Archivarium 2004

fishy89 · New Members Joined: 16 Mar 2005

will feeder guppies live year round in my garden pond ? 1 more question were can I purchase misqutio fishand will they live year round in my garden pond I live in north eastin us so it does get cold in winter

dale · Regulars Joined: 10 Jan 2005 Location: Vancouver Canada

Hi fishy89,
Guppies are tropical so nix to that.
Mosquito fish are said to be able to survive near freezing temp's but you will experience sub freezing so nix to that.
Ouch!
Do a google search for mosquito fish as there is some concern over their invasive nature in the wild.
Good luck!
_________________
Think like a fish

marktman · New Members Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Location: Ohio

Feeder guppies are only like 10 cents each, or something like that. Why not just restock every spring? I have found one feeder that does well in the nothern pond. The fish store calls them rosy red feeders. They survived this past winter in southern Ohio. Just don't feed them when it starts getting cold.

Susan Wright · Regulars Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Location: Tulsa, Ok

Mosquito fish can be purchased through this place. I don't know if they have a certain limit or what. But they do have them.

http://www.azgardens.com/
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The critter ladie
8 cats, 2 dogs, 3 guinea pigs, FISH and more FISH

Taratron · Benefactors Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Location: AZ

Honestly, I would skip the mosquitofish. We have hordes of them in misc ponds at the zoo, and they are some of the most bland fish I have ever seen; they do fine in our AZ winters and summers, but I don't know how great they would do in actual cold water.

Ours are aggressive little buggers; when we had some in the feeder goldie tank, the goldfish ended up minus all fins and some eyes in short time.
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But if you tame me, then we shall need each other....You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

nonamethefish · Moderators Joined: 06 Feb 2003

Mosquitofish would work, but as Taratron said certainly are not that interesting. They have a real chip on the shoulder attitude and seem to like randomly nipping at other fish. Maybe if they were more attractive that would be tolerated by me. Also, while they sure can survive cold water, they don't like it. When I had them in my ponds(and this agrees with what a few others have said) the winter took a large toll on the population. Come fall I would have dozens and dozens of them...by next spring only a few fish which managed to survive. Of course, summer came and they again started reproducing like crazy.

Rosy reds would work well in a small pond. Not too sure where you are or how large the pond is but I'm sure their are a few natives that would like it too.

Taratron · Benefactors Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Location: AZ

Do some Googling on weather loaches. Those might work too.
_________________
But if you tame me, then we shall need each other....You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery