My new Cichlid Home

[Lilly_pad]

This is the new home of my cichlids. They have been in there for 3 months for some and 1 month for the others, They range from 1.5 inches to 3 inches. Convicts, Danios, Tiger Barbs, Red Tail Shark, are intended as a dither fish population. The goldfish, mollies, guppies and future rainbows will be intended as a diverse food supply along with the prevalent tad pole poluation in excess of 2000. Plecos and Catfish should be a great garbage disposal system. As it stands the guppies, mollies, and goldfish have thrived to the point of reproducing. A minimum of 1000 goldfish eggs lie at the bottom and several 100 guppy fry use the bog area as refuge. The Koi and fancies were used as starters for the pond and will eventually be thinned out into aquariums ,other ponds, or cichlid treats. There are hyacinths and other plants including a 3 foot by 3 foot anachris forrest for nutrition, algae control, and gas exchange. The bog area is also well stocked with plants. Plenty of pvc piping and shale rock provided in pond floor for territorial establishment, breeding, and shelter. HOME SWEET HOME!!!!

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7000 Gallons, Vortex Filtration system, Florida Outdoor Pond
5 Red Oscars, 2 Green Terrors, 3 Jack Dempseys, 3 Black Convicts, 10 Neon Tetras, 10 GIANT DANIOS, 6 Fancy Guppies, 60 Feeder Guppies, 5 Tiger Barbs, 60 Rosey Minnows, 2 Domestic Koi 6", 6 Fancy Goldfish, 72 Feeder Goldfish, 1 Red Tailed Shark, 3 Plecostomus, 3 Pictus Catfish.

 

[FroggyFox]

Its very pretty....

I've never heard of anyone keeping cichlids in an outdoor pond before, or keeping cichlids with goldfish...my guess is when the oscars and JD's get big enough you wont have anything except a cichlid pond...

 

[FishGeek]

I love the pond but I agree with Froggy. Also how do you see the fish??? How do you know what you still have and what has been killed?? (Not to sound upsetting but I was just wondering.)

 

[Lilly_pad]

The goldfish were starters and as the cichlids get bigger will become a food sources as well... Some of the oscars are showing an interest towards the smaller gf feeders. But their main diet is tadpoles and the ocassional guppy or minnow. Most large aquariums are too small to be able to non traditionally mix fish that would be predatory and neutral in nature. (200 gallon with one oscar and tetras? no wayyyyyy!!!) I believe that 7000 gallons privides just the breathing room for neutral community fish like guppies and tetras and mollies to be out of sight and out of mind of the predators i have in there now. There are plenty of submerged aquatic plants, surface plants like hyacinths, and the bog area is teaming with root systems that even the small cichlids cant get into. Essentially, its a luxury of a habitat. As the schooling oscars go to one side of the pond all the fish respectfully leave the area and congregate somewhere else. As the fish mature and grow i can see more aggressiveness during mating and territorial disputes but even an oscar can only be at one place at one time. Seeing is believing with compatibility of fish. I have seen full grown oscars feeding next to full grown koi. As long as they are well fed, have enough room, and there are plenty of dither fish, and plenty of hiding places, anything is just about possible. After all, im sure a neon tetras zip by oscars in brazil more often than we think.

As far as enjoying them in a pond... its not the same as looking at an aquarium. But the pond isnt for me to enjoy them... Its for the fish to enjoy themselves. They wont be dumped into lakes once they get too big. Green terrors have made their homes in the bog area. The oscars usually hang out in the anachris forrest deep below. The other fish have plenty of shale rock and pvc piping to make a home or hide under the roots of water plats etc. I can see a quarter and tell what side is up and turbidity or clarity is put in check by the 15000 gallon rated vortex system. So long there isnt a reflection issue with the sun during high noon I can see just fine.

Florida has the biggest number of outdoor breeders in the USA. The climate here cant get any better to raise cichlids.. We are right there with central american in temperatures.

HOME SWEET HOME!!!

 

[kda2011]

Its beautiful! I love the rocks... Is the water that dark or is it from the picture?

 

[Lilly_pad]

Its dark because its a black bottom pond at the time of the pic. There are river rock at the bottom now like what you see in the bog helping to contrast the fish well.

Whats funny is that my food supply is endless. Last night i heard the frogs yapping to each other again for the third time in a month and sure enough this morning i found frog eggs in the bog. Amazing dragon flies and water bugs have been slowly moving into the new backyard habitat. Birds will be next im sure. I allready have the humming bird feeders in place in anticipation. *thumbsups

 

[FroggyFox]

Hey for the geekie ones could you give us the dimensions etc? I'm having a hard time finding 7000 gallons in that picture....

I know I'd love some fish pics too...you should check out some of the underwater ones that Steve has done in his pond!

 

[svetlana]

Is it heated? What about winter?
Looking great!
What capacity?

 

[Panther28]

I am not buying it. What is the use of keeping cichlids and other fish if you cant see them interact. only seeing them from top will not do it for me. Looks nice though. I think there is something fishy going on!!!

