Well, I finally have my pond (1200G) up and running. This year, I decided to go with 8 Red Comet goldfish. I've never seen a more brilliantly red variant- like a Sarasa but without the white. These are in there because they are highly visible and active. But the really important pond inhabitants are some of my cichlids (sorry goldfish lovers). The returnees from last year are a beautiful Uruguayan species called Australoheros sp. 'Red Ceibal' (3M, 1F) and 8 exCichlasoma beani (Rio Presidio/Mazatlan). A year ago, the 'beani' were 2-3", and right now, they range in size from 4-6". I'm hoping that a pair will form in the pond. Speaking of spawning, part of the delay in putting the 'Red Ceibals' out is that a pair had spawned downstairs about 3 weeks ago and I couldn't bear to break up the family scene. But todayI did just that, and now there are about 100-1/4" fry downstairs without Mom and Dad. I'll be putting them outside in a smaller pond (100G) to grow them out some. Also, I recently had a pair of Cichlasoma dimerus (Uruguay - from Ray Quennel's wild caught pair) spawn and decided I'd put out 50 or so 1/2 - 3/4" fry into the pond as well. Most will become "feeders" I suspect for the larger predatory cichlids, but some might survive. I've got about 100 left downstairs for growing out plus my pair is tending to another batch of fry. Anyway, the water temperature is 22C and all fish (AFAIK) made the transition successfully. Now to just let nature take its course. I took a few pictures (not very good 
) of the pond and some of the fish as they were going in.
) of the pond and some of the fish as they were going in.
