First time patio pond this year but very longtime fish breeder in the past. Patio pond is about 35 gallons. I put 5 bunches of hornwort in, have a small filter with a spray bar. I put in 12 golden minnows, looks like I still have 8 adults. But eggs were laid in the hornwort immediately since I began to spot fry within a week. Young fish are varying sizes right now and have at least 40 almost full size young that are bigger than the adults at about 2 months old. The hornwort works fantastically and provides plenty of microorganisms for the fry to thrive. Hornwort has about tripled in size and dis an awesome oxygenator! I didn’t expect this to be so successful. Water temp hovers around 78 by late afternoon. I have taken to putting a patio umbrella up in the early afternoon to shield the patio pond from the intense sun we’ve been having here in NJ. Seems to keep the water at least 10 degrees cooler than the outside temperature. And I change out at least a third of the water weekly because of the heat. Good luck with yours! Hope you get lots of fry!
Wow, you must be thrilled. Sounds like your tub project is going gangbusters. Thanks for the umbrella idea. I've been thinking about it but didn't realized it could make that much difference. Do you feed at all?
Jay Miller I do feed. Using bug bites and Omega One freshwater flakes 2x/day. But for the very young fry I don’t add anything. I was shocked at how well they do after hatching on just the algae and microorganisms on the plants. So no infusoria or baby brine or anything needed. I was worried about that. My fish seem always hungry and greedily eat. Also I notice no real bugs or mosquito larvae for them to eat from the water. So I need to feed.
Spotted a few WCMM fry in my greenhouse tub just a couple of days back. The temperature peaks are similar to those you are experiencing but maybe only for an hour or two while the sun shines directly on it. I have some lava rock in the 75 litre tub with various anchored and floating plants. Mine are also very skittish and the fry I did spot have since disappeared. There are plenty of places to hide so hopefully still in there somewhere. Have seen the spawning mop being used in the early morning. Stick in there.
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First time patio pond this year but very longtime fish breeder in the past. Patio pond is about 35 gallons. I put 5 bunches of hornwort in, have a small filter with a spray bar. I put in 12 golden minnows, looks like I still have 8 adults. But eggs were laid in the hornwort immediately since I began to spot fry within a week. Young fish are varying sizes right now and have at least 40 almost full size young that are bigger than the adults at about 2 months old. The hornwort works fantastically and provides plenty of microorganisms for the fry to thrive. Hornwort has about tripled in size and dis an awesome oxygenator! I didn’t expect this to be so successful. Water temp hovers around 78 by late afternoon. I have taken to putting a patio umbrella up in the early afternoon to shield the patio pond from the intense sun we’ve been having here in NJ. Seems to keep the water at least 10 degrees cooler than the outside temperature. And I change out at least a third of the water weekly because of the heat. Good luck with yours! Hope you get lots of fry!
Wow, you must be thrilled. Sounds like your tub project is going gangbusters. Thanks for the umbrella idea. I've been thinking about it but didn't realized it could make that much difference. Do you feed at all?
Jay Miller I do feed. Using bug bites and Omega One freshwater flakes 2x/day. But for the very young fry I don’t add anything. I was shocked at how well they do after hatching on just the algae and microorganisms on the plants. So no infusoria or baby brine or anything needed. I was worried about that. My fish seem always hungry and greedily eat. Also I notice no real bugs or mosquito larvae for them to eat from the water. So I need to feed.
Spotted a few WCMM fry in my greenhouse tub just a couple of days back. The temperature peaks are similar to those you are experiencing but maybe only for an hour or two while the sun shines directly on it. I have some lava rock in the 75 litre tub with various anchored and floating plants. Mine are also very skittish and the fry I did spot have since disappeared. There are plenty of places to hide so hopefully still in there somewhere. Have seen the spawning mop being used in the early morning. Stick in there.
Fingers crossed for your fry. Thanks for the encouragement.