Goldfish Pond

Having a pond is something I always wanted. It is very satisfying to see flashes of gold as the fish swim by under the water and quite comical to see the little chickadees, sparrows and finches drinking and bathing at the edges of the pond. Even the cat will go there and help herself to a drink of water instead of making the trek across the yard up to the deck to the water bowl there.

What I didn't realized was how much work looking after a pond can be.

Today I cleaned the winter debris / dried leaves out of the tops of the pond plant pots which we took out and left all winter at the edge. I checked for growth and this year I put small pebbles on top of all the pots to keep the soil and any dead vegetation I might have missed from floating in the pond water. (I used a bag of aquarium pebbles because they are a nice small size and are clean.)

I had bought a couple of new Umbrella plants at a local greenhouse and replanted a couple of the pots which looked dead.  I had over wintered my pond lily in a pail of water in the laundry room and I added some new pebbles to the top of that pot, too and submerged it in the pond. I wonder if it will grow again. I have had it for 2 years now and it did re-grow last year but only got one blossom. Maybe it's time for a new one....The rest of the pots, which mostly sprout a type of tall water grass, were submerged in the pond by my husband.

Now the pond was sparkling clean and ready for the goldfish! I netted the goldfish out of their aquarium and put them in a pail of water with some aquarium water added earlier, then took them out to the pond.  I always enjoy watching them swim out of the pail each spring when they gleefully swim around the pond checking out their new living quarters!

I usually add some Cycle to the pond, too, to get the healthy bacteria to grow.

The outdoor temperature is important to monitor when you have outdoor fish. You should NOT feed your goldfish if the temperature is low, (5 to 10C).  At lower temperatures the goldfish's digestive system shuts down and if they were to eat food then, it could kill them.

It's great to have the goldfish back outside! I enjoy peeking into the water to try and spot them when I'm outside doing my gardening. Often they are hiding by the large rocks or next to the plant pots, but I try and count them every few days to make sure they are still all there. I wonder if there will be any babies this fall?