fish besides koi or goldfish for pond

[Kat]

What other kinds of fish could I put in my lily ponds? It would need to survive the cold of the winter & heat of the summer, live in 300 gallons of water, & not multiply like crazy. Something that isn't going to chomp on the plants. Something that is big enough to see but doesn't get much larger than about 3", doesn't have to have a bunch of buddies to be happy. Already tried gambusia & they are way to prolific & too small. Looking for the impossible, LOL? Any suggestions? Thanks.

The heron is driving me crazy, so maybe if I stocked only 3 not so easily seen fish per pond it would just stop coming. Basically they'd be for bug & mosquito control.

[JMatthew]

Plecos - or move to Florida...

The San Antonio Zoo seems to be doing good with all those Africans outside with thew Hippos. I know it's warmer there, but I'm still a little surprised. Does it have to do with the larger body of water, too?

[donkey]

I think your dreaming of a fish that does not exist.Plecos can't survive winter JMATT.Kat have you ever tried axolotls ?I know they like cold water but not sure if they can handle winter temps.Ours eat bloodworms so I am thinking they would probably eat mesquitos

[alta678]

I wouldn't be messing with ANY body of water with hippos in it!! Those things are MEAN!!!! roflmaoroflmaoroflmao

[Kat]

Thanks for the input. Was hoping there would be some kind of small native fish I could put in the ponds.

[ilicurtisili]

i would think fish from a pond or creek would be fine in a pond.

[alta678]

Common Plecostomus DO survive. They are now considered a nuisance fish in Texas waters. You might call Dane at Rift 2 Reef. I know he is familiar with some of the local ponds.

[Kat]

Not sure a pleco would take care of the mosquito larvae & water bugs. As for fish from a creek, some of them may require a constant flow of water which I don't have in my ponds.

Thanks for the info Sue.

[donkey]

Plecos have always died in the winter in my ponds

[AndrewH]

Native would be the way to go... all are cold water, and all are used to Texas conditions.

Tons to chose from... minnows, chad, drum, carp, perch, catfish, etc. Of course some of the options will out grow the smaller backyard ponds, but you can release them back to the wild and start again.

[alta678]

Minnows should eat the mosquito larve, right? When you are done, they could go to the bait shop maybe?

[freakinrican]

Hey Kat,
Dont know if your still looking but I found this looking for something different myself.

http://www.blueridgekoi.com/Other-pond-critters/Hi-Fin-Banded-Shark-p-106.html

When I did a search for Hi-Fin Banded Shark I came up with a different looking fish so IDK if there is a name conflict or just two different types of the same fish..

[robert321]

bluegill, or perch, whatever you want to call it, can be pretty and will survive in a pond, or sunfish, panfish, i can't think of what else people call them, I've had them survive in a water trough and I've never seen them reproduce in captivity.
As for the person that is suggesting shad... roflmaoI've kept gizzard shad in a temperature controlled tank and was able to keep them for a few months, but you'll have heck getting a treadfin shad to eat, if you manage to get them home.