about the goldfish pond in the basement
It has started to freeze in Baltimore and my goldfish pond needed to come inside. Adjusting to living with seasons after 15 years in Florida has been a lot, and some things weren't really thought through. Fortunately, we have a basement. Before I get to the fish being in the basement, I realized I've never blogged about them before so here's a short recap about my goldfish keeping hobby.
Here's the pond, first set up on my Florida deck 3 years ago:
I had wanted them for years since I started keeping tanks again in 2020, but I didn't have the space - they need a ton of space and filtration. I picked up my first friend, a little "oranda" mutt, and my other fish came from a goldfish and koi convention in Orlando.
Florida raccoons are just built different, and despite some intense netting and screening I lost two beautiful orandas. Eventually I started covering it with wood at night, and the fish grazed down that vallisneria (grass-like plant in the water) while the water lilies grew like crazy.
When we moved, I had to send the big tank with the pods to Baltimore and my poor fish lived in a trash can with me for a couple weeks of constant water changes. I drove them up in a 3-day electric car sojourn up north, with two nights of sneaking my trash can full of fish into hotels with a filter and bubbler to plug in at night.
We set them up in a pond in the front yard, which kind of stuck out in my neighborhood - we're not in Florida anymore and I felt like I brought a certain trashiness to my block, so I will probably set them up in the back yard in the spring.
In the basement, I really didn't want water splashing and moisture/mold, so I moved the pitcher filter into the water and used it as a planter for the peace lily from my father-in-law's funeral. He would have adored this insane setup in my basement, and the wood the tall light is clamped on is from one of his woodworking projects. There is a more powerful filter still cranking with this big ugly hose, which I will probably switch out or try to hide somehow. The fish like to hide behind the plant and under the planter, and when you settle in for a movie (our TV is in the basement) they are always out and about eating algae.
I am really happy with how I made it look for a temporary setup, and I am at the point in the fishkeeping hobby where I just have extra lights and filters and wood and extension cords and timers and cinderblocks lying around as to not have to spend anything. I was going to get a 125 gallon low-tech tank in this spot permanently, but I am pulling back on new projects to save aggressively for whatever stage of capitalist hell we're in now.
I have more information about this setup and some links about goldfish on this webpage, which is still under construction.