# fish for your pond



## drakegonnon123 (Jan 3, 2014)

here are the worst and best fish for your pond: 


not recommended: koi. i only include koi because they get almost three feet in length and are only for the biggest ponds of 1000 gallons. 

black moors. i include these fish because you have to take them out in the fall and they are messy in a aquarium. 

recommended: common gold fish: i recommend these fish because they do not grow very large, they are readily available at most pet stores as feeder fish. if you have more kinds of pond fish you would like to add, please reply


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## henningc (Apr 17, 2013)

During the summer nothing beats a pond full of livebearers. Endlers, Least Killies, Platys, Swords and Sailfin Mollys. Most folks are shocked when they pull the fish out when temps start to fall. First, you have a lot more fish than you started with. Second, the fish are huge and dwarf the fish you started with. 3"-5" Swordtails are the norm. Sailfin mollys are huge and develop a much larger dorsal fin. If you can spare $20 for a kiddie pool I would highly recommend such a project. It doesn't have to be fancy, just an air driven sponge filter and what ever aquascaping you like. You can also do cory cats, 6-12. If you put enough aquascaping say 12 flower pots on their sides and some rocks they will breed and some fry will survive. Outdoor fish get a good diet of mosquito larva at no cost and this keeps them in great condition to spawn. A couple of handfuls of dried Oak leaves will supply enough micro organisms to replace brine shrimp for the fry. I feed mine flake food once or twice daily. If larger livebearers or cichlids are your thing, you can start with Least Killies. They can handle water temps in the 60s no problem. They don't eat their fry but very thing else does. Give them a 4-6 week headstart and you have insto live food. In case of tadpoles, they just crash the pool party, cichlids love to eat them. Self-cloning crayfish also do well in the pool.


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## Arthur7 (Feb 22, 2013)

Yes, you're right. I have it already did with Molly. There was a good summer. In which area you do that? (Climate). Usually it is not warm enough for us.


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## henningc (Apr 17, 2013)

I live in St. Louis, MO, so we have crazy weather. I have discovered that if you take 1-2-3 submersable heaters and place them on the bottom of the pool with gravel under them the fish will find them when they get chilly. I also discovered that fish raised outside are much more tolerant of temp changes and extremes. 

I plan to start my pools and vats for cycling in March. By mid-April they should be good to go. If the weather stays above 60f during the day and 55f at night I'll turn on the heat and start the Least Killies. That should give them 2-4 weeks head start. My Endlers can easily hack those temps, but I'll stock them in about 2 weeks after the Least Killies in a different pool.

I am starting a pond thread; Breeding fish in kiddie pools and staock tanks.


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## Arthur7 (Feb 22, 2013)

It is an interesting project. I checked Earth, it is 38 ° N. Chemnitz is 50 ° N. But a friend has had green sword fish in the pond in a year, which were very large.
I got the idea, the pond must be roofed with clear film. To open and close depending on the weather. To store the heat of sunny days for gray days. I'm thinking about.


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

drakegonnon123 said:


> here are the worst and best fish for your pond:
> 
> 
> not recommended: koi. i only include koi because they get almost three feet in length and are only for the biggest ponds of 1000 gallons.
> ...



If all koi got to 3 feet long, we would know about it. I think very few koi get to their final possible size, so while you would need a pond of perhaps 1000 gallons, there is no reason not to have koi. Moors in the pond do need to be moved, but people who fancy moors move them to a heated stock pond in the basement or garage. Shubinkins and long goldfish are ideal, of course. They do not get so big, but give you the feeling of koi. Mollies and so on are tropical. I would be interested to read more about the sail fin molly. So, why not add smaller natives (I'm in the US) like blue gills?


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## henningc (Apr 17, 2013)

OK, I know the thread has kind of petered out, but I have been doing some experiments, Oh say it ain't so, on my pool produced Endlers, Least Killies, Ramshorn Snails and Crayfish. Here is what I have so far:

Endlers last observed feeding in water approximately 52 degrees (F). I have not observed them lately but had noted previously they hide in the leaf litter muck on the bottom. The muck pile produces it's own heat to some benefit I just don't know how much.

Least Killies-Should be named, "You Can't Kill Me." They have been observed with water temps in the low 40s and lower. Two weeks ago their pool completely froze over for a three day period and they are still going as of today! They also seem to use the muck.

Ramshorn Snails are all still fine as of today. Oddly they are getting a grayish coloration to their shells. They are in all the pools with the various fish and Crayfish.

Crayfish, these were not supposed to be able to survive our winters here. They reside with the Least Killies in the pool that froze over completely. They are active still and always live in the muck. I noted that the cold triggered reproduction with tons of little guys in the muck.

What is my goal here? Your guess is as good as mine. These animals, with the exception of some of the crayfish, were all individuals who refused to be captured and moved indoors. I figured as long as the pools were still up they could be left alone in the name of science-OK that is really stretching it! I want to try to develop a weather resistant line of Least Killies, snails and crayfish. It may sound crazy, but snails will feed crayfish once it warms up in spring. If they can get a good jump on me stocking breeder Crayfish I should have a good food supply in numbers that can withstand the onslaught. I raise Least Killies and Crayfish together as the Least Killie fry are too small and fast for the Crayfish to catch. I typically seed the new pools with a handful or two of dried Oak leaves. These are not just any Oak leaves they are from my yard and that makes them, well, Oak leaves I suppose. I'll give updates here every two months are so or if failure strikes! 

FYI-At the end of the summer I ditched the heaters in the pools for heat lamps, works much better.


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