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Fish ideas for year round outdoor whiskey barrels?


Marden
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Hi there

I am located in San Jose CA and I would like to add fish to my two whiskey barrels I have outside with water lettuce and other plants in them. I have airstones with sponge filters running to an air pump inside the house. Plan is to keep them outdoors year round  

I’m pretty sure I’ll have one with gold mountain minnows. Originally I was just going to put them in both but if there is a recommendation it would be fun to put something else in the other one.

 Thanks!

 

Zack

 

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Most species of danios would work fine. Florida flag fish may do really well for you as long as it doesn't get to hot. Fish like Mollys guppies and sword tails would work. Pygmy sunfish would be cool but you would never see them from the top down. Rice fish are cool. If the water stays warm enough you could have rainbow fish like pseudomugil species they come in different colors and are cool. That's a few that I could think of that might work for you but you will have to make sure it doesn't get to hot or to cold.

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6 minutes ago, Taylor Blake said:

Most species of danios would work fine. Florida flag fish may do really well for you as long as it doesn't get to hot. Fish like Mollys guppies and sword tails would work. Pygmy sunfish would be cool but you would never see them from the top down. Rice fish are cool. If the water stays warm enough you could have rainbow fish like pseudomugil species they come in different colors and are cool. That's a few that I could think of that might work for you but you will have to make sure it doesn't get to hot or to cold.

 

So, curious then, what is too hot or too cold? I have been interested in doing an year round outdoor container and wondered what I would need to do in the summer and winters and what fish could tolerate the seasons. I'm in louisiana, with summer days in the 90s, and winters in the 40s, with one or two below-freezing nights every so often. 

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1 hour ago, StephenP2003 said:

 

So, curious then, what is too hot or too cold? I have been interested in doing an year round outdoor container and wondered what I would need to do in the summer and winters and what fish could tolerate the seasons. I'm in louisiana, with summer days in the 90s, and winters in the 40s, with one or two below-freezing nights every so often. 

I'm in Minnesota and I have heard of people keeping white clouds outside all year. We get days above 100 in the summer and the winters can go below -50 it seems like for them if you can keep the water from freezing solid and keep oxygen in the water when it's hot and out of the sun white clouds are at least ok. For most tropical stuff you are looking to keep the temps between 65-85 but for some of the natives we have in the US they can go from 33-95 so the trick is knowing what you need and when you need it. Rainbow shiners are good tub fish give them a nice planted tub with lots of air flow and try to keep the water temp between 50-75 and they will be happy.In the winter keep the water from freezing over best you can and keep air to it. In the summer keep it out of the sun and up your air if it's really hot. I have 2 tubs next to each other on me deck a 40 Gallon that gets Full sun for 8 hours and it has turtles that gets up to 85 in the day and drops to the mid 60s at night. the other tub I have is a 110 gallon It gets half sun for 8 hours and it stays at about 73 both day and night it will climb to 75 in the day and drop to 70 at just before sun up at its lowest. Both are touching each other on the deck it is only a matter of two feet and volume. The bigger you go the more stable it will be. The first is Not my photo The second is

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Florida flag fish are an option so long as water temp doesn't get under 55.

Paradise fish are also an option, they're surprisingly hardy to a pretty wide range on temperature.  Just don't keep them with tiny fish like white clouds or rice fish because they will eat them. They'll breed in a tub with plants outside pretty easily, at least they did here in Florida, so I'm assuming your temps will be fairly similar.

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