Peril in the Pond

It's hard enough to photograph any of the fish in the pond, but here you at least have three of them at feeding time. The pale fish is usually a bit slower to join in than the other three. That is the only one that was actually spawned in the pond, and the sole survivor of my previous cohort of fish: I had no idea it was there until cleaning the pond out after about 18 months of inactivity after the outdoor power supply had to be turned off. Eventually I thought there should be another one, and they got on all right so a couple of weeks ago I bought another two. All four seem to hang around perfectly happily together although the orange one you can see here can get a bit competitive at feeding time. It's nice to have four again, and they are quite active. 

The other day I went outside to do some watering and found the pond almost empty! There was a few inches of water in the bottom and the fish bemusedly making their way about in it. Even the frog had surfaced. Filling it back up, the level of water remained steady (I was very nervous overnight in case it emptied again) and it dropped once more when I tried turning the pump back on, so there's a leak in the filtration system: better than it being in the pond lining. In fact, even with the pump on, I realised the pond would never empty completely as the pump is raised and once the water drops below it, it can't go any lower. 

I have a recurring unpleasant dream about having to rescue fish and other small creatures from a leaking water tank, and the leaky pond was much too close to that for comfort. Lady Arlen thinks I should have a cat and she is not the only one, as far too many of my friends are feline enthusiasts. Not only can't I abide the creatures, but anything higher up the evolutionary ladder than a goldfish would just be too much responsibility.