I’ve got goldfish in my fridge

It’s one thing to leave your ornamental goldfish outside overnight when there’s a light freeze: The fish just keep swimming happily under the ice.

I think they’re pretending to be killer whales, waiting for a
baby seal to fall through the ice so they can eat it.

It’s another thing altogether to leave them outside when the forecast looks like this:

Especially when your fish live in an unheated barrel on an 8th-floor balcony. I mean, seriously. A week of sub-freezing temperatures risks turning that thing into a solid ice cube — and although it may be true that, from a financial perspective, I should be more worried about saving my water lily than the goldfish (the former cost $40; the latter, $0.25 each), I still can’t help feeling a little horrified at the thought of finding once-living fish-bodies in said ice cube.

So into the fridge they go. That way I don’t have to worry about losing counterspace or seeing their little strings of poo, and they don’t have to worry about drastic temperature fluctuations between indoors and outdoors. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Think of it as fish tourism:
“Here on the left we have a gallon of milk.”

And if I hear any complaining about cramped quarters or how distressing it is to have the light flash on every time I open the door, I’ll just show them this photo of their currently very frozen home.

I’m considering inviting some polar bears to live on the ice
during the winter months, since apparently it’s all melting up north.

3 comments

Anonymous · January 23, 2013 - 8:37 pm · Reply→

I'm hearing echos of “oxygen in the water” and “Chlorine in the water”.. Good luck! Lady

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Anonymous · March 29, 2015 - 10:33 pm · Reply→

Hey, so I was planning on doing that too.

How did it turn out for you? Were the fish okay? How often did you feed them?

Did you change the water once a month or less/more or not at all?

Would love to know.

Thanks,

Em

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JJD · March 30, 2015 - 3:06 am · Reply→

Yes, the fish did really well in the fridge. I kept them in there only until the water in the barrel thawed again — I think the longest period was about two weeks. During that time I did not change the water, as I wanted to reduce the stress on the fish. I also did not feed the fish because In the cold temperatures, the fishes' metabolism slows so they basically don't eat anything at all. I kept the fish through two winters this way.

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