Pond -2- Go

Our old house had a pond.  Our new house does not (yet).  I have a "goldfish emergency".

From time to time I  have custody of largeish numbers of feeder goldfish.  Now if I were a great disciple of "The Circle of Life" when I was done with the fish I would feed them to something. But I am not.  Once they have survived the feeder tank at the store I owe it to them to find them "forever homes".  I really can't just go to our renters and say, "By the way, could I please dump these fish into my (I mean YOUR) pond?  It will only take a few minutes."  I don't currently have any students willing to adopt the fish - one of my former students had a (large natural) pond at his Dad's house.  It could absorb any number of fish and did for over 3 years.  But he has moved on to other schools and greener pastures.

And now I am pondless.  Or at least I was until yesterday when I got the word that there were no potential adoptive families for about 20 goldfish.

I lept into action.  The fish MUST have a home.  I went to Home Depot and bought a pre-formed plastic pond. It is now on my patio, its plant shelves supported by cinderblocks and assorted bricks.

I dismantled my small water gardens with their tiny 60 GPH fountain pumps, moving the water lilies and marsh plants into the new "pond" and putting the way-too-small  fountain pumps into the 95 gallon mini-pond.  The Bearded One arrived home and immediately said, "What have we here?  And where is the aeration?"

 I told him that "it was a pond"  (actually, with apologies to humorist Dave  Barry, "our emergency back up pond, Zippy") and that there were 2 tiny pumps.  He sniffed and proved exactly why it is that our garage is filled with shelving lined with labelled plastic tubs.  You never know when the contents of one of the tubs will come in handy.  The Bearded One quickly emerged from said garage with one much larger 250 GPH fountain pump, along with its extensions and its nozzles, and proceeded to fix the problem- and quite attractively too.

In three more days, I should have the water conditioned and adjusted (pH, pond salt, etc.) and the fish can "come home to Momma".