Water Worlds

Thursday, April 04, 2019

While out running around looking for signs of spring, I paused to fill the horses’ watering troughs and spotted goldfish for the first time this year. Until now, it’s been so cold they’ve mostly stayed below under the heating mechanism and out of sight. But they’re still alive, healthy and thriving.

These fish, some now as much as five or six years old, began their lives in my troughs as former “feeder fish”–small mixed goldfish types that pet stores sell for feeding larger predatory species. Early on, it was a surprise to find they could live long and well in the troughs. They stay warm in winters by hanging out near the heaters, dive low when the horses dip in to drink, and come up for sunshine and float near the top when its safe.

I feed the fish during brief periods when their trough newly is cleaned and its water changed. A couple or three times annually, a trough’s insides are scrubbed clean of algae, which is the fishes’ main food, and so, I supplement. The fishes also get treats from birds perched on a trough edge to dip and soften their catches, sometimes dropping in a little protein.

When a fish looks unwell but saveable, I take it into the house awhile to keep and observe in a little aquarium. As last winter began getting cold, one trough heater failed and I became concerned for its fish. So, through this winter they’ve been insiders.

Before long, it’ll be trough cleaning time and these will go home again.

Aside from the surprise of learning that these little throw-away fish can live for a long time in a confined, relatively unattended environment, another has been discovering that one can become attached to the critters. They grow in varying shades of red, some solid, others splotched, some have long, flowing fins. All are beautiful and they get along well together.

Once these insiders go back home, I’ll add a couple of underwater frogs to the aquarium. I’ve become very interested in frogs.

Readers, thanks for joining me this morning, have a great day. Diana