"Life finds a way" - actor Jeff Goldblum, from the film Jurassic Park.

Early this morning I went out back with the dogs for their morning ritual. Sometimes I have to stay out with them or they'll just turn around and follow me back inside. So as I wandered around the patio, I walked over to my secondary water feature, which we call "the fountain."
I'm sure I've mentioned it before. It's just a 20-gallon circular liner sunk into a triangular-shaped flower bed off the patio. It was my "starter water garden." I added it to see if I could be bothered to take care of a fish pond. Obviously it was a success, since I now have a 240-gal. pond with too many fish!
In the summer of 2007 we had a population explosion and doubled our fish. I had 15 and now there are well over 30! The big white fish we suspected to be the birth mother died earlier this summer and I prayed for no more babies. Fortunately, none arrived, at least I didn't think so ...

Back to this morning ... I looked down into the fountain, frowning over all the leaves that have collected in it over the last couple weeks ... and that's when I saw something move!
I usually expect to see at least one startled frog dive suddenly to the depths, but this was not that! I squinted and looked closer - yes, it was a tiny little white fish, only about 3/4 of an inch in size. And as I looked at it, amazed, another, quite larger black fish swam past (about 2 inches)!
And then there was another and another. Four total that I could see, all darting under the floating hyacinths that still linger in the fountain. Great!
How does this happen, when there are no other fish in the fountain? I'm as amazed as you are, but I think it has to do with the hyacinths. You see, they multiply at a fast rate (and are outlawed in some parks because, if left on their own, they will choke the life out of a water source). Anyway, all summer long I'm constantly throwing them out and I usually move some from the pond to the fountain, to keep it from getting green with algae. The floating plants block the sunlight, which counteracts the growth of the algae. Somewhere during this process, I think, the baby fish/eggs are in the feathery roots that hang from these plants and are thus transferred with the plant to the fountain.
So this weekend as I go about draining the fountain and covering it for the winter (I've found that if I don't, the frogs will choose to winter-over there and will die when the fountain freezes - yes, it's happened, that's why I cover it), I'll have to try to catch these babies in a small net and transfer them to the bigger pond. You'd be surprised how quick they are!
Oh well, such is life.

Here's just a little something that I got from the National Home Gardening for all your water gardening enthusiasts on preparing your aquatic garden for winter.

When frost starts nipping at your garden, it's time to think about winterizing ponds and other water features. The experts at TetraPond offer the following tips:
Cut back lilies and other deep-water plants to 1 inch above the tip. Replace soil and gravel, as needed.
Move plants to deeper water if you live in a climate where ponds freeze.
Cut back all growth on bog plants surrounding your pond and mulch with 6 inches of straw.
Place tender floating plants like water hyacinth in a 3-inch water-filled tray and move them to a frost-free shed or greenhouse. (This is a new one for me, I never thought about saving my hyacinths, maybe I'll give it a try.)
When temperatures drop and fish spend most of their time on the bottom of the pond, stop feeding them.
Clean out leaves and twigs that fall into the pond and remove as much duckweed as possible.
Use a de-icer to keep a small area of the pond ice-free. This helps fish survive by creating a spot for harmful gasses to escape.
Turn off filters, then clean them and store them inside.
Spend the time now to keep your water features happy and healthy—so when spring comes, you'll be ready! Looks like I've got my work cut out for me this weekend ...