I’ve turned into a......pond snob :(

[Mmathis]

My husband and I are thinking about looking for a new home. Today was our first drive-around-and-hit-some-open houses day. One house had a pond.....of sorts.....off the back patio. Actually more like a water feature. So we go outside to look at it and there are almost a dozen (I didn’t count them) VERY LARGE Sarasa comets in the water! Biggest goldfish I’d ever seen in real life! In fact, I had to look closely to be sure they weren’t koi! But that’s not what bothered me...... The pond/water feature was very long and narrow.....and very shallow, maybe 12”-18” deep. Those poor fish quite literally barely had room to turn around! When I walked up to get a closer look, they all “ran” for cover.....not even curious to see if I was going to feed them. I kept looking to see if there was a hidden part of the pond, you know, like you see in parks where the water goes on and on. Nope. There was a double waterfall that was WAY TOO TURBULENT for the space. The majority of the fish were camped out under the waterfall. I did locate the skimmer. There was no way I could tell anything about filtration, but the water was very clear. I left that house and in the back of my mind I wondered if the GF had been staged there, just for the open house! I mean, it was all out of proportion — the size of the fish in that space. It might have looked good with a half dozen or so SMALL GF, those monster fish looked so out of place.

I took a couple of pics, but they don’t have the same impact as seeing it in person, mainly because all of the fish aren’t visible. You can tell where the waterfall was totally splashing out and onto the patio brick. Just weird! The water wasn’t much deeper than the bodies of the fish! Nice, healthy looking fish, though.

 

[Lisak1]

"Hello! I'm not really interested in your house, but I sure would like to give you some advice on your pond!" haha!

That looks like one of the ponds we are always hearing about that will detract from the price of your home... not much going for it, is there?

 

[CometKeith]

Interesting... Just curious. Did the rest of the house look staged? I have worked with stagers before, but I don't recall any of them ever bringing over their fish from storage!

 

[Mmathis]

Interesting... Just curious. Did the rest of the house look staged? I have worked with stagers before, but I don't recall any of them ever bringing over their fish from storage!

If I recall, the owners were still living in this particular house (they all tend to run together, though).

 

[Mucky_Waters]

I left that house and in the back of my mind I wondered if the GF had been staged there, just for the open house!

I could see them doing that. Heck! for the right price, I'd rent out my fish,,,, and my turtle too.

 

[Mmathis]

I could see them doing that. Heck! for the right price, I'd rent out my fish,,,, and my turtle too.

 

[addy1]

Cute pond, like the waterfall, but I would turn it down. And like you said, fish to big, I would have fan tails in it.

 

[Tara]

The pond has charm, it has a certain mysterious look, hidden garden vibe. Maybe it shallow due to a leak, who knows.

 

[Mmathis]

The pond has charm, it has a certain mysterious look, hidden garden vibe. Maybe it shallow due to a leak, who knows.

No, good thought, but that was the depth of the pond, so not a low water level — simply a very shallow pond. In the 1st pic, with the waterfall, you can’t really see it, but the top of the water is very close to the pond edge. No, this was a case of too many, very large fish confined to a very small space! Twelve inches of water — OMG, those fish literally couldn’t swim underneath each other and they were running into each other! Fish aren’t supposed to run into each other if they have enough space to maneuver.

 

[sissy]

well at least the water looked clean and wonder if they feed the fish and they must have an automatic fill if it splash's like that .But have to say it is cute but really not for the poor fish in it .

 

[poconojoe]

It must be staged as stated. How could the water be so clear with so many large fish in such shallow water? Constant water changes?
I'll bet they cleaned it up and added fish to attract buyers.

 

[j.w]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, maybe they have a well hidden ginormous filter? Or like what @poconojoe said:they keep putting clean water in it each day for showing. Water in water out deal so buyers will see only clean water while they are selling.

 

[sissy]

I don't think they would have staged it with that many fish .Who ever buys the house needs to build a pond and use this as a water feature

 

[Lisak1]

We once walked up to a pretty fountain in front of a restaurant/antique store and I was shocked when I looked down and saw the basin had a dozen goldfish swimming in it. It wasn't more than 12 inches deep, if that. And blazing hot sun - no shade, no plant cover, nothing. We asked inside how the fish survive in those conditions and they said "oh, they don't. We just keep replacing them." I'm sure my jaw almost hit the floor. I complained to the manager, but I'm sure that went nowhere. The store closed shortly thereafter, thankfully. Some people just see fish - especially small ones - as replaceable.

 

[j.w]

@Lisak1 that is just disgusting doing that to those poor suffering fish. Like slowly getting cooked to death! Glad it closed!