what LFS fish could survive coastal california

[MN_Rebel]

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.

Piranhas can survive in California waters for sure, especially when you have springs that stays warm all year around and piranhas have proven to survived most harsh winters of Florida back in 1960s

 

[jonny5]

what. really? if that is true then that is certainly a legitimate fish to ban but how could a tropical (not even designated subtropical) species survive in water that gets to at least 50 degrees, for at least a 3 months, in the largest bodies of water.

but I suppose with hot springs that is easily done, they actually have a breeding population of jack dempseys in Wyoming hot springs, the fish off coarse do not stray too far or its icy death for them but quite impressive resilience.

 

[duanes]

During winter, because my pond freezes solid to the bottom, I must bring in my Uruguayan cichlids. They are kept in a kiddy pool in my unheated basement where water temps drop into the mid 40sF.

When I bring them in in late Oct, these cichlid fry are pulled from 40'F water along with the adults.



By the way, there are Uruguayan and Argentine species of piranha, that easily survive temps below 50'F. Hence it makes sense to ban them in places like CA, especially with the cavalier attitude many people have about releasing non native fish.
And a side note, paradise fish are found as far north as Korea, also in very non tropical waters.

 

[MN_Rebel]

By the way, there are Uruguayan and Argentine species of piranha, that easily survive temps below 50'F. Hence it makes sense to ban them in places like CA, especially with the cavalier attitude many people have about releasing non native fish.
And a side note, paradise fish are found as far north as Korea, also in very non tropical waters.

I would add Rhombeus piranhas to the list because there WAS a breeding population of black piranhas in FL that survived 13 years of worst winters until the FW officials decided to poisoned the whole pond.

There are some red bellied piranhas that can survive Uruguayan and Argentine waters.

 

[Leo1234]

California has cold water everywhere except maybe the desert area. Almost all of our water comes from the mountains. It is cold enough that rainbow trout and white sturgeons are natives, even here in southern California (except San Diego which is most likely the only place that has warm water). you could always go with channel catfish if the pond is big enough (I think).

I'm just stating what I think and I'm just not an expert with native fish keeping, but I try to research fish a lot.

 

[warmouth]

The pacific fat sleeper in in the Southern half of California, Tule Perch, Hitch, tui chub, California Killifish etc (if theyre legal a Sacramento perch would be awesome).

 

[jonny5]

thanks for all the input guys, im going to look into the laws some more and see if I can find anything more regarding personal ponds. Cant really do big fish though, seeing as it is a small pond, the raccoons will go after and demolish anything that is 5+ inches.