Hi! Welcome to the second rather lengthy “Meet the ____” post.

 

The fish live in this pond: (Two different angles)

Here is a picture where you can actually see them.

The only time you can really see them is feeding time! It’s a real frenzy. They all love food- of course!

 

We originally thought they were koi, but apparently koi have “whiskers”, and these fish don’t. They are a special breed of goldfish called Comets. They grow much bigger than the kind you keep in a bowl- some of ours are about a foot long!

We have way too many in our pond. They have been allowed to breed out of control (not our fault- we moved here recently and the fish came with the house). You are only supposed to have about ten per pond. Also, the pond needs cleaning. It is not supposed to be green. Despite all this, the fish seem happy, though we have found two dead ones.

We feed them about every other day by now, though this varies with the seasons. In summer you might have to feed them twice a day, whereas in winter, you don’t feed them at all. This is because fish are cold-blooded, so when it’s cold, their metabolism slows down, making them also slow down, practically to the point of hibernation. When it’s hot, they are very active. So in summer, they need more food. You should not feed them until their water is consistently more than fifty degrees Farenheit, and then only once or twice a week. Good first foods for them are Cheerios (but no other cereals!), brown bread, and spinach. Drop them in the water and watch them eat! After the first few weeks, start feeding them fish pellets, available from a pet store or online. You want the kind that says “Pond Pellets”.

Normally, there is a waterfall in their pond. Here is a picture from another day, with waterfall:

It has not been working of late- we are not sure what is up. The water flow gets smaller and smaller, until nothing is left. But our bubbler is still working:

It pushes air up through the water to make bubbles. This oxygenates the water, which the fish need. You need a bubbler especially in the winter, when you turn the waterfall off (because it would freeze otherwise). Or if your waterfall is not working.

Also for the winter, we have a de-icer to keep the water from freezing solid. It is a heating element that keeps a hole in the ice, so the water can be oxygenated without bursting the ice, which is very bad for the fish. The vibrations from hitting the ice to make a hole in it can kill fish.

Our de-icer, off duty for the summer:

Next time: Compost!