Keeping/Breeding Apistos in outdoor Ponds

[GoClassV]

Has anyone here tried keeping apistos outdoors? I was thinking of putting 6 outside in a preformed pond for the summer. I know other fish such as livebearers and killis can thrive outside, but I wasn't sure what the positives/negatives might be for Apistos.... Would love to hear peoples thoughts/recommendations.

 

[rr16]

Strangely, I was having these thoughts yesterday! Not that the wife will let me build a pond and I live in the UK, where the summers are not the hottest!

 

[Mike Wise]

It really depends on how cool the water becomes during the night. Probably the best species to try are those found natively in Argentina and Uruguay: A. borellii, A. commbrae, & A. trifasciata.

 

[slimbolen99]

I tried it several years ago. One mistake I made was not having an adequate cover (screen) on the storage tubs I used -- racoons or other animals would get in there and eat the fish. Once I solved that problem, I had pretty good luck. Make sure you put your tub in the shade so it doesn't get direct sunlight; water temperatures fluctuated from about 70*F to 95*F. I didn't run any aeration, but I also stocked very lightly; one pair per 30 gallon tub.

Good luck!

 

[gerald]

Aeration might NOT be an advantage in hot weather. The tub will stratify thermally, and the bottom few inches will stay much cooler than the top. As long as there's not a lot of decaying organic matter to consume all the oxygen at the bottom, the fish will be fine down there. Aeration could actually overheat them by mixing the stratified layers. A friend in Georgia killed some native shiners that way - they were doing fine in the cooler water at the bottom of a horse water trough, until he added aeration, mixed up the hot and cool layers, and then they all died within a few hours.