Awww-that's so sweet! Sorry your male is feeling poorly :( but he certainly has a supportive spouse and the very best accommodations...your pond is stunningly beautiful and always an inspiration. If I recall correctly, the oldest goldfish is/was in its 40s but I think 10-20yrs is the norm

Joann, here is a link that talks about goldfish lifespans.

Here is a link that might be useful: Goldfish lifespans

Joann, it is possible that you just have too many fish for that size of pond?

Perhaps the water quality has gone down and the goldfish are starting to suffer?

As fish get larger and larger the pond actually gets smaller and smaller.

Probably the biggest reason that has ever cost me fish over the years is having too many and too large fish for the size of my pond.

I lost a bunch of channel catfish a couple of years ago because I had too many and they had grown too large.

No Sam, water is fine and fish are as spunky as ever...I think I just have a case of old age creeping up on him, although I shouldn't count him out yet.

I just took these shots about an hour ago, their hungry and happy as ever

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Are those koi 20 feet long, look how little they make that alligator look.. in the second picture..
hehe.
amazing fish...
my largest is 2 years and maybe 9-10 inches. i can't wait til they get that large.
my neighbor up the street has a ~500 gallon preform and has two as large as yours in there. it looks miserable, i should free them and bring them to my pond hehe..
-chris

LOL Chris, Their 24-26 inches long. They have not grown anymore in the last few years, except for our baby koi
that we're growing up in the pond.

For size comparison, a little tourist feeding the fish.

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Hi
i bought 26 of the 13 for a dollar feeder goldfish in April of 82 all but one either died or disappeared within 5 years .Over the ensuing years twos and 3 's were added which pronply beacame heron snacks . The original survivor lived until july 06. He disappeared so not sure that he died lol. He was a long tailed type and grew to around 15 inches . Interestingly he had the whole pool to himself from 99/06. got tired of feeding the herons.
So that's 24 years for sure gary

I have one goldfish 10 years old now and still kicking like a baby! He was a 'feeder' and we thought he was a girl fish so my son named her Goldie. 'She' lived in a tank for a few years until my pond was built and then went outside with 5 other fish. Shortly, 'she' turned out to be a he (chasing all girl fish) and also turned all white, but his name is still Goldie. My son was 7 when we bought Goldie and my son will be 18 this December. Hard to believe that much time has passed. I expect all of my fish to live much longer than 10 years in my pond.

It is really odd Joann and I can't imagine why the fish sits like that for long periods. Maybe - like some of us - his life will end sooner for various reasons. Your pond is certainly not the reason. They get enough food don't they - even with the suction mouth koi?

Beautiful pictures of y'alls pond and all those magnificent, jewel-like fish!! The "Imagine" stone is a nice touch. (I can almost hear John Lennon singing in the background!) I loved the charming shot of the child feeding the fish. Thanks for sharing your pictures and comments and for giving me a hefty dose of ideas and inspiration.