Would You?

[rickztahone]

I have an outdoor pool on my balcony. I have discus in it. It is heated slightly. They seem to fine in the outdoor conditions. I have brought them into tanks inside when it got cool this winter. I do live in Miami Beach. I have even raised Bettas in this outdoor pool as if they were in the wild. Some shredded fins but it worked. I planted mangrove seeds in some soil and they grew into small trees.

That's pretty cool. Got pics?

[Rudustin]

I'm away for the weekend but I'll try to take some pics when I get home.

[Ryan]

In regards to outdoor ponds and discus I wonder how it would affect their colors. I've seen people put some decent yet drab looking cichlids outdoors for the summer and their colors just explode. Not sure if its the sunlight, different foods (algae, larva, etc) in the water or what but it seems to have an effect from what I can see. Anyone with a pond notice this? I'm just going by posts I've seen. Would be interesting to find out how a discus would do in a pond down in FL or similar climate. Pond meaning backyard tub type not like stocking a native body.

I think it's a combination of the sunlight and the natural foods they get. Several of the cichlid dealers here raise all their fish in concrete vats in greenhouses. Their colors are incredible. They do this for everything -- Africans, Central and South Americans (including angels), etc. I've been contemplating a few of those vats to raise cichlid fry outdoors.

For those who've been around for several years, you may remember that a previous moderator named Beth used an abandoned above-ground pool at her house to grow out angelfish in the summer. I think she also tried some discus fry. The angels looked pretty good at the end of the summer. Sadly I found the thread a while back but the attachments were gone.

Having said that, stocking them in ponds or any other natural body of water (or any container which might be flooded allowing them to escape, for instance) is a terrible idea. In the very cold states most neotropical cichlids probably couldn't stand the winter, but I'm in Florida where invasive species are everywhere and they're well established. They are a real issue.