Outside tank

[Jonathan Aquari]

Hey,

About a week ago, I set up a ten gallon tank outside. It was orig for plants and they've been doing great, much better than I thought they would. But now for the question. I was wondering if some fish could survive. The substrate is peat caped by sand, and I don't know the ph, hardness, etc. but it was set up with 8.2+ tap water, but I could use some RO water instead.


Thanks,
Jonathan

 

[Mike Wise]

I imagine that a tank as small as a 10 gallong would have some extreme temperature changes over a 24 hour period. I think that this would be the main problem. What kind of fish were you thinking of adding?

 

[slimbolen99]

Couple of years ago I set out some 30 gallon storage tubs. Here's what I learned.
- You will want to put a secure coarse net cover of some sort over them to keep critters out. In the city, of all places, we have racoons, opossums, and the occasional snake. Never mind the squirrels that went for a swim and drowned.
- Make sure you put the "pond" in a shaded area that is shaded almost all day...or be prepared to provide shade. The direct sunlight really heats up the water in a raised pond type container.
- You won't have to feed much, especially in a larger container, except maybe in the first week or so, because of all the bugs that will take up residence.
- Water changes are a little bit of a pain -- I did them once every other week or so with rain water.
- Speaking of water; make sure you drill a good sized hole below the lip of the container and glue some netting to it to act as a screen to keep your container from overflowing in a heavy rain.

I kept a couple species of apistos, some gymnogeophagus, and some barbs this way. Thinking of trying it again someday soon.
Good luck.

 

[slimbolen99]

I've tried the "horse trough" containers, and they work great. The in-ground works a little better as they black container is not as exposed to the sun as it would be if it's sitting on the porch.

 

[gerald]

I use 10 gal tanks and 15 gal plastic tubs outdoors (on shady side of house) for fish that have WIDE temp tolerance like Badis, Dario, Elassoma, and certain killifish. In Raleigh NC, tank temp varies from mid-50s to mid-90s during May to Sept, the only months I would even think of keeping most tropicals outside. Maybe some of the far southern Apistos or higher elevation Peru species would be OK, IF they can handle the high end? Mike may know. I've found it's actually better NOT to aerate them in hot weather, so the water can stratify and provide a cool refuge at the bottom.

 

[Jonathan Aquari]

Thanks for all the great info,

My gourami pair just had some fry so if dwarf gouramis can survife the 60-70+ MD weather, i'll add some once they're adequite size. Other options would be Dwarf Cichlids, guppies, Danio/minnow, etc.
http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/showthread.php?12422-New-Gourami-fry