A Pond Full Of Platys

[jennifer615]

Hi I'm Jennifer from Cairns, North Queensland, Australia. We live in a tropical region which is great for our fish. We have a pond and originally bought 5 goldfish which grew very large. About a year ago, I went to a school fete and purchased 3 orange and black spotted platy which I thought were baby goldfish. I put them in our pond and within a month or two there were babies everywhere! Up until recently, I actually thought they were baby goldfish. I got my son a "complete aquarium" and we fished some of them out of the pond. My husband, who used to have tropical fish in the UK said he thought they were platys and we have since had this confirmed. Since then I have got myself a new hobby. I purchased a pair of black mollies and orange swordtails from the petshop and put them in the pond for them to breed. I have ordered blue mickey mouse platys also and a few more black mollies. I have also ordered a breeding net for the fish in the aquarium as a few of the female platys seem to be in the family way. Next I will probably get a couple of pairs of guppies for the pond and aquarium. It's great, I don't have to heat the water of the aquarium and of course they thrive in the pond. Anyway, I will upload some photos of my son's aquarium and our platys.

 

[Gytas]

lucky you with all of the nice weather ..... i live in ireland anyway to the forum

 

[Westwood]

That would be great to have tropical fish out side, all i have outside, is a load of frogs in my pond.

 

[Mothi]

Hi and welcome to the forum Jennifer. Those are some cute platies you got there. Your livebearers must love living in your pond.

Please upload some pictures of you pond for us

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Jennifer. I find that an outdoor pond does wonders for my fish. I set up a tub outdoors each summer and move the contents of one tank out for their summer camp experience. By the time I bring them in during the fall they always seem to look far better than before I put them out. The tub is filtered using a fountain pump with a sponge on the inlet. So far this year it is still too cool but I did harvest some mosquito larvae from it today.

This is my tub in use in a recent year. I keep it in partial shade to prevent the water temperature climbing too high.

 

[algir]

Nice!

 

[jennifer615]

Welcome to the forum Jennifer. I find that an outdoor pond does wonders for my fish. I set up a tub outdoors each summer and move the contents of one tank out for their summer camp experience. By the time I bring them in during the fall they always seem to look far better than before I put them out. The tub is filtered using a fountain pump with a sponge on the inlet. So far this year it is still too cool but I did harvest some mosquito larvae from it today.

This is my tub in use in a recent year. I keep it in partial shade to prevent the water temperature climbing too high.

Wow, what a cool setup. Great for anyone who doesn't actually have a pond. I think fish do like the outdoors, of course if the temperature allows. My fish are thriving in my pond. The mollies and swordtails I purchased a week ago are doing very well. Hopefully they will breed soon. Here are a couple of photos of my pond, and the fish coming up for food.

 

[OldMan47]

I really wish I had the opportunity to place my fish outdoors year around like that Jennifer. Locally, people with deep in-ground ponds can overwinter things like goldfish but that is simply not a fish that I keep.