Guppy Farm

[mrchillman]

So i have a 150-190 gallon pond in my backyard, that i built this summer. I stocked it with about 15 adult guppies, and 1 RES turtle. Now my pond has about 8-10 adult guppies, and about 50 1-2 month old juvaniles, and 2 RES turtles (one just showed up). The juvanile guppies are just starting to develop their bright colors, and some of them are red while others are yellow and black. I also have a 29 gallon Guppy Fry grow out tank in my bedroom with about 50 newborn guppies that i caught in the pond (there are still more new born ones out there though). ANY WAYS My question is do you all think it is possible that my guppies will weather the winter? I live in San Jose California (South San Francisco Bay Area) Here is an example of my climate (this data was taken from the weather man who lives 3 houses down from me (at his house) from 2005-2006 so it is very accurate.
The Temperatures (based on daily highs)
Number of Days in the 100's = 6; 90's = 45 ; 80's = 76 ; 70's = 91;
60's =104; 50's = 43; 40's = 0

Keep in mind that those are highs, and at night it gets lower. On average however, lows are in the mid to lower 40s at night. Only occasionally like maybe 3 or 4 nights out of the year will it drop bellow 35.

[Dangerdoll]

Niko is going to be so admiring this setup!

[Dangerdoll]

How about some pics, I would love to see it!

[mrchillman]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/whatnot45/IMG_1452.jpg

[mrchillman]

So do you think i will have to move them inside during the winter? I dont have enough tanks for them all, only about 20 or so adults. will they survive outdoors? I am thinking about setting up another above ground pond of about the same size and i might be able to heat it, but it wouldn't be ready until spring.

[lilim10]

I think they might be able to survive, but only some, most will probably weaken and die, they are tropical fish after all...

[Virtuoso2K12]

Beautiful Pond!!!Love It!!!

[J double R]

don't count on any guppies surviving the winter outside.. if you want to save them, take em inside, or just re-stock in the spring. :)

gorgeous setup, btw.

[sumluvu1314]

they can survive the nighttimes temperature outside?? its pretty cold outside at night.

[sumluvu1314]

i am planning to make a little pond at my backyard too. But i am not sure they can be survive outside at the night times.

[SchizotypalVamp]

I'm not sure on the fancies surviving the winter temps. The feeders definitely can.

I know for a fact that the feeders can, but my gut tells me that the fancies can't.

[Lupin]

Fancies are far more delicate in comparison to feeders.

Where is Niko when he should see this thread?;)

[captaincaveman9]

Lup you need to link Niko this thread :D

[inkyjenn]

is it a possibility you could heat the pond?

[J double R]

they can survive the nighttimes temperature outside?? its pretty cold outside at night.


haha.. in san fran? that's not cold.. that's chilly, at best. the pond isnt going to cool off as much at night, than say, over a week of cold weather, or an entire season in the winter.

[cam191919]

iv got somthing similar with black swordtails, but it doesnt get nearly that cold here. the pond looks beautiful, but ur gunna need to start picking out your favorites and gettin them inside. if thers anybody you know that would take them for a month or two...

[Darkness9876]

I suggest just netting them all out and if you particularly like one color pick those and start your own strain by "culling" all the rest that don't fit what you like. Then the ones that fit that the best take inside during the winter and put them in the pond in the summer.

[Lupin]

Lup you need to link Niko this thread :D
I'm disappointed with him. Gotta PM him.:irked:

[mrchillman]

I could try and heat the pond...What kind of a heater should i get? I will also need to get a power chord thing that will give me 2 outlets, and wont electrocute anything if it rains have any in mind?

[cam191919]

they sell heaters for northern ponds to keep them from freezing, im sure i shouldent be to hard to heat yours.

[J double R]

they sell heaters for northern ponds to keep them from freezing, im sure i shouldent be to hard to heat yours.

pond heaters are made to keep water just above freezing..

keeping a pond at a tropical temperature over an entire winter season would be astronomical in electrical costs.

[cam191919]

i didnt say it wouldnt cost him :D

[Darkness9876]

yeah, the most economical would probably be to cover the pond and then use a horse trough heater or three.

As for the electrical sockets we have one that has a plastic cover that covers the outlets even when things are plugged in. Its for our pool pump/filter.

You can special order them from hardware stores. Some larger ones carry them in stock. They just mount where a normal socket would and they keep them completley dry. They are also uv resistant.

[Windy]

Your pond is beautiful

[mrchillman]

Im not too concerned about the engergy bill... My parents take care of that :) Im more concerned about the cost of the actual heater and everything, thats what i have to pay for. I think i'm going to get a shatter proof heater for a 90 gallon fish tank, and toss it in the pond. Ill try and keep the pond temp in the high 50s low 60s with the heater, and it should heat up more during the day from the sun. Thanks guys!

[Notophthalmus]

Or you could just replace the guppies with mosquitofish, who don't mind the cold at all. While I don't approve of California's willingness to stock Gambusia in all their waters, the damage is done. You should be able to get the fish for free from your county gov't.

