Best fishes for a 100 gallon pond in Florida, USA?

Question

Besides Koi, what is the best type of fish to put in a 100 gallion outside pond in Florida?

The pond would never freeze, and is mostly in the shade so shouldn't get much above 80F

Answer 1

Look at what the lowest temperature in your pond would be. If it will never get lower than 65, you may actually be able to go with some tropical fish. Larger cories (bottom feeders) and female betta (mosquito larvae eaters) have done well in warm water ponds, and I am sure there are larger tropical fish that would be suitable to a pond as well. There are several types of loaches that would be good, but I would check to make sure they are okay to have (some states ban them in ponds because some species can travel on land for short periods and get into waterways). Lyretail mollies are a wonderful fish for ponds. They nibble on green algae all day long, and seem to really take to the pond environment, growing to a nice size with beautiful fins. I'd go with silver lyretails, as dalmation/marbles and black mollies are really difficult to see in a pond setting. Avoid more fragile species of tropical fish, or tropical fish with water requirements that don't match with a pond environment. For example, cichlids would be a really bad idea. And don't mix goldfish or koi with the tropicals (with the exception of some types of loaches) because they won't get along, and at the least, the tropicals will get their fins nipped by the goldfish and koi.

If you want to go with koi or cool water fish, I am actually kind of concerned about the pond reaching 80 degrees or more for cool water fish. If the high temperatures would only be for a short period of time during the day, and a short period during the year, then you could probably go with some koi or goldfish. Not both though, koi need to be by themselves. If your water temp gets below 65, there are still some loaches that you can keep that are cooler water fish (including dojos, but dojos are banned in ponds a lot of places).

Either way, your water will be warm enough to keep a pleco, but I would research getting a more peaceful species that isn't going to start eating your plants and get aggressive as it grows. The last thing you want is a three foot fish devouring all of your beautiful pond plants. A Siamese Algae Eater (not Chinese) might be a good alternative if you can't find a pleco that won't eventually eat your plants.

Answer 2

The tiger barbs cannot live in the outdoor pond, most likely. They require tropical waters, and are best kept in aquariums, not ponds. Your best option is goldfish. Get rid of the tiger barbs or get a tank for them, or they'll just die. They are also very aggressive, and will likely harass most other breeds of fish to death. Goldfish are hardy, cheap and readily available. Choose either the shubunkin or comet variety, as fancy goldfish tend to be weaker when it comes to disease and temperature changes. In a 100 gallon, you can probably have 4-6 comet goldfish if you want them to be very big and healthy, and you can have 10 or so shubunkins as they generally dont get much bigger than half a foot long.

Answer 3

If you don't want to do goldfish, I'd go with something like a goodeid or a mosquitofish. I do like the idea of female bettas, though. There are many breeders that keep their bettas outside in big vats, so as long as you have nothing that's going to predate them, I would go for that!

Koi will get much too big for a 100-gallon pond, so definitely stay away from that direction.

Answer 4

My pond is about 600 gallons.
I have 3 koi. 1 is about 10 inches the other 2 are about 6-8 inches.

My water is perfect quality. I do circulate about 2700 gallons per hour, that helps. I also add Bentonite which really helps the color of the fish.

Photos

http://s72.photobucket.com/albums/i182/RupertPicante/Pond/?sc=3

Answer 5

congrats on your pond, it will bring you much pleasure, they are better than a tranquilizer!
your pond is too small for koi - they need at least 1000 and up
but it is perfect for a few goldfish and some lovely waterlilies
don't put any tropicals in with your goldfish
enjoy your pond

Answer 6

Goldfish, thats what I have in my pond.

Answer 7

I think a bunch of goldfish would be cool

But you still didnt tell me how low temps get