Outdoor guppies

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

Anybody breeding guppies outdoors year round? I get that it's not possible in some areas, but there must be places outside of south Florida that are possible. I've been keeping guppies in my outdoor pond for about 2 years. It's not heated, and it gets down into the 40's at the coldest here (inland empire southern california). They seems to be doing fine. I also have a 55 gal drum full of water that I soak hypertufa in. It's in the blazing sun and they seems to be doing great. It's full of green water and never seems to have mosquito larvae. These particular guppies have been there since April. Hoping to see if they make it through the winter. They are all from the same group (a batch of wild type looking guppies that were bought originally as feeders).

[Fish Folk]

On 7/7/2021 at 9:13 PM, Expectorating_Aubergine said:

Anybody breeding guppies outdoors year round? I get that it's not possible in some areas, but there must be places outside of south Florida that are possible. I've been keeping guppies in my outdoor pond for about 2 years. It's not heated, and it gets down into the 40's at the coldest here (inland empire southern california). They seems to be doing fine. I also have a 55 gal drum full of water that I soak hypertufa in. It's in the blazing sun and they seems to be doing great. It's full of green water and never seems to have mosquito larvae. These particular guppies have been there since April. Hoping to see if they make it through the winter. They are all from the same group (a batch of wild type looking guppies that were bought originally as feeders).

We’re trying here for the summer in western Maryland. Lost a bunch to a cold snap a month ago, and another die off during a hot spell. Got some tips recently about muting direct sunlight with a lattice overhead, and adding small clip-on fans for daylight.

[Guppysnail]

If you could get sunnies and minnows from a stream or lake near you they would be already acclimated to the temps. I know there are some gorgeous small sunfish near me gold brown with sky blue fins I would love to keep. 

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

Unfortunately it is quite illegal to move fish around here in Southern California. Most of the natives are protected, anyways. Pretty sure we don't have any native sunfish here anyways. In regards to muting the sunlight, I actually would rather not. I've been trialing these guys in less than ideal situations to see if with time I can get a tougher guppy. I don't particularly care for pretty fins or any of that stuff. I figure it is something that I can do passively (I just put them out there and keep the water topped off. I don't do anything else aside from that). 

Edited July 8, 2021 by Expectorating_Aubergine