It became clear, or murky as the case may be, that the pond would need some fish straight away. In a few short weeks we had an algae bloom and mosquito larvae. We have confirmed cases of Zika in Florida, and while I'm not a paranoid person when it comes to illness outbreaks it's dangerous and unpleasant to allow breeding grounds for mosquitoes to go unchecked. So, off I went to purchase some koi and goldfish. Given the cost and our uncertainty of whether the pond would support fish I opted for 8 of the 3"-4" varieties (4 koi and 4 goldfish) at $5 a fish. I also got 2 plecos; in addition to being cute and hardy we desperately needed to reign in the algae. I also purchased an aerator, which is essential to oxygenating the water for the fish. The aerator will agitate the water, which will discourage further larvae from being laid until it's ready for the ducks!
Since we apparently live by the 'go big or go home' motto it wasn't actually surprising that we hit a big box store the next day for more goldfish. At $0.29/ea we bought 30 more, assuming most of them would perish. In less than 36 hours it appeared that all of the larvae were gone. We were nervous that they had hatched instead of becoming dinner, but the results of our informal study were encouraging. Our bite to time spent at dusk without repellent ratio indicated no increase in mosquitoes, and they always find me. A few days later I went back and purchased 5 more plecos to combat the algae. In fact, I was nervous the koi and goldfish had exhausted their food source so I bought fish pellets until the plants are up and running.
Homestead tally:
34 goldfish
4 koi
8 plecos
9 chickens
4 turkeys
5 ducks
12 chicks (that's a story for another post)
2 cats
2 dogs
....and us!
For those who might not know what my title references or
for those who do and love the skit as much as me!
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