Skeletal leaf corpses and one desperate inflorescence on pH-sensitive Sagittaria montevidensisWell, I think I figured out the pond's problem. I got that pH testing kit today, and the pond's got a rip-roaring pH of 9.0, the highest this little kit was able to measure. Ouch.
At the pond shop I also picked up some more goldfish. Bob & Lyn are exceedingly shy, so I'm hoping that if they travel with a larger entourage, they'll be easier to spot. Also, I'm hoping that the extra fish poop will add nitrogen.
But the plants aren't likely to get any happier till I buy some chemicals to treat the water. Ug.
In the interim, let's think about the pretty fish. (Matt, be the way, reminded me with a bit of a smirk that you're not supposed to actually buy fish from pond stores--$$$$. Well. My new fish are way handsomer than the cheapo, knockoff, Walmart fish that I could have gotten for half the price. So there.) I bought two basic orange comets, (Thor and Big Olaf), two Sarasa comets with big orange blotches on their heads (Jupiter and--the cautious one--Safety First), a white comet (Drusilla, the homely stepsister), and they accidentally gave me a white fantail (fancy!) instead of a second white comet, so I named that one Lena because it sounds pretty.
They've formed a little school of 6, but Bob & Lyn don't seem to have sent out the welcome wagon--they're off sulking by themselves. Thor & Co. appear to have taken over the sweet hangout spot under the lotus, forcing the reclusive Bob & Lyn to flee to the less desirable real estate under the tropical water lily.
Exciting times in the big city.
Yeaaah. I finally got a Lena in the family. I love that name, it was my grandmother's name (the grandmother I take after). Swim little fishy:>)
ReplyDelete