Re: Planning a Livebearer Pond?

Posted by ciclasoman on 2012/4/1 11:38:55

I live in central Texas and have much milder winters than you. Winter temps may drop into the 20s and occasionally lower, low 10s for short periods of time. This doesn't bother the Characodon I keep outside. I also keep Gambusia hurtadoi and Cyprinodon. My ponds are 200 gallon tubs with aquatic plants. In the past I have added air stones/sponges and heaters when freezing but I haven't seen much difference because the population of fish is relatively sparse, some fish do die in the winter- which are removed but the occasionally left over gets devoured by snails. I don't do water changes any more than the water I use to top off any evaporation. Because the ponds may get very hot in the summer proper shading is important but too much won't allow plants to grow specially under a large tree since the leaf litter would kill the fish as it loads the biological capacity and depletes oxygen when breaking down. Hope this helps.