Outdoor pond guppies

[Simi]

I'm going to help my mom with her mini pond this year, I've been doing research (watching ALL of Cory's videos). My  tap water is:

pH: 8.4 (not usually this high, normally runs about 7.6)

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 10

I want to add some guppies for a fun breeding project. My question is: are my water params going to be ok for breeding guppies, and should I add salt to the pond, or any buffering agents? I have some  red tiger lotus I plan to plop in and some duckweed. One of the videos he explained how green water is great for the fish, but I can't convince my mom of this. 

[Yanni]

Guppies would definitely do great! I would try some water hyacinth or water lettuce instead of duckweed. I don't think any salt or buffering agents would be needed. If your water is soft, definitely try adding some crushed coral. The guppies would produce even without the green water. As long as you feed everything really well, you should have babies in no time. 

[Fish Folk]

4 minutes ago, Simi said:

I want to add some guppies for a fun breeding project. My question is: are my water params going to be ok for breeding guppies, and should I add salt to the pond, or any buffering agents? I have some  red tiger lotus I plan to plop in and some duckweed. One of the videos he explained how green water is great for the fish, but I can't convince my mom of this. 

What we did last year was set up a large sponge filter in our African Cichlid tank, and let it get “primed” with a good colony of Bacteria. Then we used tank water with that to kick off the tub in its cycle. We got about 6-8 x mixed guppies, and quarantined them — treated with the med trio (Ich-X, Erythromycin, API General Cure). Then, once the tub was cycled enough and over night temps stayed above 60-degrees Fahrenheit, we added them. We fed daily 1-2x times. At the end of the summer, we had 75 x lovely “mutt-guppies” of various colors. Here are a couple videos:

 

[Simi]

I forgot, I live in North Alabama, so summer temps get really high. My main concern was my water. I've heard Cory say that guppies like really hard water. I checked my city's water quality report: 

not sure if this is helpful, or overkill...lol. and the tap water had only 67 TDS.

 

[Simi]

2 hours ago, Yanni said:

Guppies would definitely do great! I would try some water hyacinth or water lettuce instead of duckweed. I don't think any salt or buffering agents would be needed. If your water is soft, definitely try adding some crushed coral. The guppies would produce even without the green water. As long as you feed everything really well, you should have babies in no time. 

 

[Simi]

I have the Ziss Brine Shrimp hatchery kit (LOVE IT!) I have some psuedomugil gertrudae in a couple tanks, and they won't eat anything but BBS, I also have 6 angelfish, 2 are a breeding pair, so their tank is getting BBS also. I've also started a GIANT bowl for daphnia culturing.

 

[wilkyb]

Keeping some plants at the water surface is important to keep guppies from fin nipping. Java moss, guppy grass, floating carpet seeds, water lettuce, dwarf lotus... 

 

Guppies thrive in harder water. I think a ph above 8.5 will probably have some negative affects in the long run. My potted planter tank has a pH of around 8.0

 

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by wilkyb