Bristlenose catfish in outdoor ponds

[the cichlid kid]

Just wondering what you guys think about having bristlenose catfish in an outdoor pond through winter?

I am considering it because of the ideal foot print my above ground pond offers (it's capacity is roughly 400L).

It receives about 4-5 hours of sunlight/day and has plenty of driftwood and plants. I thought it would be a good environment to keep, breed and raise bristlenose cats.

I understand the general belief is that it would get too cold for them to survive, but I am questioning it because I have housed cichlids in it all year round that are supposed to be kept in water at 26 degrees celsius.

Just after opinions and hopefully some personal experiences.

Thanks in advance,

Beau.

[t0h0t4u]

I have housed cichlids in it all year round that are supposed to be kept in water at 26 degrees celsius.

You have had cichlids in pond for the whole year, no heater? Spose you do live in Queensland bit warmer up there. If the cichlids have survived don't see why the bristlenose won't. You can only try

[krellious]

water temp isnt to much of a concern as long as it is relatively constant (ie no change from 27 to 21 in a few hours). hell teh cichlids in hazelwood get about 24 all year round and they thrive. just make sure you cover it in winter to keep warmth in.

[Eddie Salita]

Hey Beau,

What I did with my old pond was to rig up a primitive solar heating setup. A bit of black poly pipe, and a slow high pressure pump. High pressure because the poly was on the roof. You will need to monitor it carefully at first so that yo dont cook your fish. From there you can work out a schedule for a timer. The problem comes in during winter when there is a few overcast days combined with nightly temps of below 10. I found that even on a night with frost night my uncovered 800l inground pond would not drop more than 8 degrees. Temps of the high teens didnt faze the b/n in the least it seemed. On the contrary, even when it was rainy for a couple of weeks, the temp averaged 17, they continued to lay eggs! Much below that and they got a bit sluggish.

I reckon you could do it. But you need a plan for those cold rainy series of days in winter. a cover would be good. or just a 300watt heater for those few days to keep them from freezing their asses off.

Jason

[the cichlid kid]

That sounds very interesting Jason, although I am not sure if I am following it completely. Is the pump recirculating water from the pond into the piping on the roof and back into the pond at a higher temp due to the exposure to sun? Can you explain it in more detail for me?

[katatoniq]

couldnt you rig up a thermostat into that setup?

[Eddie Salita]

You Most certainly could. I just found it easier and cheaper to use the timer. But no reason you couldnt use a pool-type thermostat.

Beau, thats exactly how it works. It doesnt even have to be on the roof. You could run it around the top of the fence for instance. That way you wouldnt need a pressure type pump, or have to climb onto the roof. Black being black absorbs more sunlight than any other colour, thus is the best colour for heating. if you wanted to get really flash, you could use the proper pool heating stuff, which is series of tubes all moulded together into a flat ribbon type thing.

You wont need to worry about it for a few months yet though

Jason