Baby Fish: When to Put into Pond

Hi, Ponders...

The baby fish that were hatched the third week of July are STILL on my
kitchen countertop in a large rubbermaid container with just an airstone.
The ranks have thinned a bit (down to 13 from original 18), and the largest
is a bit over an inch long. The smallest is about 3/4". We have used only
pond water for their habitat, and it is only this week that they have
graduated from pureed brine shrimp to flake food.

I live in zone 5b; our daytime temps have averaged about 55 and nighttime in
a range of about 37-50. Pond inhabitants are three sarassa comets of about
6-7", and a goldfish of about the same length. When the heck can I put
these babies into the pond and get them out of the kitchen? Please tell me
that I can still do it!

Should I mention that the resident cats have started to show an interest in
the baby tank?

NJ

You can put them out in the pond now, but I would like to see the
temperature lowered on them slowly, a couple of degrees a day until they are
within about 3 or 4 degrees of the pond. You can probably do this by
putting them outside with an aquarium heater. I moved about 10 of my baby
koi to the smaller of my two ponds about a month ago. Haven't seen them
since. Since they were small enough to have names like lunch and snack, I
expect they are hiding real good until next spring. You may lose a few to
the big ones, but I think they are big enough to fend for themselves. They
will eat the algae and the little bugs that live in the algae and grow
faster in the pond than they do in the kitchen.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"NJ" wrote in message
...


Hi, Ponders...

The baby fish that were hatched the third week of July are STILL on my
kitchen countertop in a large rubbermaid container with just an airstone.
The ranks have thinned a bit (down to 13 from original 18), and the
largest
is a bit over an inch long. The smallest is about 3/4". We have used
only
pond water for their habitat, and it is only this week that they have
graduated from pureed brine shrimp to flake food.

I live in zone 5b; our daytime temps have averaged about 55 and nighttime
in
a range of about 37-50. Pond inhabitants are three sarassa comets of
about
6-7", and a goldfish of about the same length. When the heck can I put
these babies into the pond and get them out of the kitchen? Please tell
me
that I can still do it!

Should I mention that the resident cats have started to show an interest
in
the baby tank?

NJ