what LFS fish could survive coastal california

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jonny5

Candiru
MFK Member
May 14, 2010
180
5
48
california
so I am currently building a small pond outside in the coastal marine zone of California. This means that water winters lows will be around 45 degrees Fahrenheit, possible hitting 40 for a week or so, and highs in the mid 70's.

is there any local fish store "tropical" fish that could weather a month or so at this temperature. im looking at paradise fish, zebra danios and golden barbs as a possibility but anyone have any experience or info on this?
 
jonny5 said:
so I am currently building a small pond outside in the coastal marine zone of California. This means that water winters lows will be around 45 degrees Fahrenheit, possible hitting 40 for a week or so, and highs in the mid 70's.

is there any local fish store "tropical" fish that could weather a month or so at this temperature. im looking at paradise fish, zebra danios and golden barbs as a possibility but anyone have any experience or info on this?
Click to expand...

How big is your pond going to be? I don't know it you knew this but there are native fish LFS's that can ship native fish. Have you checked your local laws in Cali to see what is allowed?
 
the pond will not be huge, id say around 300-350g. I would like some native (as in US not california native) fish in there but California is very strict about those rules and quite frankly it would cost $300 dollars to fill it with rainbow shiners and small sunfish that I ship, but only $50 bucks with any possible fish from the LFS that could handle the winter.
 
I ran into this issue when I was looking to stock my tank.

It seems that many of the fish that would be able to survive in the temp range you are talking about are illegal, which makes sense since people releasing them into the wild would be a concern.

The fish you mentioned will not survive the winter.

CA laws are really strict about "collecting" your own; from what I understand, taking pretty much any species of fish "live" is illegal.

Your best bet is probably goldfish- pond comets.
 
The only fish I can think of right now that are illegal are gar, pike, bowfin. High fin sharks are most likely to be legal, since I always see them for sale in every pond store near me. Bluegills are legal for aquariums, I just do not know the laws for ponds since they are most likely different. Also do not collect any fish from water that is not your own. It is illegal to transport any live fish from local ponds (ex. public fishing lakes). I'm just stating what I know right now and I'm not sure if this is 100% correct. By the way I live in southern California near Los Angeles.
 
Uruguayan cichlids of the genus Crenicichla, Gymnogeophagus and Australoheros would easily take those swings.
I keep Gymnogeophagus quilero and sp Paso Pache, Australoheros red ceibal and Uruguayan pike cichlids in my Milwaukee pond spring thru fall, where water temps swing from lows below 45'F to highs near 90'F. I have also kept Paradise fish in these conditions.
The rub with these fish is, they will basically disappear unless the sun is just right.
Goldfish are bred to be seen, so if you want to see your fish, they are best.
Here's a ceibal

some Gymnos

 
I would also be interested in what list you plan on getting since I too am from the coastal area. I want some natives yet so many are restricted
 
hmm so after doing some research, it appears there are some distinctions between public waters and "private" waters, and between ornamental fish and natives.
But I am going to play it safe and so far I got these two.

paradise fish- they are the first tropical fish to be imported to Europe in 1800s and were kept in frace in jugs and even survived outdoor ponds during frosts (we have a winner!)
American flagfish - now technically this is a native to US but its also considered an ornamental tropical fish, either way I can find them in stores sometimes.
golden barb - I have read online of someone overwinter rosy barbs in san diego, so im hopping golden barbs can handle it too

looks like cool sunfish or some cool shiners or darters are out of question though, most likely illegal and im sure wont ship here

Although I didn't know those uraguayan cichlids can take that cold water periodically, those guys would be sweet. I will look into that.

I find it so silly that so many fish are illegal here but goldfish......you know the most adaptable fish in nature next to pupfish, they are legal.

on a side not, piranha are illegal in California.....they would die by October in our waters, some game laws are quite necessary and important, some really don't make sense.
 
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