My friend has a private pond thats about a quarter acre big. The pond is about 2-3 feet deep. He wants to stock the pond for fishing but doesnt want the usual bass etc. He wants to stock the pond with cichlid n other oddball. The pond is in so cal at thousand oaks. I was wondering can convict survive the outdoor pond??? And what other cichlid will also have a chance surviving winter???
Convict in pond
- Thread starter zenyoungkoh
- Start date
Im not sure how cold the coldest temps would be in socal but most cichlids can tolerate water temperatures into the low 70's and even into the 60's. If the water temps do stay in that range then most cichlids except for some of the more delicate ones would be fine in there. Oscars, red devils, possible peacock bass, and as you mentioned convicts should all be fine in there
I'm not sure how cold winter gets in your friend's area... but if the water temp will dip under the mid/low 70's, i wouldnt reccomend any tropical cichlids, or tropical aquarium fish in general for that matter.
IF, however, the temp will stay in the 70s, there are quite a few options.
Green terrors, red devils, oscars, pbass, texas, and midas could all probably be kept in the pond if it had a stable ecosystem and proper spawning grounds.
Convicts would be able to live there too, but wouldn't be good fishing stock because of their small size.
as far as other oddballs go, I'm hesitant to suggest anything because I'm not sure how the ecosystem would work out. One thing to be sure of is whats in the pond already. ther needs to be a healthy population of small fish and plants to provide food for your friends stock.
IF, however, the temp will stay in the 70s, there are quite a few options.
Green terrors, red devils, oscars, pbass, texas, and midas could all probably be kept in the pond if it had a stable ecosystem and proper spawning grounds.
Convicts would be able to live there too, but wouldn't be good fishing stock because of their small size.
as far as other oddballs go, I'm hesitant to suggest anything because I'm not sure how the ecosystem would work out. One thing to be sure of is whats in the pond already. ther needs to be a healthy population of small fish and plants to provide food for your friends stock.
A few of my friends here in Florida keep their convicts and other cichlids in ponds. Most years they do perfectly well and in some of the colder winters they suffer some losses. But for the most part they do fine and actually breed.
I think your best bet would be Texas cichlids (cyanos) because their natural range expands through South Texas. They'll have the best chance at surviving the cold temps.
Plec123;4410089; said:
I'll tell him about that. temperature during winter nights drop to mid 60s. Pond temperature about 65 on surface not sure about bottom. The pond has some unidentified small fish about the size of full grown mollies, plants and other assorted stuffs. I have a convict. n i dont mind breeding it, n plant the pond with convicts while keeping some for myself as bait fish for bass fishing n stuffs.
Citrinellus;4410444; said:
x2, I think that is a good choice . . . has your friend checked to make sure he can legally stock the pond with fish of his choice?
@sabfan where can one get texas cichlid. im not sure if he checked or not. but he build the pond so why cant he stock the pond as he wishes?