Keeping Tropical Fish in Ponds

When you have a fish pond, not all methods that work well for an indoor aquarium will work for the outdoors. You need to make exceptions to the different environment your tropical fish are now in.

Feeding Tropical Fish in Ponds

You are most likely accustomed to feeding your tropical fish in an aquarium two to three times a week or even daily. When they are moved to an outside environment, things can change very dramatically.

Bugs and other insects will make their home near and around your pond, which will provide the fish with a fresh, natural source of food. This will eliminate the need to feed protein supplements to your fish.

You may be apt to keep more tropical fish in your outdoor pond than you would in an aquarium so you have to remember to increase the quantity of fish flake food or pellets and perhaps increase the frequency of feeding times.

Heating Your Pond

The temperature in an outdoor environment is not as regulated as your indoor aquarium. If you live in an area where the outside temperature goes up and down, you need to install a pond heater in order to avoid drastic fluctuations. Many tropical fish are accustomed to warm water that remains at a steady temperature and the fish will get sick if you don’t regulate it

A heavy duty pond heater will be needed for the cold weather if you wish to use the pond year round. Unlike Koi that hibernate at the bottom of the pond, this is not done by tropical fish. An alternative is to transfer the tropical fish to indoor aquariums until the warm weather returns.

Keeping Your Tropical Fish Safe in a Pond

There are a lot of creatures in nature that lurk around ponds because they know the fish are a source of food for them. Cats, squirrels, raccoons, and birds can be very problematic. There are devices you can buy to safely scare away attackers from ponds.

You could install floating decoys such as an alligator’s head or a predatory bird. There are water spraying devices that are activated by motion sensors, though this doesn’t seem to work for birds. Another idea is to lay pond netting over the surface of the water.

If you fertilize or spray your garden and lawn, be sure to use safe and natural compounds. Run-off from poisonous chemicals can destroy your pond and fish.

It is a good idea to have lots of hiding places such as rock caves or areas of thick plants. This allows fish to have a place of refuge in case there are some more aggressive species or a hideout for newborn fish.

Suggested Fish for a Pond

Catfish do well in a pond and are good scavengers for leftover food.

Other recommended tropical fish species for ponds are:

• Zebra Danios
• Silver Dollars
• Guppies
• Archer Fish
• White Cloud Mountain Minnows
• Paradise Fish
• Rosy Barbs
• Lace Gouramies
• Cardinal Tetras