Gymnogeophagus balzanii in temperature below 40 f

[duanes]

Uruguay, and Argentina can get cool, even snows a little in the winter, Paraguay is a little more north, more like southern Brazil so slightly less cool in winter than their southern neighbors.
I also had Cichlasoma dimerus, a location variant from "Bella" Union Uruguay That I kept in unheated tanks, and in ponds in Wisconsin (spring thru fall), and they would spawn in the pond.

I could easily pull out hundreds of their fry from the pond in fall.

 

[marpol]

There is also Geophagus Brasiliensis that can be acclimated to 11 celsius (50 F ) . Below 10 celsius G brasiliensis will die after 3-4 days. its still hardy fish but not as hardy as Gymnogeophagus . Brasiliensis is good option for people from UK .

 

[marpol]

ok smalll update

all 3 Balzanii fish from 29 september are dead :/ They died just few days after i introduced fish to pond , one by one , 4 days alter they were all dead.... I noticed that they were not as active as other fish from beginning . My one year old Balzani is fine , just like other corydoras and koi. I believe that seller knew that fish are sick but wantet to get rid of ,,problem'' :/

anyway 08 ocober i bought 3 new Balzanii from different seller , They looks active and they are two times bigger ( 5-6 cm) than previous one. I hope everything will be ok ok this time. So at the moment there is 4 Balzanii and in next week i should get Gymnogeophagus Mekinos

 

[duanes]

It may be that the location variant of the new balzani was a more northern morph (Brazilian)and not able to handle the type temps, a more southern variant from Uruguay or Argentina could.

 

[marpol]

Duanes : water temperature was from 14 to 16 celsius when i introduced them to pond so i doubt that water temp was cause of death. However i have no idea about their orgin. Gymnogeophagus Mekinos i waiting for is from ,, Rio Yi ''

 

[jjohnwm]

That's some bad news; at least it sounds as though the fish are available to you fairly often so you can replace them. I'll be upset if I lose mine, although the importer/retailer from whom I purchased them still shows some in stock now, over ten weeks after initially receiving them. I thought they'd be gone in a heartbeat.

Mine are all now in the 2 to 2.5 inch range except for one runt around 1.5 inches. They are always on display but are still relatively shy and retreat into their caves at any disturbance. I'm slowly dropping their temperature from the 75F it has been since I got them down to the 66F their permanent home is currently maintaining. I expect tomorrow will be the big day that they move in. The 360gallon is loaded with wood, rocks, caves and some plants; I expect them to disappear for awhile after introduction.

My three G.rhabdotus will be introduced at that time as well. They are up around 2.5 to 3 inches and are colouring up nicely; looks like one male and one female for sure, with one about which I am uncertain as he/she does not seem to have "self-identified" yet. The balzanis, on the other hand, are still...at least to my eye...not showing any sexual dimorphism yet, and not much colour.

M marpol , is there any chance that the fish were a bit temperature shocked when you introduced them? If they had been kept at typical "tropical" temps by the seller and then abruptly plopped into your pond that could be ten Celsius degrees cooler (although still within their comfort range)...especially after the stress of shipping...I wonder if that could have contributed to their demise? And did you actually find the bodies to be certain they have died? I don't know how you keep track of such small fish in that beautiful pond. When I put little guys like that outdoors, I hardly ever see them again until the fall when I bring them back in. Then I have the pleasant surprise of seeing how big and colourful they have gotten; it's like Christmas.

 

[marpol]

jjohnwm : when it comes to temperature , fish spend 24 h in plastic box as you see on picture. So i think temperature inside of box was similar to temperature in pond. No more than 2 or 3 celsius difference. I found first body accidentaly then i was concerned and decided to use goporo underwater. I only found secound body on bottom of pond but there is no way third fish could be somewhere alive. Also i cant rule out theory that koi wanted to eat Balzanii and after bite koi changed his mind then Balzanii didnt survive this bite They were 2 or 3 cm Balzanii so everything is possible but as i said , i guees they were sick.

however , i found interesting that Balzanii rest on flat river stones during night . Always i going to garden with flashlight in the night then i see them sleeping on flat stones and shallow water(30-40cm depth) ,doesnt matter if water is 10 celsius or 20 celsius . During day they like deepest part of pond.

 

[marpol]

They will get a lot of free space in 360 gallon. I spoke to my dealer and he told me that its not easy to sell gymnogeophagus. Sometimes he must keep them for 6 or 12 months and nobody want to buy them so now Gymno are only available on special order .

 

[jjohnwm]

Yeah, it doesn't sound like temperature shock, unless as duanes suggested they are from the northern end of the balzani range...although 14-16C doesn't seem excessive. Maybe sick fish, as you surmised. Regarding predation, in my locality we have numerous predatory aquatic insects...dragonfly larvae, Giant Water Bugs, and especially the large carnivorous Dytiscid water beetles. Our local variety of the latter are very large; adults are easily 1.5 inches long, and their equally predatory larvae, known as Water Tigers, are every bit as dangerous to small fish. I assume you have something analogous in your area? Another possible explanation; if I have 50 fish in a pond, and one is extra special/rare/valuable, it always seems as though the tigers know it and target that one with extra gusto. :

Good luck with your next batch, hopefully they will be a tad bigger and tougher.

 

[marpol]

jjohnwm

Yep , carnivorous Dytiscid is here but i dont see them now when water getting colder and colder or just coz my koi grow bigger every month