I do feel for you - how truly awful. You must be beside yourself. Some of my goldies are 14+ years old and the 2 times Ive lost one because of my stupidity (water quality issues) I've been as torn up about it as losing any other beloved pet . Honestly, if I understood then just how aware and friendly and interactive goldfish could be, how long they lived, and what a steep learning curve it was to learn how give them the proper care (and unlearn all the BAD MISINFORMATION people like to give out) I might have chosen to not get them. Have you considered any sort of small pond? I'm already thinking ahead to when I move (3-5 years) and my next fish pond - it will be only about 300 gallons and be stocked with only 3 of my oldest goldies and some small short-lived fish like minnows. Big ponds and koi get a lot of attention, and rightfully so, but I wish more attention and appreciation could be given to small ponds (stocked with appropriate fish species of course). They can be so delightful in their own way.

Thank you all for your kind comments. We built the ponds over a weekend mid June digging the holes on Saturday and inserting the liners and smoothing out the dirt on Sunday. I actually waited a week and 2 days before adding any fish. We live on Long Island, no raccoon here but I saw an opossums twice in my yard about 5 years ago, but the most dangerous predator here are cats (one likes to drink every morning in a fountain we have). Thanks for reinforcing the "wait and see" strategy. I have about a third of the water coveren in lettuce now, will probably get some more next trip to the garden place. On a happy note when I checked the pond this morning the boys were schooled up at the far end looking for food on the surface. They seemed happy and healthy, and I did get to see Nemo and Goldie (the two Kois).

Wow, how did you add to it? We just had one made but it was with real rock, i can see adding more rock to existing rock, but yours looks like it was hand made....just gorgeous....even though it looked great before the remodel, it looks fabulous now. You added more texture and detail that gave it the wow factor. Great job!

4 months. Lived in basement where we have a full wetbar, and a single dishdrawer. Moved old fridge down there, bought a 40$ single electric burner, and moved old microwave and our champ the Breville toaster oven down there. Had to walk through construction everyday to get from bedrooms to basement but not bad. Yes, I hear the comment "Why did you have remodel your pretty kitchen" all of the time. Those that have cooked with me know immediately, it wasn't a cooking kitchen. It was fine for entertaining, sort of, but not really a functional space for the type of cooking I like to do. Thanks to all for the compliments. We are loving it. No it wasn't cheap, and I worked very hard to save money. Most appliances are scratch/dent/ebay/craigslist. In fact all but two are. I saved about 40% on these items going this route. I did have to source missing parts and do some repairs, but I like this, and it doesn't really bother me. Hats off to the subcontractors: plumbing, electrical, and cabinetry to pull this off was a trick, but each was an artist. The cabinetry is obvious, the full faced doors are all spot on, butcher block tops, drawers, panels, rolling china cabinet... Challenged in many ways. The electricians had to run a 100 Amp subpanel closer to the kitchen. There are 3 240 runs alone for those ovens. They wired the LeGrand Adorne system under the cabinets. So functional, and discrete. The plumber had to get a drain and water lines over to the wet bar, as well as stub a spot over to the prep island. There are two "island loops" under each island. The granite guy fabricated the steel sheet to hold the large overhang over the rolling china. Still cheaper than a china cabinet I don't have room for elsewhere. I got to run the central vac pan under the ovens, the reverse osmosis water lines, install the sinks, the hoods, the appliances, the tile backsplash. I also installed the lights, most of the switches, and did 50% of the painting. I even pleaded my case with the city inspector on the issue of make up air for my hood. My contractor was a patient man letting me be so involved, but I chose him for this reason. Do you think I should make a separate reveal post and post just before and after pics? I do plan on getting some done better and submitting to Houszz as that service was quite helpful to me as you all were.