At least twice in previous stories about our new house, I’ve mentioned the fishpond.
Tucked up against the Office, about 15 feet outside the backdoor of the house, is a 100 gallon fishpond that the previous owners had installed. It is little more than a plastic liner set in a dusty hole in the ground and partially filled with water. No pump. No filter. No decorative border. It isn’t even level.

When we first saw it we were surprised to see some fish still alive. We counted a about four goldfish, one is a fat orange and white fancy goldfish, and a couple of black fish of unknown variety. The pond was so choked with algae and debris that the fish could barely move, other than to gulp air. With the pond sitting in direct sun, the alga was growing as fast as the water was evaporating.

Our rescue effort began.
Week One:
Carrie started by scooping out the stringy algae by the fistfuls. I filled the pond with fresh Pomona tap-water straight from the garden-hose. Carrie diverted some Beta food to give the pond fish something to eat.

Week Two:
Diverting more resources from both the Beta tanks and her stained-glass fountain supplies, Carrie installed a couple of pumps to create some water jets and bubbles to help oxygenate the water.

Week Three
Since they’ve managed to live this long, we reward the pond fish by buying them their own food supply. No more sharing with the Betas. Carrie also buys three catfish-looking alga-eaters as a holding action on alga growth. We added two ghost shrimp that will eat missed food and other stuff that floats to the bottom to rot.

Okay, the shrimp thing was not planned. Carrie was adding ghost shrimp to the Beta tanks when one of them jumped out onto the counter. I picked it up but it looked dead, so Carrie wouldn’t let me put it in the Beta tank and had me toss it in the fish pond. Later, Carrie added a second shrimp to the pond to keep the first one company. Of course the water in the pond is still so murky we have no idea if the shrimp survived.

Week Four
Now the effort really starts to escalate as we make a significant financial investment in the fish’s future. Remember these fish can be replaced at PetCo for about 10 bucks. Carrie finds a place in Upland that sells all kinds of pond plants as well as Koi and all the accessories. She has me pick out a lily-pad plant that I liked (I thought it was $17, it was actually $35.) and she also got a bunch of plant that just floats on the top of the water. These new plants are added to the pond to generate oxygen, and to provide shade to cool the water and retard alga growth. Carrie tells me we got a bargain on the lily-pad as it came with about a dozen concealed snails that would normally cost $20 if purchased separately. We also suspect that there was at least one little cat-fish alga-eater that unintentionally hitched a ride to our pond. I know so little about lily-pads that I chose one because it had a second bloom. Come to find out, this thing will generate about a hundred blooms during the season. The blooms are cool though; they open in the morning and close at dusk.

It is now starting to look like a real pond. Carrie takes the time to clean out the weeds and debris around the pond. I feed the fish.

Week Five
The water is much clearer, but in spite of all of our efforts, or perhaps because of them, one of the catfish is dead, one of the black non-descripts is dead, and the fancy goldfish is lethargic in the extreme; floating on its side and only moving if you stick you finger in the water and give him a push. We’ve already named the fancy goldfish “Lefty” as he is missing a fin.

As we are contemplating euthanasia, the engineer in Carrie rebels. “The pond needs a filter!” she declares. An empty water jug, a couple of fountain pumps, some plastic egg crate, a layer of poly fluff, and some hoses are soon assembled into the supremely effective filter you see here. A dose of chemicals to correct the Ph and some fish virus medication are thrown in for good measure.

Success!
No more dead fish. The water is so clear you can see the bottom. The fish (including Lefty) are very active, which we choose to interpret as their being happy. They do appear to be playing in the water that is pouring in from Carrie’s filter. They also appear to be eating my $35 lily-pad. Hmmm.