Coming out of the cool down.

[duanes]

Although all my fish get of a slight cool down in the winter, the Gymnogeophagus get a serious cool down in the basement, directly on the floor where water temps dip under 50'F.
Seems to really give them a color boost and fires them up for breeding
Gymno quilero. still cold but warming a little bit every day.


female

Gymno balzani, the cold seems to bulk up the males nuchal hump

 

[brich999]

Gorgeous fish! Always wanted to get into them but the season change scared me. How cold can they survive? Might make a cool candidate for a small outside pond here in ga

 

[duanes]

I keep mine in a pond in Milwaukee, May thru Oct, water temps dip into the 40s'F.
So a Georgia pond would seem reasonable to me.

 

[decoy50]

Do you cut back feedings during the cool down period? How about frequency of WCs?

 

[duanes]

I feed very sparingly during the cool down, small feedings once every 3 days or so, but during the coldest month, I didn't feed at all for about 2 weeks.
Water changes were also small.
I also overwinter my water lilies and some other marginal plants in the basement, and believe they help in reducing nutrients.

Do you cut back feedings during the cool down period? How about frequency of WCs?

 

[abarilot]

Very nice! It's pretty remarkable that gymnos can handle such cool temperature for a good period of time.

 

[duanes]

I agree, and not only Gymnos, I have Australoheros, and Uruguayan Crenicichla pike in the same cold basement pool with the decorative carp.

Very nice! It's pretty remarkable that gymnos can handle such cool temperature for a good period of time.

 

[dogofwar]

Cool down is the key to keeping these guys healthy for a long time... they're good down to the 40s or so. Probably colder for a limited time.

Matt

 

[Nemesis]

They look amazing Duanes.

 

[duanes]

Put 5 Gymnogeophagus quilero in the pond today, 1 alpha male and some females.