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| 27 babies 1 calico 4 orange 3 orange/white Shirley the 5th |
It's a chore. Every year. Sadly, I can't leave them in the pond, only because it can freeze, thaw, refreeze, depending upon the weather. The first year the (surprise!) babies made it through the year outside. Last year, the frogs kept moving in, I kept moving them out to the natural pond. I can't do that this year as the frog pond is quite dry.
I grabbed all the fish I could, then removed the water plants. These protect the baby fish, and the large, adult fish like to hide under them in the hot sun. They also put oxygen into the water. Once that was done, I captured only 2 big fish, and decided to drain it. Since we are in a drought, I took the opportunity to use the water for some nearby plants, while the main drainage hose (an old piece of defunct garden hose) drains it beside the trees.
Over the years: October can be too cold to be playing in water.
Oct. 7th, 2015: The goldfishies are in!
Oct. 4th, 2014: Fall chores: bringing in goldfish
Sept. 28, 2013: It's that time of year: come on in, goldfish!
Day 1
I had helpers. Annabelle didn't like getting her paw wet. Good thing!
I took these fish in, ran back for more. The empty bucket was fair game.
Two elders in, plus 19 babies. More to come...
Day 2 We drained the sucker!
Below you can see the water barrel. I have that hooked up to the eavestrough, and rain runs from there to fill the pond. Rain is forecast later in the day, Saturday, and I am hopeful!
Day 2 brought TWO helpers. You can see that I put the pond weed in the large tub. I put it back in, after I was done.
I have a large water lily plant (above, middle photo), and I am hoping for rain to cover it. It should be OK, as there is some water in the bottom. It has a huge root and produces beautiful flowers. Bye bye, water lily!
And we are done!
27 babies
1 calico
4 orange
3 orange/white
Shirley-the-5th
Last night (Saturday), it rained, as predicted. Heavily. The goldfish pond is half-full, again, with 13.46 mm (0.53") of blessed rain. (We are still, officially, in a drought.)
It's a full tank, and I'm not sure how long I can sustain it. I'm thinking of putting a few babies back outside!
It's a 60-gallon tank, which is a good size. They do tend to grow to the size of the container. Shirley-the-5th is doing well, although she has turned all-white. I think she is about 5 years old. But I can't remember!
9 comments:
First firewood, now fish.
And it's early.
Do you know something?
:)
Hari OM
Given how quickly autumn has taken hold over here, I don't blame you for starting the 'roll up'... and those darlings will brighten the inside on the dark days outside!!! YAM xx
That's exciting to have goldfish babies. Even though our lake doesn't freeze, it can get cold enough around here for ponds to freeze, at least on the surface. When I had a horse, we kept goldfish in the water barrels to keep the algae from getting too bad. - Margy
Job #1 done for winter preparation!!! Is the firewood all delivered, split, and stacked? Maybe time to call in a handyman to do the heavy stuff. I surrendered last week and the two wonderful men arrived to do all windows inside and out, spouting,solar panels and skylights inside.Up and down the ladders so easily. Now I wonder why I waited so long, and they will be here once a month!!! Keep warm, and your indoor pond looks great. a job well done.
Hello from Greece
Keep busy Jennifer. Looks like you are anyway.
They must be perplexed by the twice a year move!
Good to bring in the fish while the weather is nice and warm because the water temperature inside will be close to what they are used to, even if they are a hardy species. Hope your toe is feeling better. You certainly have been busy. So nice to see your lovely backyard deer.
Fish are very enjoyable but take a lot of work.
And now I see on Facebook the stack of firewood, will that last all winter? You've been so busy, time for a rest.
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