Triumph and Tragedy = keeping goldfish

I've always had goldfish, ever since I was a kid. I earnestly tried to do everything I could to keep them alive. I read up on them, and made sure their water was aged, and that I had healthy fish food, but without a filter, in little tanks, I didn't have a prayer.

Then my Dad dug me a pond in the backyard and lined it with cement. Once that cured, in the fish went, soon to disappear in a green scum, only occasionally visible when they rose to eat mosquito larvae, which I'm sure the little pond bred plentifully. Still, when I dipped out the water in the fall, there they were, bigger, healthy and fat, if a bit paler. Carefully, I put them in aged water in a cellar window, where it was cool and dim. These I managed to keep for years, by putting them in a pond for the summer, and taking them out when it began to freeze. They finally expired during my parent's divorce, when I was out of the country and could not retrieve them. They were just one of the many things I lost.

About twleve years ago, the suburban pond thing began in earnest. Husband wasn't up for having me put one in the ground, which I really would have loved, but I did get a large tub to sit on the patio. Into this some pond fish went. These days you can get pumps easily plus plants to make the whole thing work well and look presentable. Voila! Water garden with fish in a mostly shady spot on the patio!

One of those original fish is still out there this summer. The name (creatively) is Old Fish. Unfortunately, Old Fish has developed a case of popeye, and will have to be done in at the end of the summer, as I don't want that in my winter tank. His ailment makes me sad. Amazing how attached you can get to something that rises to the surface to take food from your hand! He's a lovely bright red, and much, much bigger than he was twelve years ago.

It's been a bad summer for my pond fish. One of my cats caught one, (named "Comet" as that's tje kind he was), and slammed him on the ground. As she snatched him right before my eyes, I scooped Comet off the pavement and tossed him back into the tub. He survived for about two months, but then he ceased to rise for food, so I figure either some feline ate him, or he is dead,contributing to the slimy world in the bottom of the tub.

Then, the other morning there was 10 year old Stevie (orange with a white belly and one eye) lying on the patio, dried and dead. Some cat--perhaps the same naughty fat orange girl, or, perhaps the tough stray tomcat who has just made himself at home here caught him. Somehow, I don't think it was my ex-fight club member, because I assume he would have eaten Stevie,at least if I can judge by his track record of devouring bunnies and squirrels and leaving nothing but a tail behind.

Sadly, I am now left with only two: Disney, a red and white fantail, and Old Fish with his awful popeye. Maybe I'll just have to start over next spring, but more likely I'll go to the nursery and get another very small pond fish or two, and let them get a good bug & aquatic plant-eating start with a few months in a summer time pond.