thingthing Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 could i put a barramundi and/or a pleco in my unheated outdoor pond? ive read that barras are comfortable between 15 and 30 degrees and plecos 10 to 30 degrees. our swimming pool doesnt go below 12 degrees ever and thats early in the morning in the middle of winter. i live in newcastle so the climate is just a tad warmer than sydney. fish that are definately going in there are 2 goldfish and 2 small koi and a tandanus tandanus (eeltail catfish, the ones that grow big). the pond is only new and those fish ive mentioned ive already had in an old pond (except for the tandanus which i bought) and are in a tank at the moment. other fish which im thinking of getting include australian bass, silver/gold/jade perch and maybe a pair of convict cichlids to provide live food (their fry) to the bigger fish. yea i know (convicts) are tropical fish but there tough little buggers and i know of someone who had kept a pair in an unheated tank in a cold garage for over 3 months over winter. they ended up breeding multiple times as well. im not too sure of the actual volume of the pond but it has a large pond filter with a 4000lph filter and u.v light. there is also a huge pot as a water feature which has a seperate 1500lph pump (i estimate it to be 150-200 litres ) which is so big im thinking of putting in wcmm or rosy barbs or a small fish similar to them. your opinions would be appreciated. EDIT: the pond is sort of half above ground half below ground. it was originally 2 feet deep but we used huge amounts of waterproofer over the concrete that would of reduced the depth by about 50mm. there is also a substrate on the bottom which is large polished river pebbles which are about 20-30mm wide (i didnt pick it my dad came home with 10 bags of the stuff and i said all the detritus and gunk would get stuck in it and he said he paid like 300 dollars for them and wasnt going to get different gravel). there is lots of hiding places made of rocks and plants and there is a large piece of driftwood in there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcsx Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 from what i beleive barramundi like warmer climate, so i wouldent think they would do too well, but im sure a pleco of some sort could live in your pond Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thingthing Posted January 29, 2008 Author Share Posted January 29, 2008 kay. i think i will buy a common or sailfin pleco today. if it gets too cold in the pond in winter ill put it in with my cichlids. thet grow fast in ponds apparently, like two inches a month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuNGz Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 when i was younger about 10 or so my next door neighbour gave me a pleco, at the time i didnt have a fish tank but kids being kids i took the fish from him. after being yelled at by my dad and not wanting to return the fish i dupped it into my dads pond..... i soon forgot about the pleco in the mud coloured water, but about 3 years later i decided to clean out the pond with my dad and get some new koi. when we had drained the water guess what we found... yep true story. sadly it died after the water change.... anyways the point of the matter is that it lived through 3 winters and i live in penrith and winter is cold, and the water drops below 10 degrees for sure! so i think you will hav no worries. good luck LuNGz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thingthing Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 wow the funny thing is ive been argueing with people on other forums that common plecos can be kept in ponds. 90 percent of the people on the other forum say that plecos should not be kept under 24 degrees or they die. ive been reading on various websited and froums that they can be kept down to 10 degrees and for short periods slightly lower. oh and i havnt got the pleco yet. instead i bought 2 perch and a bass. one of the perch had a killing spree and killed the other perch and the bass and injured the koi and goldfish. the perch is in prison for 2 charges of murder of the first degree and 4 charges of attempted murder. the koi and goldfish are recovering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xzbit Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 when i was younger about 10 or so my next door neighbour gave me a pleco, at the time i didnt have a fish tank but kids being kids i took the fish from him. after being yelled at by my dad and not wanting to return the fish i dupped it into my dads pond..... i soon forgot about the pleco in the mud coloured water, but about 3 years later i decided to clean out the pond with my dad and get some new koi. when we had drained the water guess what we found... yep true story. sadly it died after the water change.... anyways the point of the matter is that it lived through 3 winters and i live in penrith and winter is cold, and the water drops below 10 degrees for sure! so i think you will hav no worries. good luck LuNGz How big was the pleco when you found him again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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