anone get those rosy red minnows from petsmart?

[Steve knight]

I got some last year when I got my pond up and running. a few died but most survived and they over wintered no problem. they got a brighter color and nice and big. one is pregnet.
I found a pond store that has Chinese High Fin Banded Sharks they look cool they are sucker fish. but they get big and they like to school so they are too big for my pond. I wish someone sold orfies around here.

 

[addy1]

I have heard the rosy reds do fine and multiply, saying that I put a few in my lotus pond, ph etc just fine, have not seen them since. But sure do have tadpoles in that pond.

 

[marla]

never tried them here, they would most likely not survive the winter and to try to catch them all in the fall might be a pain...however maybe I will try them in one of the little ponds just for color, thanks for the suggestion

 

[Steve knight]

my water got down to 34 to 35 degrees this winter and they were fine.

 

[addy1]

thanks steve, mine hit the 32 mark, well the thermometer was surrounded by ice, lol

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I've had rosy reds in my pond the last two Winters. They do just fine, although I have not had any surviving babies yet. I prefer having a variety of creatures in my pond, and they get along great with the larger fish. I have three koi over 12" long, plus an assortment of goldfish. I keep several areas with large rocks, and the rosies will hide and spawn around the rocks and plants. If you have a waterfall, you will see them trying to jump up it in mid- to late Summer.

FYI, these fish are native to the US and Canada, living in streams and small rivers. They do great in less-than-ideal water conditions, and have no problems surviving in the same frozen conditions as goldfish in the Winter. Take a look here for more info...

 

[addy1]

Thanks shdwdrgn, I have very shallow ledges around the pond, covered with rocks, some areas dry some wet. The fry have been hiding there, even found one in the bog, no clue how it got there unless attached itself to a frog leg.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

addy - if they see water, they'll jump and they are very good jumpers. I've also found some that managed to swim INTO my pumps while they were turned off -- made it all the way up to the filter, but died in the bottom with no way to move past the filter media. Hopefully the cages on the new pumps are small enough to prevent that from happening again, although the new filter media (bags of plastic strapping) would allow the fish to be able to swim past.

Regardless, rosies are very cheap to come by, and having a large school of them in the pond adds something extra to see.

 

[fishin4cars]

I do agree, I've seen a school of about 15 in a pond and they were really cool to watch, guite different than goldies and koi, natives, are usually more grey, Rosy's are more of a produced coloration. When they breed they breed very similar to goldfish and they will produce some young of native coloration. I like they don't get that large, very capable of living in ponds from north to south, east to west. and get along with anything that won't eat it. They normally live in streams so jumping in moving water is just what comes natural for them and I bet they look really cool swimming in a group in your river.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

...and I bet they look really cool swimming in a group in your river.

That's what I'm hoping for, although I don't have that big a group of them yet. I've put 30 in, would like to get at least another 30 (hey I have room for that now!). I would say the survivors are an equal mix of grey and pink, although it seems that the grey ones get a little larger.

 

[addy1]

addy - if they see water, they'll jump :alieneyesa: and they are very good jumpers. .

Don't think it jumped it was just a little over a 1/4 inch, almost too small to see. It would have had to jump up 12 inches or so to get in to the bog. Either a goldie or shub I don't have any rosies.

 

[MajorDan]

I gather from reading posts here that rosy reds would be a good addition to a pond with shubunkins. Any downside?

 

[Lisak1]

@MajorDan - this is a more than 7 year old post. You might get more answers if you start a new thread.

 

[MajorDan]

Thanks, I will catch on eventually hahahaha

 

[Lisak1]

No problem! And sometimes people will jump back in on these threads, but if people choose the "new post" option for checking the forum, they might miss these oldies!

 

[Faebinder]

Thanks, I will catch on eventually hahahaha

Mmmm... adding them to a goldfish pond (not koi)

Benefits:
1- Eat the little insects that big goldfish don't. Like mosquito larvae.
2- Easier for them to get to smaller spots that goldfish cant and eat things like fish eggs.
3- Eat left over fish food of goldfish.

Cons:
1- More pond load, especially if they actually manage to replicate, which is unlikely in a goldfish pond.
2- You really gotta be careful about adding new ones, they are often diseased and need a long watch time outside the pond.

 

[MajorDan]

Thanks. May skip them then. Was thinking I could put them in first to start the nitrogen cycle.

 

[EricV]

Mmmm... adding them to a goldfish pond (not koi)

Benefits:
1- Eat the little insects that big goldfish don't. Like mosquito larvae.
2- Easier for them to get to smaller spots that goldfish cant and eat things like fish eggs.
3- Eat left over fish food of goldfish.

Cons:
1- More pond load, especially if they actually manage to replicate, which is unlikely in a goldfish pond.
2- You really gotta be careful about adding new ones, they are often diseased and need a long watch time outside the pond.

Mine are doing just fine reproducing in a gold fish pond. I have 50-100 by now, I bet. And probably the same bio-load as one big goldfish.

I do see fewer fry this year, I think. So maybe my plan is working: have goldfish to keep down the RR population, RRs to keep down the goldfish population.

 

[MajorDan]

Nice. I may remain flexible on rosy reds for now.

 

[LarryM]

I've been breeding rosy reds in my garage/workshop for years. They are a sub species of the fathead minnow that was originally discovered in Arkansas I'm told. I have a breeder group in a 29 gal aquarium. I put six small clay flower pots on the bottom. When a male wants to breed he will take over one the pots and entice eggbound females into the pot. When the female extracts her eggs the male puts them in his mouth and sticks them on the top underside of the pot. I let him take care of the eggs for a day or so and then move the pots to five gallon tanks where the eggs hatch. When the young grow out a bit I transfer them to a larger 100 gallon grow out tank. Then when they put on some size I take them down to my bass pond where they meet their end inside a bass stomach.
I keep some in my koi pond where they do just fine in hot and cold weather. Their life span is about 18 months.