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Fish that you can put in your water trays?

I found this fish on a CP website and here is what it said.

Eastern Mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki-6 fish. This is an excellent control for mosquitoes in your carnivorous plant water beds, pools, tanks or trays. They are live-bears like guppies, and are prolific breeders. They are native to the eastern US and are cold hard, surviving eastern winters. Fish should not be introduced into non-native waters. Shipping is best in spring and fall.

Is this true? If so i would like to try it out but first i need to hear from you guys and grirls on if i should try it or not. Google the species then see how to care for it then tell me what you think sounds like a great idea to me but i don't want the fish to die.
 
depends on the water levels in your trays......most of mine are allowed to dry out occasionally....ive got a betta living in a similar situation in a vivarium......footprint is 18"x18" and the water is bout 3 inches deep or so.....
 
My biggest trays are 15" x 11 1/2" x 3 1/4". Would two of those sized trays be enough for six of the fish i want three in one and three in the other and how is your betta doing how do you keep it alive?
 
Definitely need to factor in the water volume, variation in water levels, aeration, etc. Especially in the south, you might end up with some poached fishies on a particularly warm day. (And I'm not talking about illegally collected.)
~Joe
 
I know what you mean thanks for the info and yes if i were to get them i would constantly put water in the trays all the way to the top which is 3 1/2 inches.

---------- Post added at 04:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:26 PM ----------

I think the aeration would be handled by me putting more water in two to three times a week don't you think if that wouldn't work i have a aquarium filter that at the end it puts oxygen in the tank.
 
in theory, it could work.......if you keep the water topped up the main concern is gonna be water temp if the trays see any sun at all.....like guppies these fish can breath atmospheric oxygen so aeration isnt an issue.......
 
Ok thanks Rattler the tray gets sun so the now aeration isn't a issue right? Also what should water temps be at?
 
needs to stay under 95*
 
I can do that but what if it happens (not likley) how can i cool it down?

---------- Post added at 04:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:37 PM ----------

So do you two think i could do this?
 
  • #10
move to shade......

i think its quite possible that it could work......my only possible concern is the water temps, other than that not much different that how my betta is living.....
 
  • #11
Oh nice, are they a type of labyrinth fish? I just kind of glanced at the details before.
I think you could do it, however you can't just dump fish in there and call it good. First off, three fish in each bin is really low - if you lose just one, that's a whole 1/3 of your stock. Also, they breed readily in captivity so even if you do succeed, there will be more than three in there eventually.
You'll need to get trays that are opaque and not translucent in order to prevent heating, and you'll probably need them a little deeper than what you've already described. To be safe I'd suggest having them hooked up to a larger reservoir that's totally shaded to prevent heating by the sun and keep the trays topped off to a minimum low water line. You should do some research on aquaponics (growing crops and fish together) and outdoor fish keeping to get an idea of the tolerances you'll have to maintain and how other people have met those requirements.
~Joe
 
  • #12
I have mosquito fish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquitofish in my pond. No aeration, just top it off every now and then. It is about 2' deep and never dries out. It's in a lot of shade too. You can pick them up at most stores that sells outdoor pond stuff. Water level and temp. might still be an issue with this fish.
 
  • #13
I found this fish on a CP website and here is what it said.

Eastern Mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki-6 fish. This is an excellent control for mosquitoes in your carnivorous plant water beds, pools, tanks or trays.
...
Is this true?

I read:
http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.php?id=4521

Here is what it says:
> Introduced to many countries for mosquito control, but had rare to
> non-existing effects on mosquitoes

Believe what you want!

The rest is: Teperature 15°C - 35°C, pH range: 6.0 - 8.8

The water in your trays (you will need MUCH water in your trays to keep living fish in it) is very much below pH 6.0?

Your pots are filled with peat based substrate?
How low is pH of your tray water? pH 5.0? pH 4.0?

Your fish would breathe a lot of acids through the gills in the trays, wouldn't they?
 
  • #14
Possibly, if you were to only add water to the tray and not top-water through the pots, the pH might stay in a manageable range, but that's a very good point. I think some preparatory measurements are definitely in order.
~Joe
 
  • #15
i'd be concerned with nitrogen levels getting a bit high from fish waste which would get absorbed by the media.. probably wouldnt be an issue at first, but over extended periods of time, could accumulate.. just a tought
 
  • #16
This is of relevance:
http://www.livingwallart.com/edible-vertical-gardens/aquaponic-vertical-garden-from-inka-biospheric-systems/
inka1.jpg

It's a vertical wall garden system that uses fish waste to fertilize crops. You might be able to keep nitrogen levels down if you filter the water/waste through some sort of fast-growing crop plant before returning it to your CPs. Definitely experimental territory though.
~Joe
 
  • #17
My biggest problem would be with the fish waste and maybe just maybe ph i will have to test it but i need a way to know what to do about the fish waste?
 
  • #18
One option is to empty and clean the trays regularly, and refill them with clean water. Otherwise, you'll need to circulate the water with a pump and find something to filter it - either mechanically like an aquarium filter, or biologically with fast-growing plants that tolerate high nutrient levels.
~Joe
 
  • #19
and even then, it'd be tough to remove all traces of the nutrients in the water which would build up in the media... not sure there's any real way to do it while the fish are in the water that is currently in contact with the media... unless well, you found a way to put diapers on the fish. haha.
 
  • #20
I e-mailed the website and asked if the fish waste would harm the plants and here is what he wrote back and said.

Nice to hear from you.
I've had them in many trays for years, with no troubles. They work great, and have not harmed my plants.
 
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