Outdoor Harlequin Rasbora Breeding

[fishstixs05]

I have an extra 20 gallon sitting around, and I was wondering, couldnt I put it outside and breed my harlequin rasboras? I have heard of several cases where people keep tropical fish outdoors in the summer to breed them. However I am not completely clear on the subject.

1) Should I use a heater to mantain the temperature? I live close to Sacramento where it is constanlty hot in the summer, so not much chanch of it getting too cold. However, would a heater keep the fish happier at a constant temp, or will these variations trigger spawning.

2) Keep the babies outside? I realize that natrally occuring food is one of the reasons people keep babies outside, but does that outway any flucuations that could occur?

3) Shade? Should I keep the tank in the shade where it is still warm, have it hit direct sunlight, or what.

4) The rasboras are currently in a community 29 gallon, and there are about 8 of them. I can see I have both males and females (larger females with rounder bellies). What are reccomendations on sex ratios, as well as prompting them to breed. I have seen that they naturally breed on the underside of broadleaved plants, so I was thinking of putting a single amazon swordplant in the tank. How does that sound?

5) What filtration would be best? I realize that if I keep the babies in the tank I will use a sponge filter, but if a just have the parents out there and remove the eggs, would a HOB or sponge work better for them.

5) Lastly, any other advice, personal experiance to give.

Thank you very much for any advice.

[Endgame319]

Breeding them outside is a BAD idea. In california, the outside temperatures get MUCH to hot for fish. And direct sunlight will promote major algae growth. Your best bet would be to do some research and figure out what the conditions need to be like to breed.

[fishstixs05]

Wha? I am a little confused by what you said. I have goldfish, coolwater fish, out side, and it is not too hot for them. Why would it be that way for tropical fish?

[RogerMcAllen]

Fish, I would say it should work. Put a tank outside, put a thermometer in, and see what happens. I would do a small heater just in case to make sure it doesn't dip too low at night. I would say that a shady spot would be your best bet. Algae would actually be pretty good as a food source I would imagine, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Maillis]

A 20 gallon tank will heat up a lot quicker and get hotter than an outdoor pond due to the huge difference in volume. Place the tank outdoors in a shady spot and see how hot it gets, if it doesn't go over 82 degrees you should be ok.