This morning, our golden coloured China-koi died.
He had been given to us by a friend who had kept him in an aquarium for several years. Due to the restricted size of the aquarium, the koi had not grown well - he has a bloated stomach disproprotionate to his length, causing some imbalance as you can see him swim much like a duck waddling.
From the day his previous owner released him into our pond, he was an outcast. Swimming alone away from the school of our other koi, he liked to seek refuge in the pebbles of our plant pots in the pond. After a couple of weeks he seemed to acclimatise to his new surroundings, swimming more actively around. Then he disappeared through the pipe into our filter bed, where we let him stay for a while. We fished him out, and again he swam out of the pond into the filter bed. We rescued him a second time but now, he's gone.
Maybe like people, once confined, fish just can't get used to being free.
