A new start for my main tank?

[jjohnwm]

When will you move them back outside?

The outdoor pond is still frozen solid to the bottom, so...not for awhile!

I just monitor the temperature of the basement tanks and the outdoor tanks to decide when fish go outdoors with as little acclimatization required as possible. The Goldies will likely be placed into the inground pond in late-April/early-May. Fish for the above-ground stock tanks likely have to wait until end of May or beginning of June.

Taking the fish outside is a lot like buying annual plants each spring. You want them in place as early as possible, to maximize the growing season and the chance to enjoy them...but too early and you run the risk of a cold snap that spells disaster.

It's opposite in the fall; the Goldies are the last to come indoors, up to a month later than all the stock-tank fish.

 

[jjohnwm]

Not only is spring here, but we are just over a month away from the first official day of summer...so why do I not have any fish outside yet? We have had several days of temperatures in excess of 30C, true, but nights still see much cooler numbers. It's always down in the single digits, and the forecast actually calls for freezing tomorrow with a chance of snow.

I have spent the past couple days removing my Goldies from their basement digs and back outside. Thirty fish, ranging from 5 to over 8 inches in total length. I also brought out a few handfuls of Hornwort and Guppy Grass to kick start the pond, which is also heavily populated with freshly-hatched tadpoles, a number of leeches that mysteriously manage to overwinter each year in solid ice(!) and numerous water beetles and striders.

Those Goldies have no problems with the low temps, can survive handily under ice, and are currently invisible, darting under the cover of rocks and logs when I approach. I know that's temporary, and it won't take long for them to become bold and brassy again.

However...a problem about which I worried in previous years (and which never actually came to pass) has now resurfaced, just as I had pretty much forgotten about it.

With each passing year, the inground pond has been constantly improving in terms of water quality and clarity. I first dug and filled this pond 10 years ago, and it has remained filled ever since, but of course each winter it is frozen solid to the bottom and then thaws and comes back to life each spring. In its first few years, the pond would suffer several prolonged bouts of green water each summer, along with less frequent bouts of cloudiness. As plants became established, the green water appeared less and less, and hasn't been seen since around 2019. Cloudiness also has disappeared. The water accumulates tannins each year, from fallen leaves and vegetative debris, but the colour that stains the water is not cloudy, more like weak tea.

When the Goldies first started going outdoors in 2023, I fretted about their bottom-feeding behaviour clouding the water. Didn't happen, at least not with the few small fish I had that year. Last year, 2024, a few more fish and a bit bigger, and the water was still nice and clear. This year...I have 30 fish, and they're much bigger. They've been in there for less than 24 hours, and I can discern a definite cloudy haze in the water. It's not extreme, but...I don't like it.

To filter, or not to filter...that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
the slings and arrows of outrageous cloudy water, or to take arms against a sea of big-ass goldfish, and by opposing end them...by turning them into gel-food cubes.

Remind me why I like these fish...?

 

[Fishman Dave]

You just need to go over all your posts about them being a favourite (ok not a jelly cat but) with there being nothing like them in a tank for activity!
They won’t be half as enjoyable as jelly cubes!
Firstly you need a real reason not to have them, not just cloudy water, blah, I want to hear, “oh I found and bought a Goonch and I’m not sure he will live with the goldfish!” Or a wells or another jelly cat or some proper alternative use for the tank.

 

[PixelStormX]

Sounds like spring fishkeeping is a mix of science and gambling
Totally agree — it’s always that tricky balance between getting them out early and not waking up to frost the next morning. Fingers crossed we get a mild April this year!

 

[jjohnwm]

Sounds like spring fishkeeping is a mix of science and gambling
Totally agree — it’s always that tricky balance between getting them out early and not waking up to frost the next morning. Fingers crossed we get a mild April this year!

Yeah...we already had our warm April...it's now mid-May, and snow is still a risk, so...

You just need to go over all your posts about them being a favourite (ok not a jelly cat but) with there being nothing like them in a tank for activity!
They won’t be half as enjoyable as jelly cubes!
Firstly you need a real reason not to have them, not just cloudy water, blah, I want to hear, “oh I found and bought a Goonch and I’m not sure he will live with the goldfish!” Or a wells or another jelly cat or some proper alternative use for the tank.

