When I finally got our three-half-barrel fish fountain established by soaking, rinsing and emptying till all the wine residue was gone, algae grew all over the interior surfaces. It got pretty thick. I removed as much of it as possible before putting in some goldfish. Surprisingly, the fish ate all the rest of the algae! The interiors of the barrels are clean shiny oak, just as was intended.Meanwhile, our main horse-watering trough, the “Teacup,” has started growing a whole lot of flagellate algae. The entire surface can get covered with its wonderful foamy greenness. What to do? Will the horses still drink out of it? Should I toss in a bunch of goldfish?
Or should I be smart and simply grab a handful every day and feed it to the fountain’s goldfish? It doesn’t seem they could eat that much in a day, but the handful shown in the top picture lasts a little less than 24 hours, feeding nine fish that vary in size from large* to small†, with a few mediums‡ tossed in for balance.*6, †2.5, ‡3.5–4.325 inches
*15.24, †6.35, ‡8.9–10.9855 centimeters
5 comments:
Linda and Robbie deliberately put fish (not goldfish - I think they are minnows) in their cattle troughs to eat the algae. I think your horses may be able to stand fish flavoured water, but maybe there is a 'more experter' opinion available out there in Blog land....
Long ago Nate and I had a small concrete turtle pond in the back yard. There were goldfish in it. After a few years, baby goldfish appeared! They were sort of beige colored until they grew up and turned orange.
Your fish are so lucky to get that locally-grown freshorganic high-fiber fish food ever day.
Pete, you make it sound so good maybe I should dip my spoon into the trough and enjoy a green breakfast. Your mention that it’s high-fiber relieves my fear that my precious goldfish could be subject to colon cancer without fiber. Colonoscopies for pet fish are now available from veterinarians, but only in the more progressive cities in California (not Fresno).
Susan, I don't think our horses are shy of eating fish-flavored water since they spend all summer drinking out of the river at the high ranch. It’s full of trout.
Maybe you should put 50 gallons of bleach into the Teacup.
Or maybe that would kill the horses in addition to the flagellate algae.
I wonder if the goldfish being in the sun filled 'tea cup' would get tanned and turn bronze.
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