GoldfishAttentionSpan
Fishaholic
Also posted in the oscar section, but I haven't been getting any responses. 
I am setting up a pond that is 3 feet deep and 5 feet across (its a circular pond). From my rough math, I think thats about 860 gallons, but feel free to correct me because math certainly isn't my strong point!
I am in north Florida, about 100 miles north of the freeze line. It dosen't get very cold very often here, but once or twice in the winter, it does get pretty cold. It would be easy enough to put a piece of plywood over the pond for the nights it gets really cold- would that keep the fish warm enough? (Seems silly to me, but thats what someone suggested...) There is a greenhouse where I could set up a temporary tank for them when it was going to get really cold, but the greenhouse isn't heated- it would just keep the wind off of them, basically.
I would love to have a pond of oscars, and a sailfin pleco. Maybe other fish, but oscars are my first choice.
I know oscars sometimes (usually?) fight, but I think I remember reading a thread about a pond that was stocked with oscars, and seemed to do ok. Could I stock with oscars? If so, how many? It would be cool to have one of each color type.
I am planning for the pond to be airiated (sp?) but not filtered- not sure if that would work, especially with messy fish like oscars and plecos. I am also planning to do one water change a month, changing half of the water each time. Its a long story, but water changes will be a PITA and I cannot do them more often than that. (Stupid sulfur water- I will have to shut the water off and change the head of the water fountain to connect a hose, and all that.) I am going to put sand on the bottom, and add rocks to make it more interesting.
Would this work? With reading around, right now I am thinking of about 6-7 oscars to spread aggression, and one sailfin pleco, but would I be ok without a filter?
Suggestions are appreciated, and a reality check would be accepted if one is in order.
I am setting up a pond that is 3 feet deep and 5 feet across (its a circular pond). From my rough math, I think thats about 860 gallons, but feel free to correct me because math certainly isn't my strong point!
I am in north Florida, about 100 miles north of the freeze line. It dosen't get very cold very often here, but once or twice in the winter, it does get pretty cold. It would be easy enough to put a piece of plywood over the pond for the nights it gets really cold- would that keep the fish warm enough? (Seems silly to me, but thats what someone suggested...) There is a greenhouse where I could set up a temporary tank for them when it was going to get really cold, but the greenhouse isn't heated- it would just keep the wind off of them, basically.
I would love to have a pond of oscars, and a sailfin pleco. Maybe other fish, but oscars are my first choice.
I know oscars sometimes (usually?) fight, but I think I remember reading a thread about a pond that was stocked with oscars, and seemed to do ok. Could I stock with oscars? If so, how many? It would be cool to have one of each color type.
I am planning for the pond to be airiated (sp?) but not filtered- not sure if that would work, especially with messy fish like oscars and plecos.
I am also planning to do one water change a month, changing half of the water each time. Its a long story, but water changes will be a PITA and I cannot do them more often than that. (Stupid sulfur water- I will have to shut the water off and change the head of the water fountain to connect a hose, and all that.) I am going to put sand on the bottom, and add rocks to make it more interesting.Would this work? With reading around, right now I am thinking of about 6-7 oscars to spread aggression, and one sailfin pleco, but would I be ok without a filter?
Suggestions are appreciated, and a reality check would be accepted if one is in order.