 

[Lilly_pad]

You dont have to get it! Its not for you to get... but I would say that the cichlids in there get it. You cant stick your nose up the glass and look at an oscars butt. Or watch an guppy stick his gonopodium you know where. I would say that you can walk up to it, and enjoy them doing their thing. Oscars hang out in the anachris and you can see em chasing the goldfish up and down. The Green Terrors hang out in the bog mostly picking at tadpoles from their shale rock and pvc homes. Its hardly ever at a downward angle. I can see em just fine. You wont get all the angles and you wont get all the nuances. Again, its not for anyone to get. Its for the fish! You honestly think an oscar in a 100 gallon can be happier when it can have 7000 with an natural environment very similar to its own and plenty of space to grow and actually develop a social aspect with its other mates and not feel that any pond neighbor is a threat like even big tanks like 100 gallon tanks provoke? Thats why you can have just an oscar and maybe a couple of pacus. But then god help the pacus when they can grow to 3 feet!!! 100 gallons is big for keeping the fish healthy and physically able. 7000 gallons provides social interactivity, room to breath, real world growing rates. If you can get that at the very least... then maybe you see where I'm going. Any animal does much better in a habitat environment vs a caged environment.

 

[Pure]

Your pond is a cage. I'm having a very hard time seeing 7000 gals there. Give up the dimensions. I'm guessing 12 ft by 4 ft at the wide end??

Edit: did some math. With those number you do still have a nice sized pond. close to 400 gals if it is 2 ft deep. But with your stocking level any way you look at it I can forsee nothing but trouble with this set up.

 

[svetlana]

Any animal does much better in a habitat environment vs a caged environment.

I do not criticize your habitat by any means. It is beautiful and if it works out it is just absolutely fantastically great. But as old admirer of Gerald Darrell (famous conservationalist and a great writer) I just disagree with this one your sentence

 

[svetlana]

Clarification: lots of animals are doing much greater in caged environment - removed from predators and diseases - most wild animals would not exchange their luxurious caged existence for a wild life experience.
Enough to see their painful and humiliating deaths from competition with peers or from pressure to be always on alert letting alone ending up slowly digested by some guy up on the food chain.
Again: your project is looking pretty great there is no critique of your particular project. Just allow for some scepticism do not overeact.

 

[Lilly_pad]

no criticism taken what so ever... Just like I was saying though.. the pond is not for my benefit its for the Cichlids benefit. Whether I can see em fine like an aquarium is not my concern.. Dimensions. 5 foot deep. 18 wide at the thickest. And 24 feet long. Some of those shale stones are more than a foot long. The fences are 8 foot sections.. and it takes up exactly 3 of the sections in length for markers or reference. An 18 foot kiddie pool with 4 feet depth is approx 5000+ gallons. The pond is considerably bigger than that. The large section is 15 x 18 feet. 7000 gallons do able now?

Do monkeys in cages do better than monkeys in an open expansive environment? (didnt mean their natural origin) What i was implying was that if you hold an elephant in a 100foot by 100 foot enclosure is not going to do as well as a 10 acre refuge with other elephants and other animals that are found naturally. 7000 gallons vs 100 gallon fish tank is allows me to hold 5 oscars and other cichlids and tropical fish. One lonely Male Red devil cant even tolerate a suitable mate in a 100 gallon tank with out killing her in most cases.

 

[Orion]

Lily_pad: I don't think anyone is really tring to argue with you. The photo doesn't do the pond justice, and doesn't look anywhere near the measurements you gave.

5 foot deep. 18 wide at the thickest. And 24 feet long.

Wow. Yeah, I can see many fish being able to live in this sucker for a while. Sounds like an awesome experiment. I'm sure that's going to bring you lots of happyness. Just a thought I had, from the way you have been talking it sounds as if you hadn't thought about, or wasn't going to feed the cichlids any food other then the feeders. I don't belive that this is going to be good for their long term health. While 7000 is a lot of water, the feeder fish still aren't going to be able to find as much to eat with all the proper nutrition as they would in the wild. If they aren't that healthy from food, then the cichlids that eat them will also suffer from lack of all the proper nutrients and stuff that they need too. This is just me, but I would either gut load the feeders, or more idealy feed all the fish a supliment of prepared food to help keep them all healthy.

Can we get some more photos???

 

[Pure]

Wow that is big. Sorry I was looking at the fence thinking it was in 4ft maybe 6ft sections.

One question..how old are the big cichlids?

Back with the math. Rough estamate..man that shape makes it tricky.
Tank Capacity:
Litres: 27184.2
US Gal: 7182.1
UK Gal: 5980.5

 

[Lilly_pad]

I dont think anyone is trying to argue with me what so ever. Im just addressing concerns, doubts, and questions as best I can. No more, no less!
Well guppies goldfish mollies rainbows and tadpoles are the main source of food. Oscars were 1 inch when I got them... They are now 3 inches and 1 inch wide. There is plenty of plants and algae to provide nutrition for all plant eaters like mollies and the comets. The feeders are fed flakes and goldfish food and Im sure they that all fish have access to it. Hundreds of fry provide valuable nutrition for smaller fish like minnows and guppies. Nutrition is probably the least of their worries. I have cichlid pellets on the ready to round off nutritional aspects but so far... they dont need the supplement. As tadpole populations dwindle over the winter more Pellet food will be introduced. Dont forget endless populations of mosquito and other insects and their larvae that are attracted to the pond provide more supplements as well. Its an outdoor pond, not a indoor quaranteened from nature.

Math got better and closre I see. lol yes its tricky but you do see that 7000 is feasible.

 

[UP UP AND GUPPY]

Just to ask is your pond heated for your cichlids? Also we want more pics, it is so kool looking.