For some time our pond has been filled with two 14-inch comet goldfish and a bunch of flathead minnows. My husband noticed one day that one of the comets was dead. It was just floating in the pond. My husband had talked about getting rid of the pond for a while because of the upkeep with the filters, but I mentioned that it could throw off our little ecosystem. The frogs like the pond and they eat mosquitoes and other bugs in the garden. I like our fish and pond lilies. It is hard to imagine not having the pond after all these years.
I was concerned about the comet being lonely so we decided to get it some friends. We found a place in the city selling butterfly koi. It was a bit of a drive for us so we needed to rig a set up that would keep the fish alive for the journey. My husband set up a bucket with a trash bag liner to fill with water, but we also needed a way to pump air into the bucket to replenish oxygen.
My husband ended up hooking up a power converter in my truck so that we could run an AC appliance off of DC power. He had an old aquarium air pump we could use. He had rigged some special jumper cables he made for use in his truck. They were used to connect from my truck battery to the inside of the truck. They were connected to the power converter. The air pump was plugged into the converter and the air line was taped to the bag to provide air for the fish.
It all worked well .We were able to successfully bring the fish home and into the pond. When my husband told me about the set up and how things were connected to my truck battery, I didn’t know what to make of it.
The fish have been a bit skittish since we brought them home. I keep trying to take pictures, but they are camera shy. They spend most of the time hiding. The original fish still doesn’t seem quite itself. It is not eating like normal. I am hoping that all will be better soon and that the new fish will feel at home. I hope our original fish will get back to acting like itself and enjoy the new friends.
We have lost some other fish over the years. One comet just disappeared and another one appeared to commit suicide by jumping out of the pond. One time we had bought some small gold fish, but they didn’t last long and were eaten by the frogs. They decided they would make a nice lunch much to my dismay.
It seems like a lot of critters appreciate the pond. I love seeing the frogs hanging around. I don’t always get to see it, but I have noticed that many birds appreciate the water from the pond. I put in a lot of labor when we built this pond. I sure don’t want it to go away and I don’t know what we would do with the fish if we did do away with the pond. For now I am hoping to enjoy the new set up with the new fish.