View Full Version : Fish for a 45 Gal. barrel
I want to do the eco thing this summer and save rainwater for watering fruits & flowers. I have 5 plastic 45 gallon drums at the side of the house that collect rainwater from the roof. They are ganged together by siphon tubes. West nile is a potential problem so I need to keep mosquitoes from breeding in the barrels. I know that fish find the larvae a tasty meal so I thought about putting a fish in each barrel.
These fish must be:
able to stand water temps to 85°
small enough at maturity that I could keep 5 in a 30 gallon tank over winter
able to live solitary and in community. If I can find one that stays small as an adult I can put 2 or 3 in each barrel.
fairly hardy
Any suggestions?
OrionGirl
04-30-2003, 8:42 AM
I'd go with platties, white clouds or gouramies. The gouramies have the benefit of being able to tolerate the lower oxygen levels that come with the warmer waters. For platties, they'll end up breeding in the winter (as the white clouds may!), but are very hardy. White clouds, you could put 2-3 in each barrel comfortably. I would probably add a power head, or bubbler in eash tank, just to help keep the oxygen levels up if you go with anything other than the gouramie.
FishmasteR2002
04-30-2003, 8:45 AM
Just go and catch a few sunfish from your local water hole every year. and the end of the summer you can let them go and recatch them next spring. Think might be more fun than just stickin some tank fishes in there. Just a thought.
Hmm, Sunfish. Or any small local fish like crappies or pumkinheads. They get pretty big (for a fish to eat mosquitoe larvae).
I like the bubbler idea. My guess is that with that kind of volume and water turnover, ammonia and nitrite aren't really a concern. Correct?
I added goldfish in these barrels a couple of years back before I knew how to keep fish. Funny thing, all five fish ended up in barrel #5! They must have all swam through the 5' sections of siphon tubes (all 5 of them) and had a party. Go figure.
OrionGirl
04-30-2003, 5:19 PM
Check with your local DNR before transporting live fish, and before putting any fish into a local waterway. Not a good idea, and very possibly illegal.
andruboz
04-30-2003, 7:48 PM
my lfs sells mosquito fish. with a sign on the tank that says for ponds.
looks like a guppy.
Mosquito Fish ,Gambusia affinis.
Roland
04-30-2003, 8:36 PM
At 85(f), I'd go for a kind of labyrinth fish. Most (not all) of these fish will do well in higher temperatures. They'll also thrive on M.L. ( with the odd supplement too).
I wouldnt go for white clouds, because - although they are extremly hardy - they prefer temps of around 55-77(f)
Down here most everyone keeps goldfish in their horse troughs. They just buy feeders. I know one guy that lives around the corner that put in four feeders five years ago and still has the same fish out there. Take this with a grain of salt as he is a farmer not an aquarist but he has never even fed them in the summer, let alone aerated the water. He throws some generic flake in the winter but never brings them inside. Of course I don't know what winters are like where you live.
wetmanNY
04-30-2003, 11:12 PM
Most rainbarrels have lids. Few fish will thrive for long in pure rainwater. The pH will crash for one thing.
Originally posted by wetmanNY
Most rainbarrels have lids. Few fish will thrive for long in pure rainwater. The pH will crash for one thing. These barrels don't have lids and this is why I want to keep fish in them; to eat the mosquitoe larvae. Wetman, how will the pH crash? I understand that the pH of rain will differ somewhat depending on where it comes from. Rain water is also quite soft. Do all Labyrinth fish prefer soft water?
BTW, the barrels are in the shade all day, but will recieve ambient light. I don't think the highest barrel temp will reach 85°, maybe 80° and then only for a brief period.
mogurnda
05-01-2003, 7:31 AM
Another vote for gambusia. They are usually available from public health, and are tough as nails.
Gambusia it is. Are these commonly available at a LFS?
OrionGirl
05-05-2003, 1:32 PM
If you obtain gambusia, make sure there is no way they can make it to a open water source. These buggers are well known for wiping out amphibians.
FishmasteR2002
05-05-2003, 2:00 PM
Matak was I was saying is you catch a few small shellcrackers or bluegills use them in the barrels and then let them go at the end of the summer and then next spring catch a few more. That way they don't get super huge in the barrels and you release them so they can grow and live still. Maybe a few pearl gouramis might work as well. Good Luck with your choice.
Originally posted by OrionGirl
If you obtain gambusia, make sure there is no way they can make it to a open water source. These buggers are well known for wiping out amphibians. I'm curious, do they eat them or is it something they carry?
Originally posted by FishmasteR2002
Matak was I was saying is you catch a few small shellcrackers or bluegills use them in the barrels and then let them go at the end of the summer and then next spring catch a few more. That way they don't get super huge in the barrels and you release them so they can grow and live still. Maybe a few pearl gouramis might work as well. Good Luck with your choice. There is some goldfish at a local pond but I think they are a bit big for a 45G barrel. I think I will go with the mosquitoe fish and keep the 5 of them in a 30G over winter.
