Killifish in outdoor ponds

[jules]

A few people have discussed killifish outdoors this year... its getting cold now... who's still got fish outside? What have you got? and when will you bring them in. How cold do you let which species get?

I have Austrolebias nigripinnis and aphanius sophiae outside. I have left the sophiae, nigripinnis and bellottii out all winter in the past(which has included short spells under ice) However I am within seven miles of the south coast atop of the first chalk ridge and facing south. I find all of these fish do well outside.
Phill.

This year was my first with outdoor killies. I decided to play it safe and brought in my Valencia letourneuxi and Aphanius danfordii just before the convention. If you bring in the filamentous algae with them, be prepared for a bit of a whiff as it seems to react to coming indoors, dying back and clouding the water while exuding a methane stink. The fish seem fine though.

I forgot to mention, it seems that the volume of water needs to be 10-12 gallons or more to keep killies outside. Any less and the temperature will fluctuate too rapidly, both overnight and on particularly hot days. I lost all the fish I kept in 6 gallon containers and none that I kept in 12 gallon ones. The increase in temperature in the small containers on a sunny summer day was scary. I even resorted to putting baking foil over them to insulate against the sun.

APHANIUS DANFORDI and APHANIUS ANNATOLIAE still outside and alive as we speak...-12 air temp weve had here...

Colonies of 20 Adults of each ...

Only reason we left them outside was no space in fishhouse...and we already have other Danfordi and Annatoliae in there already...So we thought bugger it...

Next year its Mento and Fasciatus turn to try it... (:

If not a pond, what type of container are people using when they are keeping these species outside given the minimum water volume requirements to achieve "stable" temeperature conditions?

You can get various sizes of multi-purpose plastic containers. They are intended for general storage, but they make good aquaria for outdoors. The moulded handles mean that you can partially empty them and carry them in and out of doors. The 10-12 gallon ones usually cost around £10.

Sounds good. I will give it a try this summer to get them (Nigripinnis) acclimatised gently. Just need to get some eggs first!

We use black koi vats we picked up for 20 pounds each...

they are 4-5 ft long... 18 inches deep and about 30 inches across...

fill half with plant...

And most importantly float a large piece of Polystyrene on the top...(a fish box lid is good)

This will stop some sunlight from hitting part of the vat...and also give the fish a chance to chill out when it gets proper sunny in the summer time.Also it seems to keep the green water down...by preventing sunlight getting to part of the water...

Just today checked the all the Aphanius outside...all looking well...

Cheers


Tim

That's a good idea about the polystyrene float. I used a dark lid from a smaller container which I put over one end of the larger lid of the 10 gallon container which caught most of the sun. Fortunately, most of my containers sat in partial shade during the day thanks to overhanging trees.