What kind of fish have people kept in a pond?

[oenology]

Well, it's official - no fish survived this winter in the pond. So I will be stocking anew. I was toying with the idea of getting something else besides feeder goldfish. I know they do really well in my pond and I'll often have babies swimming around by the end of the summer but it might be fun to grow out something else.

[Aiglos]

Lots of fish your south american / african cichlids can be summered in a pond, there was a great article in Ponds Magazine Spring addition on keeping tropical fish in the pond, might be an alternative if you are finding that your goldfish are not making it through the cold winters.  Just a thought.

[gvv]

I would not suggest put trpical fish in pond unless the summer will be much hotter than previous one... During they day temp is fine but at night it was not so good - I had 17-18.

[dannypd]

Well, it's official - no fish survived this winter in the pond. So I will be stocking anew. I was toying with the idea of getting something else besides feeder goldfish. I know they do really well in my pond and I'll often have babies swimming around by the end of the summer but it might be fun to grow out something else.

How deep is your pond?

ALL my fish survived in my 3-4' deep by 5' wide.

I have 8 goldies, 2 koi, 2 orandas and some rosy's.

[pnmdsz6]

gold fish are good because they're supposed to be able to be kept in the pond even in the winter if you maintain the pond right because they eat the algea that formed over the summer and if the water is a bit murkey this is a good thing, but if messed with this can have a very bad ending for your fish.

[Sue]

I'm in Ottawa and I have put tropicals in my pond for more than 5 years in a row now. You can have them outside from late june-early sept. depending on how the weather is in a given year. The water temp does drop at night so you have to choose species that  are hardy.
I have found the most sucess  with swordtails, guppies, whitecloud mountain minnows, and barbs (rosy and golden). I put out assorted other fish from time to time and they usually also survive.

Try to pick fish that will be easy to see. I find golden white clouds and yellow/orange guppies stick near the surface and show really well in the sunshine.

[NjOyRiD]

you must have tones of babies at the end of the season lol

[gvv]

Actually, can you tell me how you are catching tropical fishes in autumn? It seems to me that this is very difficult task, as sometimes it is hard to catch a fish 10G tank.

Regards

[dannypd]

... I have found the most sucess  with swordtails, guppies, ...

Guppies, (not the fancy brand), are found in colder water rivers and can survive the winter.

When I did guppy breeding, I purchased the wild brand of females.  Sure, they are PLAIN, but I am guarenteed great colours from the males I place with her.  They are also incredibly hardy

[oenology]

How deep is your pond?

ALL my fish survived in my 3-4' deep by 5' wide.

I have 8 goldies, 2 koi, 2 orandas and some rosy's.

My pond at its deepest is about 3.5 feet  but that is not really true as I had to raise the sides above ground level about 8" to get that. I am unfortunately on a giant sheet of solid rock (hence large crawl space but no basement). I wasn't here this fall it didn't get cleaned out properly for the winter and I think there was too much organic matter. I also didn't have a bubbler this year only one of those pond heater things to keep a hole open but I guess there wasn't enough gas exchange.

How did you over-winter your pond?

How do your orandas due with the goldies and koi?
Rosy what?

[yellowtang]

Do you really want to know what you can keep in ponds?
Is it indoor or outdoors?
If its outdoors,which I pressume It will be.
try COI or Shabuken Gold Fish.......or better yet feeder goldfish.
This 3 kinds of gold fish will be the hardiest of them all,plus they can survive the winter months....provided there is a bit of movement in the pond so the water don't freeze..
and if want plecos to go with it.!!!.Go with a rhino pleco.....those are very tough little buggers.
If indoors try fancy gold fish .Black moores or Orandas.
Good luck      

[Roop]

i'm going to toss in one of my plecos this year. i may put some larger cories in as well. i don't think anyone else would be hardy enough to go in with the feeder goldfish.

[oenology]

Do you really want to know what you can keep in ponds?
Is it indoor or outdoors?
If its outdoors,which I pressume It will be.
try COI or Shabuken Gold Fish.......or better yet feeder goldfish.
This 3 kinds of gold fish will be the hardiest of them all,plus they can survive the winter months....provided there is a bit of movement in the pond so the water don't freeze..
and if want plecos to go with it.!!!.Go with a rhino pleco.....those are very tough little buggers.
If indoors try fancy gold fish .Black moores or Orandas.
Good luck      

I was looking at alternatives to feeders. And as far as I understand there is no way a pleco could survive an Ottawa winter! Because my pond is freen form with lots of hiding places I could never catch it again to bring it in.

[Aiglos]

Lots of ways to trap it......

My pleco is too big to fit in a net... I just have a large pot that he likes to hide in and I just cover the entrance and lift the pot out of the tank,  im sure something similier to that could work in a pond?  


IE minnow trap with the sharp barbs on the entrance covered so they dont hurt the fish.  Im sure you can be creative, ive heard of lots of people putting fish into outdoor ponds in the summer and bringing them out in the winter.

[Roop]

i've done as Aiglos has with simple traps. i use a dark coloured water piture and chase the pleco into it. it's perfect because once he's in there he won't want to come out until he's in the new tank.

my pleco is going in to control the algae this season.

i also want to put some snail eating loaches in as i don't like snails very much. i have clowns and zebras already who keep my tanks snail free but i doubt they could handle even 18 celcius water. are there any cold water snail eating loaches?

[Sue]

Actually, can you tell me how you are catching tropical fishes in autumn? It seems to me that this is very difficult task, as sometimes it is hard to catch a fish 10G tank.

Regards

We use a pump to drain the pond to catch the fish.   I tried a minnow trap the first year we had the pond. It does work and you can catch some of the fish, but you can't get them all.

[cichlid_girl]

A friend of mine had 10 piranhas in a large pond in his back yard. He used to feed them with chicken wings and find bird feathers around it all the time. They never ate the goldfish, and I think that is what attracted the birds. He had a big fence around his yard. I would suggest you have one too if you decide to go this route. Be prepared for incredible growth over the summer and serious aggression problems when it comes time to bring them in. Some of you may think this post is cruel, however, he said it definitely solved the racoon problem in his neighbourhood.

[dannypd]

A friend of mine had 10 piranhas in a large pond in his back yard. He used to feed them with chicken wings and find bird feathers around it all the time. They never ate the goldfish, and I think that is what attracted the birds. He had a big fence around his yard. I would suggest you have one too if you decide to go this route. Be prepared for incredible growth over the summer and serious aggression problems when it comes time to bring them in. Some of you may think this post is cruel, however, he said it definitely solved the racoon problem in his neighbourhood.

I love seeing piranha ponds, but keep in mind, they are illegle in Canada.

[Aiglos]

DannyPd:  Are you sure they are illegal in canada ?  Its legal to buy piranhas,  but pirahnas will not survive the canadian winter so they are not a threat to taking over waterways, ponds and creeks.  I would find the law rather stiff involving pirahnas in personal ponds.  I did a google search and found lots of places in the states they are illegal but could not find any canadian content.

[oenology]

Piranhas, hmm, since my dog (dachshund) is inclined to have a dip in the pond from time to time I wouldn't like to find just floating fur one afternoon... :wink: