back to hang out with her goldfish buddies. Did we give her an identity crisis?
Tags: Carassius auratus, Pimephales promelas | Categories: Pond | Comments Off on Newcomers | PermalinkPond Add-ons
Posted by Anja on May 1, 2010 at 22:49 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 16:25A half score of little rosy red minnows was acquired at the pet store. They’ve been added to the pond, and swim around a bit confusedly yet, occasionally followed by one or the other of our curious goldfish. I took care that they’re too big to be considered food, though.
Good day.
Tags: Carassius auratus, Pimephales promelas | Categories: Pond | Comments Off on Pond Add-ons | PermalinkBack in business
Posted by Anja on April 18, 2010 at 20:41 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 16:53
I got my outside day today. We used it to spring-clean the pond, give the fish a spa day and restart the filter and waterfall. I divided and repotted the papyrus and plunked it and the black taro back in their place.
The fish were hardly back in the pond when they started playing in the waterfall. It’s so nice to have it back. It’ll be my lullaby tonight.
Tags: Carassius auratus, Colocasia esculent 'Black Magic', Cyperus papyrus, spring cleaning | Categories: Pond | Comments Off on Back in business | PermalinkOne of our Comets Disappeared
Posted by Anja on May 25, 2009 at 12:54 | Last modified: July 10, 2012 03:11Thursday they were all three still there, Friday I only saw two of them — Agent Orange, the bright orange one nowhere to be found. Yesterday we did the big spring cleaning of the pond and he’s definitely gone, not even a body is there. I’ve never seen a heron around, but that’s the only thing I can think of. Especially since they have lots of hiding places they can scoot to, but herons are patient.
We put all the tender plants and tropicals back in yesterday, so now more than half of the surface is covered, three days too late?
Tags: Carassius auratus, spring cleaning | Categories: Pond | Comments Off on One of our Comets Disappeared | PermalinkWhat a brilliant day
Posted by Anja on March 28, 2009 at 10:57 | Last modified: July 10, 2012 04:05Spring is here. The fish were out, and I sat by the pond and fed them a little bit of their spring food. They’re not very hungry yet, though. Might have something to do, too with an overabundance of algae in the pond. Smorgasboard.
Tags: Carassius auratus | Categories: Pond | Comments Off on What a brilliant day | Permalink
Cut down all the perennials in the pond
Posted by Anja on October 19, 2008 at 16:58 | Last modified: July 10, 2012 03:59… and scooped out most of the floating plants. It’s cold in the mornings and frosty at night. The goldfish only come topside during midday, when the sun warms things up.
Tags: Carassius auratus, fall cleanup | Categories: Pond | Comments Off on Cut down all the perennials in the pond | PermalinkGolden light
Posted by Anja on October 14, 2008 at 16:55 | Last modified: July 10, 2012 03:57… and the first fallen leaves. All the minnows are scooped out and swimming happily in a tank in the basement. The goldfish are still out and about, doing their thing.
