MY DILEMMA

I had rockbass in my pond with my goldfish and they did a wonderful job of keeping my fish population under control.  Last winter 2013-14 was so severe that I lost a lot of goldfish and all my rock bass.  With no predators to eat the babies they lived and now I have way, way too many baby goldfish.  Last spring I purchased minnows that were crappies and walleye.  I was hoping they would eat the babies.  If they ate any, they didn't consume many.  My pond is 15' X 30' and too large to be able to catch the minnows easily.

MY PLAN

This fall I plan to net my favorite big goldfish and keep them in two large tubs (150 gal.) each, in the basement.  Then I will let the pond freez over in hopes of killing off a vast number of goldfish.  The downside of this plan is that it will likely kill off the remaining big goldfish, and leave the babies that need less oxygen.  I have one tub and am currently shopping for a second.  I have tried netting the baby goldfish, but they are way too fast to net easily.  

Pump Up and Running

Friday night Jim and I cut down the old cattails and tall grass in the pond. I put on my waders and long pond gloves and pulled out a lot of leaves. Saturday March 28th, when I got home from work we turned on the yard water, filled and flushed out the pond. The water was quit low and the water had to run for hours to get it filled and overflowed a little. 

The first picture is that of vault where the pump is kept. You can see leaves and debris have collected. I won't actually put the filters in place until later in the spring. Right now I just want water flowing to aerate it.

The snow is very pretty, but I'm anxious for spring. However, snow this time of year never lasts very long. 

Yard Work in Early Spring

It was such a beautiful sunny day today. Jim and I got out and did a little raking. I like to get the leaves off the garden early. If I wait too long it keeps the spring bulbs from blooming.

I also took a few under water pictures in the pond. They came out cloudy. I wonder if I'm going to lose any more fish. I hope not. There is always a lot of work in early spring. It should be nice this week, maybe I can do a little every day.

March Thaw 2009

We had some rain today. I had to work, but this may be the last Saturday that I'll have to work. Things are really slowing down. However it feels like spring may be on the way. Daylight savings time starts tomorrow. As wonderful as it is that may be this hard, hard winter is over. You can see on the pond picture that my big gold koi died this winter. I didn't fish him out yet. The water is so cold I don't think he'll decay and pollute the water yet. I feel kind of bad as he was a beautiful fish. And maybe he's just sleeping. Wishful thinking, I don't think fish sleep on their sides. This is really an unattractive time of year in Michigan, however just seeing all the snow melt makes it look wonderful.

Enjoying the Feb. Thaw

We have had a wonderful sunny weekend.  

The path to the pond has melted first. 

 Yesterday I saw a gold fish through the hole in the ice.

My underwater picture  doesn't show much but it is the first in my big pond. 

We have had a lovely weekend.  The weather has been above freezing for three days.  Wow!  It feels so good the see the sunshine and blue sky.  I actually saw a gold fish swim by the air hole in my pond.  So there is one gold fish still alive after this long cold winter.  I took a picture under water, but as you can see it doesn't look like much.  Then Jim and I took a bike ride to Sterns Park and looked at Lake Michigan.  There are still big piles of ice and snow in the lake.  It's hard to believe that we will be swimming in it again.  It sure feels good to get out and get some fresh air and ride the bikes again. 

     My brother gave me an underwater camera for Christmas this year.  It is a Pentax W60.  It is more complicated than other cameras I've had.  I love taking the under water pictures.  I got it to take pictures in my pond.  But I tried it out in the tub where I keep my guppies.  

     You may notice that there is a gold fish swimming by.  Actually there are quit a few gold fish in with the guppies this year.  This is all quit by accident.  I put my guppies in the little south pond last summer, because we had carpet put down in the house and I didn't want the aquarium in the house or have to move it around.  The guppies seemed very happy outside.  But as the summer ended I filled a large 50 gallon tub and brought them back inside.  The tub is a little different than the aquarium in that I can move my tender water plants inside.  Some time I must have gotten some gold fish eggs in with the guppies, because there must be close to ten of them now.  I really don't need anymore gold fish, but I'm tender hearted and I won't kill them.  So next year I'll put them in the big pond.  

   I am looking forward to snorkeling in my pond and taking pictures underwater.  What a great gift from my dear brother. 

     The pond in January is almost completely frozen.  I have a heater and a pump under the dock.  I can hear it bubbling away.  I can't see my fish at all.  The net is completely broken down and frozen in the ice.  Next year I'm not doing any net.  I'll just fish out the soggy leaves in the spring.  This is the fifth winter for my pond and I have never been able to get a net to do the job and not fall into the water. 

     Winter seems so long this year.  Spring is so far away.  I haven't had the winter blues for many years.  But is have a bad case this year.