32 replies to this topic

[ponder]

Are there any people out there who have native fish in their backyard ponds?  We recently moved to the Texas Hill Country.  The old house that we restored & moved into has an in-ground swimming pool(approx. 6000 gal.) which I converted to a fish pond (added rocks, plants, bog filter, etc.).  I think koi & goldfish are boring, so I initially purchased & put in a few Central stonerollers, white clouds, a few shrimp (probably became food?), etc.  & started charting the water temp. through the winter months.  My plan is to see how cold the water gets in the winter & then start stocking it this spring with something like sunfish, dace, darters, etc.  At this point I'm open to advice from people with more experience.

[ponder]

BTW, one more question......

Many years ago, when I was a young biology major, I would go out with my seine & collect fish.  Now that I'm retired & a little older (& saner?), I'll probably purchase most of my fish.  Can anyone recommend a good source of native fish hopefully at reasonable prices)?

[Sean Phillips]

That's a cool pond idea! I wanted to convert my 15,000g above ground pool to a pond but I've heard that above ground liners are fish-toxic where below ground ones are fine. Your stock plan sounds pretty solid.

Here's the main native vendors:

http://www.zimmermansfish.com
http://www.jonahsaquarium.com
http://www.btdarters.com
http://www.aquaculturestore.com

[Louie]

Though not a pond . I keep a M/F pair of Dollar sunfish in a 60 gallon pvc buried by side of the house . The pair has been there for over 6 years (with platys) .

 

It only gets am sun but even in hot summer it isn't bad at all as buried .

 

No filter just 20% water change twice a week and during rainy season it constantly over flows . NEVER even lost a platy .

 

They all seem to go to bottom when it rains .

 

With your 6000 gal you can keep some nice size sunfish .

 

I do have electric fence by side of house because also keep cichlids , etc and bird aviary and keeps raccoons out but in your case that isn't an issue .

 

I do use pvc pipes at bottom of pond to give them shelter .

 

 

 

 

Attached Images

• 

[Louie]

Sean ,

              Wouldn't an above ground pond freeze solid in your area ?  I love PA . Have friends there but the winters are not for me .

[Michael Wolfe]

Hey ponder! Welcome to the forum.

Yes this will work. Many of us in the southern half of the US (and at least one Forum member from up north) have the opportunity to keep fish outside. Some in tubs (I love my 100 gallon stock tanks) some in garden ponds and a few in converted swimming pools.

A couple of more comments. 1) you should go over to the main NANFA web page www.nanfa.org and look at our annual convention this year. We are going to be in Broken Bow OK. So not so far from you all things considered. 2) I don't know what you think old is. But I think it is more sane to seine. Nothing like getting out in the habitat. Enjoying nature and seeing what the fish do in real life.

[don212]

i have a small pond i made myself, have big plans , but mostly use it for convenience, late return from collecting, excess fish, bad behavior, but someday it will be a beautiful focal point, anyway natives are much easier and cheaper than koi who advertise please come it me.

[keepnatives]

Do a search on the forum for cement pond. The ultimate in ground pool/pond has to be the creation of our own Casper Cox.

[ponder]

Hey ponder! Welcome to the forum.

Yes this will work. Many of us in the southern half of the US (and at least one Forum member from up north) have the opportunity to keep fish outside. Some in tubs (I love my 100 gallon stock tanks) some in garden ponds and a few in converted swimming pools.

A couple of more comments. 1) you should go over to the main NANFA web page www.nanfa.org and look at our annual convention this year. We are going to be in Broken Bow OK. So not so far from you all things considered. 2) I don't know what you think old is. But I think it is more sane to seine. Nothing like getting out in the habitat. Enjoying nature and seeing what the fish do in real life.

Thanks for the welcome.....and encouragement.  I may have to get insane & get another seine.  The one I had in college fell apart many years ago.  I had a few small alligator gars & other "interesting stuff" in my aquarium in my dorm room. 

