# Fish for outdoor pond



## mysnakesau (Feb 20, 2009)

I have a frog colony in a bathtub in my yard. The water also has mozzie wrigglers. Is there a fish I can add to the water to eat the mozzies but won't eat tadpoles when the frogs start to breed? Or, do frogs or their tadpoles eat them?

What about mosquito fish? Are they so named because they eat them? I can catch some out of the creek but only if they won't eat my frogs.


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## mines bigger (Feb 20, 2009)

you should add some pacific blue eyes... they are an aussie native..


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## froglet (Feb 20, 2009)

murray river rainbows are good, so are white clouds


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## AUSGECKO (Feb 20, 2009)

Don`t use mosquito fish (gambusia) they are a noxious species, If you catch them, Kill em!


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## abbott75 (Feb 20, 2009)

mines bigger said:


> you should add some pacific blue eyes... they are an aussie native..





froglet said:


> white clouds



The two species I would recommend. Try Blue Eyes first, if you can't find them then White Cloud Mountain minnows are your answer.


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## mysnakesau (Feb 20, 2009)

Aww thanks guys  I never thought of them. The blueys won't be easy to find so I'll go for the minnows for now and ask my local shop to order some blueys in for me. Awesome, thank you.

Froglet how big do murrays grow? I am only after a few tiddlers that won't outgrow the tub.


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## Moreliaman (Feb 21, 2009)

abbott75 said:


> White Cloud Mountain minnows are your answer.



Owww......does that mean you can keep any tropical fish in outside water sources ?...like ponds ? (on the asumption that the water is warm enough)


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## froglet (Feb 21, 2009)

mysnakesau said:


> Aww thanks guys  I never thought of them. The blueys won't be easy to find so I'll go for the minnows for now and ask my local shop to order some blueys in for me. Awesome, thank you.
> 
> Froglet how big do murrays grow? I am only after a few tiddlers that won't outgrow the tub.



The murrays might be a bit big, i think they get to about 10-13cm


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## warren63 (Feb 21, 2009)

I want to my local shop after some natives and walked out with 2 big scoops of feeder fish which were fire tailed gudgeons and put those in my pond and cleaned up the mozzies and going strong with vey minimal care.


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## bump73 (Feb 21, 2009)

Moreliaman said:


> Owww......does that mean you can keep any tropical fish in outside water sources ?...like ponds ? (on the asumption that the water is warm enough)


 
Not sure about other tropical fish. But i have had mountain clouds in my pond for about 4 years now and the water gets as low as 14-15c, i'd call them temperate more than tropical..

Ben


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## imalizard (Feb 21, 2009)

Moreliaman said:


> Owww......does that mean you can keep any tropical fish in outside water sources ?...like ponds ? (on the asumption that the water is warm enough)


 
White clouds prefer cold water but can live in tropical tanks. They come from the mountains that get very cold. If you leave them out in a pond for a year, when you put them in a tank they have the best colours!


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## seumas12345 (Feb 21, 2009)

Why do you have a bathtub in your backyard?? LOL for those sunny days in summer when the deckchair just won't do??


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## imalizard (Feb 21, 2009)

Haha bathtubs are great ponds. Ive used them for breeding yabbies, shrimp, feeder fish and keeping small turtles!


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## Noongato (Feb 21, 2009)

I have a bathtub out in my backyard too. But mostly cos i wanted a pool and those cheep blow up ones were like $160 and a solid bathtub was $120, so i picked the tub. 
Plus this way it can stand the abuse of the dog jumping in it. And having a occaisional bath outside is really quite nice, Since i only have a shower in my house...


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## kupper (Feb 21, 2009)

bluey eys jump like crazy so be sure to cover the pond or drop the water an inch or two before trying them , there not the cheapest of fish


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## coz666 (Feb 21, 2009)

mate try danios,
they come in albino as well so you can see them easily.
dont go for rainbows , they nip the tails off tadpoles.
cheers


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## Moreliaman (Feb 21, 2009)

imalizard said:


> White clouds prefer cold water but can live in tropical tanks. They come from the mountains that get very cold. If you leave them out in a pond for a year, when you put them in a tank they have the best colours!



tis ok mate, i know what WCMM are, i used to own a pet shop which sold tropical/coldwater & marine fish, exotic pets, inverts & reptiles..., and you can also keep WCMM in ponds over here too ..........what i wanted to know was....In Australia... can you put other (non native) species of fish in an outside pond if the temps were right ? I.E....is it legal too ???
When i visited a fish importer in sri lanka, none of the breeding pools outside had heating in because they didnt need it......so im asuming the hotter parts of australia could be the same ??


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## mysnakesau (Feb 23, 2009)

seumas12345 said:


> Why do you have a bathtub in your backyard?? LOL for those sunny days in summer when the deckchair just won't do??



Well my father-in-law was going to make a seat. You can see he has cut the side out but then lost interest and it has sat in our yard for over 12 months now, collecting water and rubbish. But since I discovered the frogs I cleared the rubbish out & will look after it for the frogs.

I bought 10 minnows & a couple water plants to go in it. Surprisingly my local fish shop did have pacific blue eyes but they were $6 each and I like to see schools of little fish. Didn't have $60 to spend on fish.

The frogs haven't been back for a few nights. Do you think they might not like the light near the water? Or do they go away in dry weather. Sometimes I hear them for days or weeks after rain has stopped but this time, just after the flooding, I hear none. Not even at the creek that runs beside the house. No croaking to be heard anywhere


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