I know, I know, you are 100% correct. I love the Goldies; for purposes of a calm, restful tank to sit and watch and enjoy a coffee, they are ideal. They're a nice size now, and of course will get bigger, so...to continue loving them, I need to do some ruthless culling. And while I have zero problem processing large numbers of small fish through a blender when there's a legitimate reason to do so...i.e. a hungry big-ass carnivore to feed...I really don't need to make any Carnivore Gel anymore. I don't have a big carnivore to feed! That realization hit me like a ton of bricks recently.

So...I've given a bunch to friends and neighbours, for their tanks and ponds...I've given a few local aquarists some frozen gel...I've used whole frozen Goldies for bait, both ice-fishing and summer catfishing, with some excellent results...but there will be a new crop of them appearing soon...

I need a Monster, plain and simple... a "proper alternative use for the tank".

And in concert with that...I need a larger, deeper, more luxurious backyard pond for the Goldies. Throw 'em in and let them fend for themselves; just enough supplemental feeding to get them tame and friendly towards me. Beyond that, it would be an "Escape From New York" kind of deal; the inmates go in, but they don't come out. Survival of the fittest...law of the jungle...kill or be killed...the kind of pond in which you don't dangle your toes unless you want lose a couple!

 

[Cal Amari]

Slay him John

 

[jjohnwm]

Slay him John

I...I...I'm not sure...

On the one hand...all the tell-tale signs of bot-ness are out there on rampant display; seems like a no-brainer, almost too easy (and I don't shoot sitting birds...).

On the other hand, our new friend has responded to a couple of posts made by me and others. Have we had this happen with a bot before? Is it something new, a more-evolved and better/smarter/more humanistic model? He hasn't said that anything is "critical" or "key" or "essential" or used any of the other codewords we've come to know and love.

How about it, E Elliotfairchild ...are you real, or are you Memorex? Are you passing the Turing test simply by making me...a devout AI-phobe...think you might be passing it? I'm a tough audience in this regard; I'm not really 100% sure that anybody on here is a for-sure no-doubt flesh-and-blood critter. There are days that I even have doubts about my wife...

Does that make me wrong if you are human? Does it make me wrong if you're not? How do we know you are real? In fact...how do you know yourself? Sean Young in Blade Runner had no idea she was built from a kit...

Or...to borrow from another thread that I have struggled to avoid for my own good... have we stumbled upon a case of...hybridization? Are you some unique new human/AI combination...a cyborg?

My fat sausage trigger finger is hovering anxiously over the Slay button; truth be told, I really, really wanna press it. I like watching the sparks. This is getting worrisomer and worrisomer. Say something...anything...to prove to us that we are not dealing with yet another typewriter-with-a-brain.

Edited to add: Screw it; I hit Report. Can't afford to take chances nowadays. I have no qualms about apologizing later if I acted too hastily.

 

[Deadeye]

I...I...I'm not sure...

On the one hand...all the tell-tale signs of bot-ness are out there on rampant display; seems like a no-brainer, almost too easy (and I don't shoot sitting birds...).

On the other hand, our new friend has responded to a couple of posts made by me and others. Have we had this happen with a bot before? Is it something new, a more-evolved and better/smarter/more humanistic model? He hasn't said that anything is "critical" or "key" or "essential" or used any of the other codewords we've come to know and love.

How about it, E Elliotfairchild ...are you real, or are you Memorex? Are you passing the Turing test simply by making me...a devout AI-phobe...think you might be passing it? I'm a tough audience in this regard; I'm not really 100% sure that anybody on here is a for-sure no-doubt flesh-and-blood critter. There are days that I even have doubts about my wife...

Does that make me wrong if you are human? Does it make me wrong if you're not? How do we know you are real? In fact...how do you know yourself? Sean Young in Blade Runner had no idea she was built from a kit...

Or...to borrow from another thread that I have struggled to avoid for my own good... have we stumbled upon a case of...hybridization? Are you some unique new human/AI combination...a cyborg?

My fat sausage trigger finger is hovering anxiously over the Slay button; truth be told, I really, really wanna press it. I like watching the sparks. This is getting worrisomer and worrisomer. Say something...anything...to prove to us that we are not dealing with yet another typewriter-with-a-brain.

Edited to add: Screw it; I hit Report. Can't afford to take chances nowadays. I have no qualms about apologizing later if I acted too hastily.

If this eases your guilty conscience:

 

[jjohnwm]

DEATH TO ALL BOTS!!!!


Dang it...getting soft in my old age...

 

[Fishman Dave]

What we need is a way to tell if someone has liked a post from someone else. Surely that requires pressing a finger on a choice icon.
It can’t be that simple though! Make it so you can’t chose the icons electronically.