[ponder]

Sean ,

              Wouldn't an above ground pond freeze solid in your area ?  I love PA . Have friends there but the winters are not for me .

I would think so.......not so much here in Central TX, but as you progress north, at some point, I would think you would have an above ground block of ice in the middle of winter.  I purposely left mine deep (going against the koi ponders' advice to partially fill it in & make it shallow) hoping to benefit from the surrounding "earth heat."  If I didn't have a couple of bog filters each feeding a waterfall, I would guess my bottom temp would have stayed even warmer.  With a volume turnover of about every two hours (my calculation), the bottom water gets to the surface a little too ofter, so it got lower than I thought it would.  But, my water chemistry is great.  I'll try to attach my Jan. temp chart to another post.

[Michael Wolfe]

Very good point about circulation. I learned the opposite lesson during a sweltering Georgia summer and cooked some natives by curculating the cool water at the bottom of the stock tank to the top. I recommend almost no filter flow. Go natural, let the plants do it!

[ponder]

Sean ,

              Wouldn't an above ground pond freeze solid in your area ?  I love PA . Have friends there but the winters are not for me .

 

Let's see if this works.  If I uploaded the attachment correctly, this is a chart of my January temperature readings.  I built a monitoring device w/ one probe about 4' above ground & one probe about 4' under water.  About 40 deg. F (+ or -) seems to be the low point for the water near the bottom.  (BTW, I haven't taken my readings yet this morning.,.....we're having freezing drizzle this morning.)

 PONDTEMPjan15.xls   18.5KB   76 downloads

[ponder]

Well, I spoke too soon.  I just took my readings, and I have a new low of 38.7 for the water temp. (air:  30.2).  The magic number seems to be about 55.  When the water temp drops below 55, the fish tend to disappear into the rocks (or bottom desbris?).  When it gets above 55, they reappear.

[ponder]

Do a search on the forum for cement pond. The ultimate in ground pool/pond has to be the creation of our own Casper Cox.

I like "cement pond".  Makes me think of the Beverly Hillbillies.  I think I'll start calling mine that, too.

I'm going to search.  Thanks.

[ponder]

I like "cement pond".  Makes me think of the Beverly Hillbillies.  I think I'll start calling mine that, too.

I'm going to search.  Thanks.

I tried "cement pond" & "Casper Cox" w/ no luck.  Maybe he'll see this conversation later & jump in.

[strat guy]

One thing to think about with sunfish... if you ever have to clean your pond, their little sandpaper teeth like pinky toes!

[Michael Wolfe]

I tried "cement pond" & "Casper Cox" w/ no luck.  Maybe he'll see this conversation later & jump in.

Casper is on here. You can find him. It might just be a glitch from the crash we had back in November making the search not work.

[Michael Wolfe]

Search for 'Casper Pond'

About the fourth time is a thread on an event he had that includes pictures.

[Louie]

Ponder ,

                Go figure I would have thought anything in PA would freeze solid .  I have been to Lancaster and Catskills during winter and BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR it was cold .

 

Michael,

                I'm not that smart . In my case I didn't use filters because I didn't want to run extension cords to my assorted little "ponds" .  I use plants but rely on bi-weekly water change where the water is siphoned using water pump with 20 feet of hose and I water my garden like that .  Than just add water while adding de-chlorinator .

 

After the first summer I noticed a BIG difference in water temp from the top of my bins to bottom so glad I didn't circulate water .  Never lost a single native which are only pair of dollar suns and assorted native killies .

 

The other stock tanks are cichlids and they do have heaters for rare but does happen nights of high 40s .

Edited by Louie, 28 February 2015 - 07:01 PM.

[smbass]

I have a whole bunch of 15' x 15' or 20' x 20' rubber lined ponds in my backyard here in Ohio. They are all frozen right now but deep enough they don't freeze solid. I have found many southern species can even survive our harsh Ohio winters. Some don't but for me that is part of the fun experimenting and finding out what works and what does not! if you have specific questions about what species have worked well for me feel free to ask!