O.a.p Fish?

[pugwash666]

My late father always had a rock garden and ponds.He looked after everything,but did not do anything in particular,apart from the water pump and cleaning the ponds out now and again.Fed them,kept a ball in for when it froze over in winter,but nothing scientific and never used chemicals.They are also inhabited by frogs,toads and newts yearly too.
All the fish he had,started life as goldfish we had won at fairs in bags when we were kids.The eldest fish he had was 23 when it died,and that was from the fair.Now the other fish bought at different times over the years are of various ages,20 downwards,all have grown to about 6-7 inches in size too.
The one thing my father always wanted was for them to breed and have babies,but in 37 years of having ponds and fish,nothing.But when he passed away,lo and behold,the mother found that there was a baby goldfish swimming about.That was 4 years ago.
My mother does even less in regards to the maintainence of the ponds(she's 65),but the fish are thriving and flourishing.
Why do we have to rely on chemicals,when for 37 years my father never did once,and still,all the fish seem to be living to a ripe old age,considering they started life in a bag of water.

 

[AdAndrews]

My late father always had a rock garden and ponds.He looked after everything,but did not do anything in particular,apart from the water pump and cleaning the ponds out now and again.Fed them,kept a ball in for when it froze over in winter,but nothing scientific and never used chemicals.They are also inhabited by frogs,toads and newts yearly too.
All the fish he had,started life as goldfish we had won at fairs in bags when we were kids.The eldest fish he had was 23 when it died,and that was from the fair.Now the other fish bought at different times over the years are of various ages,20 downwards,all have grown to about 6-7 inches in size too.
The one thing my father always wanted was for them to breed and have babies,but in 37 years of having ponds and fish,nothing.But when he passed away,lo and behold,the mother found that there was a baby goldfish swimming about.That was 4 years ago.
My mother does even less in regards to the maintainence of the ponds(she's 65),but the fish are thriving and flourishing.
Why do we have to rely on chemicals,when for 37 years my father never did once,and still,all the fish seem to be living to a ripe old age,considering they started life in a bag of water.

well said, some people say back in the old days it was better, not having to change everything, as soon as you start adding this and taking away that it can go seriously wrong, but also your fish are goldfish, usually hardy species unlike a less hardy bolivian ram, maybe you were lucky, who knows all the best with your knew fishies