Winterization and Fish

With a chill in the weather, Thom came over and checked the pond.

"It's a slimy mess", he proclaimed.

We decided to close it down for the winter.  I wonder what other pond proprietors do with outside fish and plants in this clime.

"The mosquito guppies have multiplied like crazy, but the goldfish have slowly decreased.  I started with about nine.  A few days ago there were only three."

First Thom cleaned my two small inside aquariums.
A friend gave me two pairs of fancy guppies on the Fourth of July.

On the Fourth I transported two very pregnant females in plastic bags to my house, and let them sit in the aquarium overnight.

By morning on the fifth of July, they had both given birth, and there were about fifty babies in the bag, which I left in the bag, taking out the mothers to put into the aquarium I had prepared for the adults.

I found an aquarium on Craig's List with filter, light and pump for $15, ran to get it, and brought it home.  But by the time I had set it up, I realized some of the bags had leaked onto the kitchen stove, where the guppy babies were swimming.  The black electric stove luckily had not been used for cooking that morning.

Weslee was the innovative fisherman, and using a scooper/tablespoon, was able to rescue about twenty little swimmers from the stove while I prepared the aquarium.  We dumped fish into aquarium, but many did not survive.  Over the next days we lost fish for various reasons.

It is now October, in the baby tank there are only four left, growing well, and in the adult tank there is only one female.  It is a sad story, but we put them all together yesterday.  I think they will make a happy family.

Thom spent hours scooping up fish from the pond, and finding only two goldfish.  I do not know what happened to the others.  There were so many mosquito guppies we cannot count them.  I am afraid to put them in with my other guppies, since I think they might not get along.

We decided to get a large aquarium from Wal-Mart for the outside fish.  They are a lot larger than the inside fish, need a lot more room.  The water outside was so cold, we waited all day to get the water up to room temperature before adding them.  The snails had also done a great job of multiplying.  From the three I had originally, there were now dozens.  I hope they all thrive inside, although I am not so sure given what happened with the other fish for which I have cared.

They survived the night, and Weslee fed them this morning, and a feeding frenzy ensued.  We may have made it for the majority of the fish.  The tank I bought has a bank of LED lights, something new under the sun.  These are tiny "Lego" looking, shining like dim twilight onto the fish.  Quite nice, and supposedly lasting five years.  I hope so.  The lid and lights cost twice as much as the aquarium!

I am still trying to decide whether I had more fun playing with the fish, or just spending the day with Thom.  What a great time and wonderful way to spend the day!