Pond Raised Guppies

[seannx]

I bought a couple of male and twice that number of female guppies in the spring. It was fun to see the babies, but there were more and more of them, and too many of them for my tank. My landlady set up an outdoor pond, about 10’x10’. It has a bunch of goldfish, the kind that look like small koi, fathead minnows, and a few rainbow cloud fish.
After checking that the temperature was 65 degrees, late this spring I moved some of the mature adults and babies to the pond. After a few weeks, the babies there were twice the size of the ones still in the tank, so I moved all of them over. They have thrived and continued to breed, and the males are beautiful, many with bright neon blue color. It’s so great to see them swimming free in the pond.
Where I live in CA, daytime temps usually go from low of to 50-90 or higher, and they have thrived. In the winter, the average pond temperature will probably go down to 45-55 degrees. My plan is to catch as many as I can this weekend, and take them to my local store.
Doubt I will be able to catch them all, and am wondering if they could possibly over winter.
Would appreciate any thoughts and advice. I’m not planning to put any back in my tank. It’s now mostly cherry shrimp, and I don’t want to increase the bio load.

 

[Colin_T]

They should be able to live outdoors all year round in California. We have them outdoors all year in Perth and it's a bit cooler than where you are.

If you are concerned, grab a few nice ones and bring them indoors for winter. If the ones in the pond die, you can put the nice ones into the pond in spring. But I think they will be fine.

 

[Sgooosh]

They should be able to live outdoors all year round in California. We have them outdoors all year in Perth and it's a bit cooler than where you are.

If you are concerned, grab a few nice ones and bring them indoors for winter. If the ones in the pond die, you can put the nice ones into the pond in spring. But I think they will be fine.

I bought a couple of male and twice that number of female guppies in the spring. It was fun to see the babies, but there were more and more of them, and too many of them for my tank. My landlady set up an outdoor pond, about 10’x10’. It has a bunch of goldfish, the kind that look like small koi, fathead minnows, and a few rainbow cloud fish.
After checking that the temperature was 65 degrees, late this spring I moved some of the mature adults and babies to the pond. After a few weeks, the babies there were twice the size of the ones still in the tank, so I moved all of them over. They have thrived and continued to breed, and the males are beautiful, many with bright neon blue color. It’s so great to see them swimming free in the pond.
Where I live in CA, daytime temps usually go from low of to 50-90 or higher, and they have thrived. In the winter, the average pond temperature will probably go down to 45-55 degrees. My plan is to catch as many as I can this weekend, and take them to my local store.
Doubt I will be able to catch them all, and am wondering if they could possibly over winter.
Would appreciate any thoughts and advice. I’m not planning to put any back in my tank. It’s now mostly cherry shrimp, and I don’t want to increase the bio load.

I have kept Gambusia Affinis in california, very similar to guppies. they can survive some pretty extreme stuff. I use an umbrella to protect the guppies from heat, and might cover the pond when it is too cold.
at where i am, the frost is less than a week, so if you are concerned, you can scoop them into a bucket inside, and keep them for a few days, and put them back