We have a pond in our garden and it’s stocked with goldfish we “rescued” from a pet shop - they were designated as “feeder fish” so they were cheaper than koi. A few of them are almost 20 years old and about 10-12 inches in length.
The pond had to be dug deeper because in the first winter the original “team fish” turned in fish-cicles and we had to start again - but bringing the fish inside in an aquarium for the winter months was a hassle - so - Teh Missus dug the pond down pretty much the water level in our neighbourhood, relined the whole thing and now the fish can winter in the pond. They settle down to the bottom and just snooze - we have to keep a bubbler going to maintain a hole in the ice so gases can exchange - but they survive.
And thrive.
And reproduce.
Every year we get more of these little critters and they have to be culled because there’s some kind of equation for gallons-to-fish-inches that my wife explained to me once and I promptly forgot. The older ones recognize me (which is weird) and will play with my fingers when I reach into the water. The younger ones are the ones who get scooped out by Teh Missus and ladled into the garden beds.
Cruel? Probably - but the other fish benefit.
Yeah - they get pretty big.