[mrchillman]

but mosquito fish are ugly... lol

[mrchillman]

:headshake2:Sad news! I was cleaning my pump and filter yesterday, and I took the intake sponge on the pump off to clean it, and soak it over night in clean water to get all the junk out that was slowing my waterfall, and my nice turtle (as opposed to my not so nice one) got his shell stuck on the pump intake and couldn't break free so he drowned :headshake2: I woke up the next morning to put the sponge back on, and i noticed the waterfall wasn't working and i found him in his shell stuck to the intake and him dead :( poor guy

[luckydud13]

sorry to hear that.....

[DAVIDFBT]

Sorry for your loss.

[Darkness9876]

We keep down pipes on our spillway pipes just for this reason. We only have one without it and we peel a turlte off about weekly.

I like to think its for the turtles instead of just to keep the pipe flowing anyway.

Down pipes are big pipes coming of the spillway pipes that stick up past the height of the dam. They provide a way for air to enter the pipe incase something closes of end of it allowing the object, which is most of the time a large turtle, to swim away once the pipe fills with air and equalizes pressure. Another thing we put on the end is a cone made out of suckerrod, essentially tempered smoot rebar thats 3/4 of an inch in diamater that prevents anthing from getting to the pipe to create a seal. These two things greatly reduce the damage to flood spillways and to the dam itself.

Of course our ponds are 4-5 acres in size, One has 2 10" spillway pipes with one that runs most of the time as it is spring fed. However I have seen an excess of nearly 15-20,000 gallons entering it a minute before when it rains hard. Most days its probably around 500gpm.

Any way moral of this is I would advise adding a cone as it will keep large particles such as leaves, fish, and turtles from reaching your pre-filter and keeping your flow rate high.

[mrchillman]

OK! so i took your advice and got a shatter proof heater that is supposed to be good for a 90 gallon aquarium. I figure that if it can keep a 90 gallon aquarium in the high seventies it can keep my 150 gallon ish pond in the mid to low 60s which should be tolerable for my guppies. I ordered it last Friday and it should be here by Wednesday or Thursday. I hope the guppies make it till then because lately its been cold here! (well for California standards) Yesterday morning i took the temperature of the water and it was 53 degrees. The guppies are still all accounted for though and recently had even more babies (there are about 200 new born fry swimming around now).

I also ordered a solar powered fountain and another smaller heater and I am going to get a big 45-50 gallon tub or horse trough or something like that to house more guppies :] At this rate i might even be able to start selectively breeding and selling them on ebay or something.

[Darkness9876]

to help keeps temps up as well I would put a cover over part of the pool that touches the water and is black. That should help warm it.

[mrchillman]

i installed the heater yesterday afternoon and this morning my pond was a solid 65 degrees! Thats way up from 53 even if it was a little warmer yesterday

[mrchillman]

my pond is awesome! now that the heater is keeping the temperatures up the plants are a lot greener, and my lilies are actually starting to grow ( i moved them into the shallow end because my turtles kept eating them) It rained here all day and night yesterday, and today my guppies were all at the surface, and i could see them. They are REALLY NICE! i didn't know a hodgepodge of random colored guppies could get together and make just as cool looking ones. The first batch of babies is fully grown up, and they look amazing almost better than their parents. (at least the males do the females are all black and white)

[Darkness9876]

You might want to buy a few fancy guppies at the lfs every couple of months, guppies that aren't of a pure strain tend to lose their color genes after a few generations. It will also add some new strains of color to your pond and keep them from inbreeding.

Post some new pics to plz. I want to see how this is going.

[mrchillman]

I think i am going to get 1 goldfish to add some life to my pond. SInce my turtle died, its really boring...the other turtle never shows itself any more the only way i still see it basking from time to time from my bedroom window but thats it. I think i might try and catch him and give him away or sell him to my lfs or something...If i am not going to see him i would rather not have to worry about him eating my guppies. If i got one goldfish would it do all that much damage to my guppy population? Would it just eat a few of the fry or would it eventually be able to eat the adults too?

[wataugachicken]

it would eat your guppies. probably not all of them just because it wouldn't be able to catch every single one, but goldfish will eat whatever they can catch and fits in their mouth. i learned that the hard way with a 3 inch black moor and $30 worth of endlers. argh.

[Winterose]

also goldies are cold water guppies are tropical

[mrchillman]

Ok no gold fish for me i guess. I just cleaned my pond yesterday. I cut back the parrots feather, (accidentally cut a small hole in my liner with gardening sheers, but its near the top, and i sealed it with some sort of plastic epoxy stuff i had lying around the house.
The reason i cleaned the pond was because i wanted to cull off some of my ugly guppies, and the water was too murky to see them, or catch them (my pond water brought new meaning to pea soup water). I did a 90 percent water change and culled about 20 guppies that look different from the rest, or were just plain ugly. Im not quite sure what to do with them now... I dont want to kill the poor things.
I also caught 3 really good looking red ones, and They are in my 29 gallon aquarium. I am going to try and stick to one strain of just red guppies, and keep a pure line of them going in my aquarium. Then i can add them to the pond to keep the ones in the pond's colors lookin good too.

