Pond Update

The pond is not looking great, but with temperatures around 70ºF the last few days I just had to take a look and see how many fish made it through the winter.

As you can see, there are quite a few! I'm always surprised, as just last week there was a thick layer of ice over this and it had been there for a few weeks. So glad to see the orange!

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How about a closer look?

I counted roughly 40 fish, even though they were frightened when I moved in closer...

...and sunk into the murky water. Blech.

Most look to be 2-3" (5-7cm) long. I didn't see any of the large original ones, but they may be lurking in deeper waters.


Not all is well here. Just the other day I was talking to my mother about the pond and the fish, and she asked "what do you do with the dead ones, just scoop them out?".

I replied "I've never seen a dead one. Maybe the raccoons eat them."

Well, today I saw a dead one:

I moved it into the shallows so the raccoons can more easily find it.

Obviously there are leaves to clear out of the water:

I'll get working on that soon. To be honest it's always a bit depressing working on the pond at this time of year, when it's missing all of the green lushness that surrounds it during warmer days.

But being able to see the fish so easily is a consolation, a pleasant diversion -- I could watch them for hours!

Note: I added just a tiny bit of bacteria this year as I ran out. I'll have to look back at photos from last spring to see if the water quality is much different with added bacteria vs. without. I have a feeling it's comparable.

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