S. American Cichlids survived freeze

[Reefmonkey]

Well, a few weeks ago Houston got one of its rare freezes, probably the only one we will have this winter. Since my pond is only about 6 months old, I was worried about how the fish would fare. I have a 100 gallon pond with 1 green terror, 2 green severums, 2 jack dempseys, and 8 buenos aires tetras. They all survived the freeze, and two weeks after temps came back up, all look as healthy and active as can be.

I kept the temps warm with a 400 watt heater and a floating blanket I made with double-layer bubblewrap.

Seems so far the experiment of having a fully tropical outdoor pond in subtropical SE Texas is a success. I am amazed at how much all the fish have grown, and how vibrant their colors are - especially the green terror. I have seen big ones with pretty colors in stores before, but none like mine. Some combination of real sunlight, fresh air, maybe live food getting in when I don't see must really make the difference between pond-raised and tank-raised fish.

 

[WaterPond]

do you ave any pics. I'd like to see this pond.

Glad all the fish survived

 

[crazyred]

Man, that is SO awesome!! I'm thinking about doing a outdoor tropical pond down here in Harlingen (just 6 hours south of you in Houston). That is good news!! It doesn't really freeze down here except every so often. Our lowest temp this year has been 35f, but I wondered.

I want to do our native Texas cichlids from our lovely Rio Grande River. It's about 5 miles from my house.

I'm glad your fish did well, and, yes, please throw up some piccies.

 

[Reefmonkey]

These are some old pictures, I have done a lot of landscaping around the pond since then, and the anacharis and amazon sword have really thrived, plus the fish are a lot bigger, since these pics were taken. I also plan to do some upgrading in April - a new canister filter, a skimmer, and a waterfall.

The rio grande cichlid should do fine - they are tolerant to water temps down to the 40s, so even more hardy than my tropicals. We even have breeding populations of ones that have been let go in the lakes, creeks, and bayous around Houston.

http://pets.webshots.com/album/555047506Mzhnbk