For now the pond water is REALLY CLEAR, but it will probably be back to pea soup before i know it. Ill take some pictures today.

OH ALSO! I HAVE A PROBLEM ... Dragon flies: late summer i saw a whole bunch flying around my pond...great they were laying eggs right... I thought my guppies would eat the larvae when they were little, and not let them get big... boy was i wrong. As i was cleaning the pond yesterday I saw dozens of huge 1-2 inch long dragon fly larvae in my pond. I was pretty freaked out. I caught and killed as many as i could, but there are LOTS more i'm sure. I know that they eat tadpoles; do they eat fish too? Is there any way i can get rid of them? I HATE dragon flies (been bitten three times, and it hurts!)

[Virtuoso2K12]

no more pics?

[wataugachicken]

the larvae can hurt or eat small fish, but the adult dragonflies eat MOSQUITOS. which would you rather have? and i imagine that if you have so many dragonflies and larvae in your pond, it's because they have a lot to eat there.

[mrchillman]

to be honest i would rather have my fish, we don't really have mosquitoes here, maybe a few but its not like the east coast. :] Ill try and get pics up tomorrow sorry i have been lazy i took them, but havn't put them on the computer yet.

[mrchillman]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/whatnot45/IMG_1657.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/whatnot45/IMG_1658.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/whatnot45/IMG_1659.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/whatnot45/IMG_1661.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/whatnot45/IMG_1662.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/whatnot45/IMG_1663.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/whatnot45/IMG_1665.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/whatnot45/IMG_1666.jpg

[mrchillman]

Alright i finally got the pics up :] Now any one know how to get rid of dragon fly larvae?! I just got back from a 4 day trip to boston and noticed that i had significantly fewer guppies, and right off the bat i saw 4 big one and a half inch long dragon fly larvae in my pond... that were just sitting out in the open.

[mrchillman]

Here is a quick update:Good news and bad news. Bad news I only have about 3 guppies left in the pond (that i can see, there might be 4 or 5) The baby ones are all dead, probably eaten by dragon flies, only the really big jumbo sized ones are left. I still have about 20 or so living in an aquarium indoors. As for the good news, My pond water finally cleared up! Its amazing i was outside one day thinking how aweful my pea soup water was, and i came out a few days later, to find it crystal clear. I can see all the way to the bottom of the pond! Thats how i know most of the guppies are gone.
I put my finger in the water today and noticed it was kind of on the cold side (it went down to 30 degrees a couple nights ago!), and so i added another heater to it. (my thermometer broke) its better now with the other heater, and my big guppies that are still alive seem to be doing well.

[Pookberens]

Wow I can not tell you anything cause I am still new at all this but I can say I think that is such a nice outside pond. You did a really good job on it.

[evelyn80]

are tere dragonfly larva left?

[gardentoad]

I live in Indiana so I stocked my small garden ponds with rosy reds that survive winter without heaters. I have lots of dragon flies too. They do eat some of the fry. If they didn't my pond would be overstocked with fish in no time. Rosys breed fast like guppies. It is worth it to have the mosquito control around here.
I would think that there would end up a natural balance in your pond like in mine. I'm not positive but the breeding may slow down as the temps drop. Then you would see less fry. Also the can hide pretty good in a planted pond. Since you have some breeding indoors you don't run the risk of being wiped out. I see fewer fish in the fall but the population shoots right back up in the spring.

You really can't stock a pond as full as an aquarium which is a closed system. An aquarium needs to balance only what you put in it.
A pond has to deal with cycling waste from the fish plus bugs , plus birds go out of their way to poop in it. Plus small animals drop stuff in it, dust, seeds, leaves and flower petals fall in it. Snails, reptiles and amphibians live and occasionally die in it.
Allowing the fish population to be naturally culled will make for a healthier pond in the long run.
When the birds and frogs discover the dragonflies they will do their part in keeping the population under control.
Get some good binoculars and sit at your window and watch the activity going on at your pond. There's lots of activity to see that stops when you walk close to the pond and they see you.

Here's a link but it may be too basic for you.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/PIC/article.cfm?aid=255
National Wildlife Federation has lots of articles about creating backyard wildlife habitats around your pond. http://www.nwf.org/backyard/index.cfm

[yikesjason]

nice pond. I didn't know dragonfly larva got that big and would take down small fish.

[mrchillman]

Yea i have about 5 guppies left in the pond, and lots of dragon flies. I went outside today with a net and caught 3 big ones, but saw a bunch more. I think ill go out occasionally like i did today, and try to just catch them and step on em. :]

[KarlTh]

What's the temperature of the water now? I'd be more inclined to put it down to cold than dragonfly larvae.

[mrchillman]

right now im guessing its high fifties during the day and low forties at night...its been getting REALLY COLD here lately this year is really odd... It was snowing in Los Vegas on christmas it hasn't snowed here thank god, but its been getting cold

[Lucky7s]

Hey cool guppies.

-Lucky7s

[Sweetheart]

Awesome set-up!

[Jellymolly44]

we have mosquito fish that look a lot like guppies. The females are soo much prettier.