Stowaway gambusia devastating flag fish fry

[razornick]

Outside of six koi, I'm trying to establish a breeding population of American Flag Fish. They have been amazing at controlling hair algae in my large unheated aquariums. Gambusia are sometimes referred to as Damnbusia because of the difficulty of getting rid of them once they are established. Some claim they have wiped out smaller fish species across the U.S.

I'm not an expert ponder as others are in this forum so can't advise predater to control, but not eradicate, your Ruby Reds. Sounds like your pond is huge compared to mine.

 

[razornick]

By the way, still no signs of mosquito fish and, amazingly, American Flag Fish fry everywhere!

 

[elroyjetsn]

That's great news. Hope that'll be the last of them!

Chose the channel cats because they are cheap, cool looking(same general body shape and swimming behavior as sharks) and they are bottom feeders/scavengers. They do take goldfish pellets off the surface sometimes.

 

[razornick]

Like you, I'd be tempted to eat the catfish once they reached frying pan size. Actually, I thought about catfish in my pond but could not find a type that would stay small. Right now, I'm toying with the idea of adding water striders.

 

[elroyjetsn]

I've seen a couple striders in my pond. They can fly when they reach full size and so can come and go. Saw a backswimmer bug a few days ago and a few different dragonflies. :icon_mrgreen:

Really interested to see what stuff finds it's own way into the pond. Hope there'll be some surprizes this spring. Especially of the amphibian sort.:wink:

 

[elroyjetsn]

Would love to include some american flag fish in our pond as well. But, don't think they would make it thru our harsh winters. Which may prevent gamby's from getting a foothold here as well.:wink:

 

[pondlady]

Don't bet on it . Things get pretty cold here in Utah, natural ponds are frozen solid for months at a time, Yet there they are come spring.

 

[razornick]

Thought I got them all several weeks back when, lo and behod, I saw and caught one this weekend. I'm happy to report about 40 shoaling half-inch Flag Fish fry. The 10 or so parents stay hidden in the plants. They're all quite able to keep out of the kois' way.

 

[froglover]

I have had American Flag Fish in my pond in California this summer. I thought I would have to bring them in to an aquarium this winter. What temperature can they survive in?

 

[razornick]

I'm also in SoCal. My first few months with a new pond but have been surfing web for same info on flag fish cold tolerance. I read one report that they will survive occassional water temps down to 45 degrees. I read another where light freezes impacted flag fish population but that some, not all, survived. Before building my pond I kept 11 flag fish in a small unheated outdoor (car port) aquarium without problem. I would imagine my unprotected pond will be colder. Transplanted to my pond, it was only weeks before they multiplied, now numbering close to 50. I guess we'll find out over the next 5 months.

 

[froglover]

I also started with 12 in an outside aquarium until I got my pond finished in May. My pond is for frogs and tadpoles so the flag fish are the only fish in there. Where in So. Ca. are you located?

 

[razornick]

La Puente. I finished mine in early September. Where do you get your tadpoles? I once went down to Devil's Gate Dam near JPL to collect small tree free frogs in the reeds. They stuck around for about 3 years in my fbackyard ferns then dissappeared this summer before I could finish my pond. I've made a few trips back to the dam but have not been able to figure out the right time of year to find tadpoles and/or spawining frogs.

 

[froglover]

A local tropical fish store sells leopard frog tadpoles in the Spring. You can usually buy bullfrog tadpoles at fish stores year round. I had green tree frogs lay eggs in the pond a couple months ago, but most of them did not survive. I saw one little frog yesterday that has it's front and hind legs. This spring I ran an ad in Craigslist for anyone wanting to get rid of frogs or tadpoles. A lady in Murrieta answered that had a toad lay eggs in a pond she wanted to put chlorine in. My son went over to her house and caught all he could. Hopefully in a couple of years I will have toads laying eggs. The best time to find toad tadpoles is in around March-May after rains in shallow water like drainage ditches.

 

[razornick]

Thaks for the tips.