OrionGirl
05-05-2003, 4:37 PM
Gambusia eat tadpoles and amphibian eggs.
redpaulhus
05-06-2003, 2:27 PM
Originally posted by OrionGirl
Gambusia eat tadpoles and amphibian eggs.
They also out-compete many of the native fishes - they are less likely to eat 'skeeters' than they are fish fry.
In fact, many areas of the world are now facing higher levels of mosquitos since introducing the gambusia - the gambusia eliminated the natives that were eating the mosquitos...
Either a pair of gourami or very hardy killies (maybe flagfish) would be my first thought. Due to the water softness, rainforest fishes would also work well - maybe some of the dwarf cichlids that inhabit highly variable environs ...
As to why the rainwater will have pH problems -- soft rainwater has little or no buffering capacity, so it can suffer severe pH swings (whether from dissolved gases, nitrification, or other causes...) very quickly.
i used to use sunfish in mine. not for the west nile problem, just so the water doesnt get buggy. as long as you stick to the smaller sizes, youll do fine.
tricksterpup
05-06-2003, 4:30 PM
Last summer, in my whiskey barrel ponds I placed guppies in mine, had no problem with any larva. Since you live well up north. I dont think having mosquito fish in your barrels to be a major problem. But another fish to try would be either the paradise fish or Bettas. I think these guys would do well for the summer and would devour any mosquito larva would have. Just make sure that you have your pathways closed off. Don't want any fighting to go on.
Also, here is a creative idea for you. Try putting in some aquatic plants into these barrels too. If you get enough sunlight, you might get some nice growth and it may be some nice decoration for your yard.
jim
Summers get quite hot up here. We had temps in the 90's frequently last summer. Bettas might be best, but I would have to keep them separate through the winter.
Sunfish aren't that common in my neck of the woods, at least not within a 1/2 hour drive. Besides, I really don't wan't to get into the fish transporting kerfluffle. Good idea though :)
Well as far as the Gambusia affinis eating other species, they will be the only inhabitants in their environ. I would feed them flake food sparingly and infrequently to encourage them to eat larvae.
I like the idea of the planted barrels. I will be keeping the barrels in the shade all day to keep the temps and algae down, so I might look into some floating plants that do well in the shade. I am shure that outdoor ambient light is at least equivilent to the amount of light you would recieve with normal flourescents at 1 - 2 watts per gallon.
Hmm, maybe some local floating plants.
BTW, could I buffer the pH with something in the bottom of the barrels?
I live in Northern New York (just a few hours from Toronto) and I have an outdoor barrel, too.
I've had good luck with guppies, platies, and the American flagfish (they're a type of killifish and have been mentioned already, as well). The livebearers breed like nuts. (I only had female flags.) I don't have any problems with mosquito larvae.
This summer I think I'm going to try swordtails and possibly some of the 3-4" barbs. Some barbs are really neat, they look kind of like goldfish because they're related, but stay a lot smaller.
I plant my barrel, too.
To buffer the pH you could try a coral substrate on the bottom of the barrel, like they use in African cichlid and saltwater tanks.
Good luck, have fun! I love my barrel.
ChilDawg
05-14-2003, 9:51 PM
Comet goldies work well with mosquito control in a whiskey barrel-type setup.
In an unrelated thread at the plants forum, Mr Wetman said that a local water company probably used slaked lime in their water supply. Is this something I could use as a cheap buffer to stabalize pH in the rain barrels?
BTW, got the Gambusia Affinis on order at my LFS, but the barrels are with water and the siphon tubes are built and primed. With all the rain we've been having, I've had to limit the amount of water going into them. Hope the fish arrive soon!
BigFishDude
05-26-2003, 9:30 AM
Good Luck Matak!!
I hope you have lots of this Action! (http://www.fattigfish.com/images/anigamb2.gif) this summer!! ;)
:)
It would have been cuter if I could actually get the picture on the post, but you get the idea ;)
did somebody say cichlid? yeah, i know i'm gonna get flamed for this, but i throw a pair of parrotfish in my outdoor pond each year for mosquito control...the main reason: voracious appetite...they'll eat ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING that attempts to live in there, & they're extremely hardy. good luck!
ChilDawg
05-26-2003, 8:40 PM
As long as the barrel is kept warm, parrot fish would be fine...
Originally posted by BigFishDude
Good Luck Matak!!
I hope you have lots of this Action! (http://www.fattigfish.com/images/anigamb2.gif) this summer!! ;)
:)
It would have been cuter if I could actually get the picture on the post, but you get the idea ;) Awsome, I love it! thanx BFD. :)
Again, In an unrelated thread at the plants forum, Mr Wetman said that a local water company probably used slaked lime in their water supply. Is this something I could use as a cheap buffer to stabalize pH in the rain barrels?
ChilDawg
05-26-2003, 9:20 PM
I'd use some sort of carbonate, so lime would be up the correct alley...if your pH isn't at 8.3, though, the lime isn't going to hold the pH until you are at 8.3.
nolemite
05-27-2003, 12:04 PM
White clouds.