The picture above is a scene from a feeding frenzy in my pond in North Carolina. In that pond, within a couple of days of being added the fish would swarm all over and practically jump out of the water to be fed. Contrast that with this, a picture of my pond in Alabama.
These fish have been in the pond for several months now and I barely ever see them. Once in a while I will catch a glimpse of a flash of white or orange but for the most part I may as well have an empty tub. I have pondered why this difference in behavior might be. The pond in NC was 180 gallons and probably was overpopulated. This pond is only 35 gallons and I have 4 goldfish in it.
I first got interested in ponds from a friend of mine at work. He talked about when he was setting up his, and how so many of his early fish died. So when I set mine up I expected waves of fish casualties. Fortunately for me, since I'd done my homework before I set it up, I had maybe one or two fish die. And then I think I was a bit too overenthusiastic and kept adding one or two here and there before I finally stopped. So I ended up with way too many fish in my pond.
When we set up the new pond I greatly scaled down my scope. I didn't want a big pond (yet), just something to scratch the itch. So we did a pond that is big enough for a few fish, a waterlily and a plant or two. I don't have the time or energy to take care of a big pond right now (yet!). What I didn't take into consideration was that I wouldn't get to see my fish very often, because they aren't in that competitive of an environment. Boo. Ahh well, maybe when I have time to sit out there more they'll get more used to me. :)
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