My goldfish pond

[addy1]

utoh ck you have the get new fish bug! you better get digging!

 

[CountryEscape]

Woohoo, love it when others get the new fish bug that causes their ponds to be expanded. That's what happened to me! Fell in love with baby koi on-line, bought them and then thought, "Utoh (to copy Addy), better build another pond!"

 

[CometKeith]

I have been torn about which fish to buy. I have gone to Blackwater Koi's website way too many times. They have two types of interesting goldfish. One has the marking of koi and are really cool and the other is what they call black opal shubunkins. Both of them they breed themselves. It's just hard to buy fish when you don't see the exact fish you are getting. I don't want to be disappointed. I finally was ready to pull the trigger last night and the mixes of three fish they sell were sold out for both types of fish. Now I'm looking at some fish again from Rain Garden. I was really happy last year with the two fish i got from them. Obviously I need to decide something soon so I can spend more of my time on my work! CE/Addy I'm still thinking about the best time to expand. My wife and I will be emptynesters at the end of the summer when our youngest daughter goes to college. She finally decided to go to University of Illinois where she was admitted into General Engineering.That might be the best time to build, but I doubt I will be able to hold off that long!

 

[addy1]

Now why would you want to build in the cold winter snowy days (maybe) freezing, weather when you can build when it is nice and warm, sun out, breeze blowing.

 

[herzausstahl]

lol Keith,
build now while it is warm and you can use the excuse for your wife you are doing it for therapy to prepare for your empty nest syndrome. as long as it is done or you hold off when it is time to help her move you should be ok. i'm with Addy, do it now instead of trying to cram it into sept before the weather turns, then you can enjoy it all summer

 

[CountryEscape]

Yep, build now, enjoy all summer, wave goodbye to daughter .... woohoo, time for Mom and Dad to relax!

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks for the encouragement to start sooner guys. Obviously I have some sort of sickness because it seems like I am spending all my waking hours thinking about getting more fish and expanding the pond. I have a new idea about the pond. I can add a new addition but not do too much of a connection, just enough to bring the water and fish from the old side to the new side, then I can dig the old side deeper before I make the connections final. I'll have to think of the logistics to make sure there is a way to do it. It probably would be smart to at least wait until HS graduation party is over before I start making a huge mess so starting the dig in the month of June would be my best bet. CE I'll try to take a lot of pictures like you do but I don't want to get my camera in my phone all full of mud and clay. I took some pictures of the new fish today. Basically I added 5 red-orange comets in the last week. One has a white belly, one is all orange and has an orange tail, one is a red female that looks like she could drop her eggs any day and is lethargic, and the other two are both red with long tails. I also had another red one that is a little hard to distinguish from the new ones but has more red in her fins and tail. I bought her from Petsmart a few years ago. You can see in the last two pictures my orange spotted watonai likes hanging out with the new comets. Where ever they go she pretty much stays in a pack with them!

 

[addy1]

That is called follow the leader Keith. Yep wait until the graduation party the next day stick the shovel in the ground and start. I like the idea of empty nest therapy, Hertz. Keith tell your sweety you need to work it out by digging.

 

[j.w]

That last fish in the last picture has a pretty tail! You have a nice growing herd there Keith!

 

[CountryEscape]

JW, I think that fantail in the last pic is his Watonai. I need to read up on the different types of fantails and how to distinguish between them. OK, I looked at my pond notes, and I wrote the following about the fantails types:
Common goldfish (Hibuna) – rounded short tail (not more than ¼ body length), all colors, pure white, yellow, red, black (black usually unstable); calicos are called London shubunkins.

Wakin – common in Japan, body similar to Hibuna, but with downward tuck at the tail, and double tail. All colors, calico is known as calico Wakin.
Watonai – Long tailed Wakin.
Jikin – similar body style as Hibuna, but with a fully split double tail. From the back, the tail looks like a four leaf clover.
So, I have no idea what mine are. LOL I don't think the white one I have with the red spots in the tail sections has any downward tuck, but Spot and Speck may be considered that. They are both long tailed, so would be Watonai's, I think .... maybe. LOL
Keith, I'm going to post pics of my 2 that I had in the aquarium, so maybe you can identify their types!

And, here is the larger fantail I got from Pond Kid. Not as easy to identify this one, as it's taken from above, but hopefully you will know. Thanks!

 

[CometKeith]

CE, I am not an expert but I think your orange fantail might be a watonai. Their tails are similar to a fantail but there is a third piece that goes up. The calico looks like a fantail because of the body shape. The first one is some sort of comet but have no idea what name.There are so many things that go into identification such as body shape it can be hard to figure it out. I think that basically when i see a fish I know what it is but can't always describe what makes it that kind of fish. Also Shubunkins are pretty neat because there are Bristol,London, and Japanese-American ones. I am not into hyping a product but this website is really good and has good descriptions and pictures of actual goldfish. It's where I got my watonais and I have my eye on a few fish there but can't justify spending that much money again just yet. http://www.raingarden.us/goldfish.htm Thanks jw. I can't believe I have so many fish now. I have been discussing business with a friend that has a pond and every time I go over to his office at his house to discuss stuff I throw my orange home depot bucket and net in my car in case he wants to give away fish. Now after 3 meetings I have gotten 5 fish altogether. If we meet again I am going to leave the bucket and net at home. Having so many fish is really forcing my hand about my expansion project. Yes, Addy I think your right. She is going to be a camp counselor for 5 weeks starting in June. That would be a great time unless my wife wants to spend more quality time with me. lol. She did tell me she was taking a trip for a week and waited until I asked her if I could go too. I'll have to time the dig at the right time. Herz, Thank you for your suggestions how to convince the little lady about digging up the yard again. They are all great ideas. I have been married long enough to know that I don't have to ask if I want to do something. I just need to see if she would mind!

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, in looking at your website, Keith, I have to say that my white one with red spots is a Watonai, or maybe the Wakin if the tail is not long enough, which it is kind of in between the two as far as length right now. The reason I say this is that it does look like a common goldfish (longer tail though) from the side, but from above, it is definitely a fantail. The other two, Spot and Speck, with their big bellys, are fantails. They seem to have longer than normal tails, but maybe not as long as the ribbon tail ones. To be honest, I can't tell the difference between his fantails and ribbon tails. If you look at all of the pics under fantail, cover the description and try to figure which ones are ribbontail! I was wrong 50% of the time. LOL I'm happy to call them all fantail, though. But, that red spotted one is so unique the way it is marked and the fact it's body is nothing like the other two. From above, you see 3 red spots on it's tail, as it always has it spread out, plus the red spot on the dorsal fin and then red spot on the head. I just fell in love with that fish! I think I paid something like $5 for the 3 of them, different times, same place though.
I don't care for the downward tuck of the fantail, like the Jikin or Ranchu. I like the tails that look more "normal" and flow behind them.

 

[sissy]

plus if you build now you will get to enjoy it sooner and then fall comes and you will be able to get some neat clearance stuff for your pond .I love my little fantails or butt wigglers they get very social if you give them a lot of attention .I have a shallow section of my pond where only the butt wigglers can get to and they go there and I can feed them and they get one on one attention .They know there spot also and head over there as soon as I go by it ,they know it is there time .

 

[HARO]

Country; I wouldn't worry too much about exact types of fish, All are goldfish, and all will interbreed to give you even more varieties. To a breeder in China or Japan, 90% of all the goldfish in our ponds fall into one category: 'culls'! That doesn't mean we can't enjoy them swimming in our ponds, and besides, it makes them AFFORDABLE!!!
jOHN

 

[CometKeith]

okay, I started today. It may end in divorce...