Outside the garden gate and underneath the banyan tree...



in an old blacksmith's trough...



is an isolated colony of Ryukins which is the fate of goldfish that do not fit in. Someday, it is hoped, they will evolve into a more civilized society capable of peaceful coexistence with the rest of the goldfish world.





- All the rain over the last few days has brought on a spawning free-for-all in Ryukinville. I may need to intervene if things don't settle down.

Jeeze I'd sleep outside if that were my yard. What a cute story and some pretty amazing fish!

Just beautiful!

My mom has that plant there next to the tree but in the house. Yours is just HUGE!

I want your yard!

Your yard is just beautiful and I love your ryukins they are so pretty to bad they are naughty.But I think I would be naughty just so I could go out to that beautiful yard. Lol

What a beautiful set up! and such lovely fish! I'd love to see some of the resulting fry from their spawning!

wow, it looks great!! Beautiful fish too

It's a Clivia. I get some pretty strange looks from folks when they come over and I say "Come over here, I want to show you my Clivia".


I've only raised fry by accident before. I've got a few eggs but I'm afraid to try too hard to raise them because I don't really know what I'm doing. Also, not sure if I have the time to do it right. We'll see... maybe I'll pull a few out and see what happens. The female is looking pretty tired and she's not producing many eggs. I feel sorry for her.

Ill have to show it to my mom, she'll love it!

WOW!! Your yard is absolutly gorgeous and the fish just make it perfect. I wish I couls have that kind of yard.

they look like trouble!

The female looks real gravid, man Imagine 2000 goldfish fry for Sonny to take care of

Or if not a penal colony...

Wastin' away again in Ryukinritaville...

Don't know why that popped into my head, sorry.

Anyway, cool story and GORGEOUS yard, thanks for the pics. Looks like you are going to have lots of naughty ryukin fry!

The trough is a good idea for the naughty ryu's . Do you still have the other fish in your pond?

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I've only raised fry by accident before. I've got a few eggs but I'm afraid to try too hard to raise them because I don't really know what I'm doing. Also, not sure if I have the time to do it right. We'll see... maybe I'll pull a few out and see what happens. The female is looking pretty tired and she's not producing many eggs. I feel sorry for her.
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The breeding frenzy can be exhausting for the female esp with 2 males there- and it may lower her immunity so I'd keep a special eye on her for a while.

You have so nice a yard and we'd love to see more pics .

Nice garden and gorgeous fish! Are they living in a trough!? Sorry haha it just looks like one! pretty pretty pretty fish though!

I have to agree with everyone else Sonny and say that your garden is lovely! I am a real garden fanatic. As for those bad Ryukins,do you think all their fry will be bratty little fin nipping fish?
Anyway,Would love to see the rest of your yard.

One word comes to mind when looking at your pics, "Stunning"! I love your yard. Many mornings would be spent sitting out there with a nice cup of coffee and my laptop sending pics to KoKo's saying "Look where I am"!

Your fish are beautiful also! As naughty as they are.

lol... that song pops into my head too when I think about Ryukinville. The words can be seen as appropriate...
Wastin' away again in Ryukinville...
Lookin' for that lost shaker of salt...
Some people claim there's a woman to blame...
But I know... it's my own ###### fault.

(sorry, I never could carry a tune )







I really enjoy gardening too. I've loved plants since I was a kid. When I moved back to Houston I went from three and half acres to a postage stamp sized lot. I think it is just as much work though since I've jammed it so full of stuff. It's all fun though and what keeps me sane and out of trouble.

Trinket, yes I still have my Comets and Wakins in the 'big pond' and some fancies in the horse trough. Been shuffling fish around a little bit lately and Julius is living outside now. Moved my black fish inside into the aquarium because I couldn't see them when they were outside.

saaayyyyy, was someone making wishes? Are there COINS in the bottom of that trough? Are they mugging your guests?

Their personalities might lead you to believe that they're mugging guests but... in fact those are rusty spots on the bottom of the trough. It's old and made of iron.

I have to agree. Very nice yard. And nice container pond.
I'm thinking of Ryukin for my half barrel pond. maybe they will beat up the racoon that are not spooked off by the motion sensing lamp.

Well daniel you know we are all waiting for your big barrel pond comeback

Sonny- glad to hear you still have all your other beautiful fish, and that you can see the black fish now

Beautiful yard!

Isn't rust bad for fish?

I don't know. When I first got the trough I didn't know much about keeping fish in outdoor containers. So I put two small Orandas in there and they seemed to do well. Since then I've read much more and realize there is risk in putting fish in metallic containers. I was worried about heavy metals leaching into the water so now I use a dechlorinator that is supposed to neutralize them. And I've always changed about 80 - 90 % of the water each week. The only time I had a problem with fish in the tank is when the filter went out for two days before I realized it. There was an ammonia spike and the fish suffered. I'd be curious to know what I should look for in terms of adverse effects.

Here's some info on effects of copper/metal in water
mainly about copper but also rust - metal absorption I would think would affect the reproductive system too.

That is very interesting reading. I must admit that my two Orandas developed SBD in this tank. It happened after a filter accident though and always accredited it to that. (The filter stopped running for 2+ days and there was an ammonia spike.) Prior to that they lived in the tank happily for three years and grew from 2-3 inches up to 8+ inches. The current inhabitants (3 Ryukins) appear to be thriving after about 6 months in the tank. The tank has been housing fish for over 5 years now and, with the exception noted above, the fish have thrived. Not sure what to think.

"If it's not broke don't fix it!" Sounds like you have a good filter that is taking out any toxins. If your fish are growing and healthy, well- something is right

That indeed is a beautiful yard, Sonny - my kind of thing. And that Clivia - boy, what a beauty!
What kind of filter are you using for the trough?

Thanks Ranchugirl. I am a gardener at heart and really enjoy working my fish into the garden.


I have a submersible box-type filter that pumps to an external ClearChoice wet-dry filter and back to the trough. You can see the ClearChoice in the first picture underneath and just to the right of the tree.