My goldfish pond

[CountryEscape]

Keith, I don't have any outside lights, but will be putting the underwater lights back in maybe this coming weekend. It got really warm here today, around 77, so my water really warmed up outside with the water circulating. I know when I reached in to grab more of that darn algae (it must have grown 6" on one part that I had not pulled last weekend), the water was MUCH warmer than yesterday. So, out there the water is getting close to spawning temps.
Last year, my goldfish and shubunkin had to have been spawning from July until at least end of August. I have 3 babies that are much smaller than the others, and I was sure I noticed at least 3 different sets of babies, or maybe they were just that different in size and all from the same spawning! I know I have some that didn't appear until way late in the season, maybe end of September or October. Those are the 3 smallest ones. Again, maybe they were runts, hiding a lot, not eating, and that's why they are smaller, I have no idea. Other babies are almost as big as parents already.

 

[CometKeith]

Addy, last year before my frog disappeared he used to hang out by the lights and catch bugs at night! After a while he learned it was easier to catch them if he got out of the pond and hid right next to the light. Country I just have two fish that started out as babies. I noticed both of them in the fall over a year ago. One was tan and the other was black. They both went to orange eventually, one has a white nose now and the other one decided to turn all white! I think the change in temperatures in the spring from cool nights to mild days facilitates the spawning. Do you see any bumps on the males around their gills?

 

[addy1]

Maybe I will stick one of the lights above water for bug collecting for the critters, fish and frogs

 

[CountryEscape]

Last year I had a solar spotlight, which is not real bright, but enough to attract bugs, and had them over the edge of the pond . Frogs found bugs from that. Will be getting all my stuff out and around the pond this weekend, including putting the underwater lights in as well!

 

[CometKeith]

Frogs are really picky about their food. They will only eat the bugs that they kill themselves. Last year I tried giving our frog a few flies that I had to kill in the house and he wouldn't touch them. I took a few pics of our fish today. They were really active. I had a hard time keeping them in the pond! The last pic you can see the two watonai I got last year. They made it through the winter in good health.

 

[CountryEscape]

Watonai are fantails, right? Great pics! Looks like they are on your roof of the house and in the trees. LOL But, with all that color on the fish, could easily spot them.
My frogs would eat things I threw to them. They even would eat fish food. My son and I found some worms on a plant, and decided to see if anyone would eat them. The trick was to pitch them close enough to a frog but far enough away that they had to jump to get them. They went nuts! The worms/caterpillars were alive, though, so maybe that's why they liked them. I would also toss in grass hoppers later in the year, when the frogs were really big (bull frogs) and they were fun to watch jumping after them, too.

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks,They are next to our garage, It would be really weird if they were jumping that high next to the house. I am worried about them getting caught in the electric wires in the alley or jumping over the cedar bushes behind the pond that are only 10 ft tall. I think they are not use to this warm weather in March! I want to find some frogs for the pond for this year, but not bullfrogs this time. The watonais have very wide and spread out tails but are much heartier then other fancies and do well with comets and shubunkins. So far I am very happy with them, but the two I have cost probably twice as much as all my other fish combined!

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, sometimes you have to pay more for something special! That's why we put so much time and effort into our ponds, to enjoy them, and we deserve special "treats" for our efforts.

 

[j.w]

Nice bunch of fish Keith and glad they made it through the winter just fine. Watoni's are neat looking fish!

 

[addy1]

Very pretty fish! Glad they all did great over winter. I stay away from fish stores have more than enough and the way they are chasing more to come soon.

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks everyone! They were really active today and I felt kind of funny not feeding them with the temp at 80 degrees today, but I am going to err on the side of caution and not feed until my bio-filter is up and running and I know the pond has cycled. They were feeding on small bugs and algae so I know they will be fine. My pump was acting funny today and I have noticed this problem before. Depending on how you touch the power cord it goes off and on. I think I will just buy a new one and took it out of the water. I am still using the same one from when I bought my $150 kit 3 or 4 years ago. Any suggestions? Also some interesting news. When I told my wife yesterday I was going to make the pond bigger this year she said okay and that she liked the pond. I am going to have to think about what to do now. Maybe dig a second pond and connect them? Here is a pic of it from yesterday. It's in the rear corner of our yard.

 

[addy1]

Wooppeee, buy her some roses, and start diggin! how exciting, a new pond! My honey told me I can build as many as I want, but................I don't want to, this one is enough.

 

[CometKeith]

Addy, Yes roses are a great idea, but now I have the problem of what to do. I don't think I want to go deeper and bigger with this one because I would have to change the liner again, and I'm not sure if I want to add a second pond. It's definitely a dilemma! I thought this was going to be my quiet year and not do too much. One thing I have learned is do it right the first time. Anything I change will be properly constructed.

 

[addy1]

No kidding, easier the first time around, then fixing problems later.

 

[CountryEscape]

I agree, Keith and Addy. My new pond will hopefully be more carefree that the first one. I already changed out the tubing on the first pond once, and now realize I STILL used the wrong pipe for the bog, so the new bog will have PVC pipe in it from the get go. And, the level of the water in the bog will be correct, too ... at least that's the plan. LOL
I say build new bigger better pond, and connect them, Keith. Even if you don't have it so the fish can swim from one to the other, you could still connect with a stream or put a bridge between them to make them look connected would work, too.