Australian Native fish for water bowl

[paddymguire]

Hi,
I have an outdoor water bowl (52 x 30 cm) approx 40 litre that I have planted with a mix of submersible, floating and marginal plants, its been planted for a couple of weeks and the water seems to be staying clean from plant filtration alone so far. I'm waiting on a small solar pump to keep the water moving and aid oxygen absorption. Is there an appropriate small Australian native fish I could add? I am in Newcastle, a warm temperate climate. Ideally id like a frog friendly species that will eat mosquito larvae - but something that's both interesting to look at and will be happy in the environment - which is obviously the most important thing.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our forum!

Very pretty planted bowl.

I don't know fish friendly for your area, but with the size of you water bowl I would stick with some sort of minnow. They would do the best.

 

[Lisak1]

Very pretty! And Welcome!

Like @addy1 I am not an Australian fish expert, but your water bowl definitely requires something tiny like minnows. Are you set on native fish, or would you do some kind of tropical?

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Have you tried doing a Google search?

 

[j.w]

@paddymguire

 

[paddymguire]

Thank you all, yes I've read that Mountain Minnows or Red Minnows are a good option. Ive read a lot of information online, a lot of it is conflicting, We have a big temperature range here, summers can get to 40c and winters can be 4c but not to freezing. One article I read suggested varieties of both Australian Rainbowfish or Pacific Blue eyes would suit - but I was hoping to hear some first-hand experiences with them. Thanks for all the welcomes and comments.

 

[JamieB]

We have a few ausie members, but I think most are Americans or Europeans , I’ve seen maybe 5 ausies. Read through older introductions, you might be able to find a few that are more established in ponds that just might be in your area, and you might find some are fairly close!

 

[Pondworks]

Australian Natives, Pacific Blue Eyes should do ok in your area (Pseudomugil signifer) they can sometimes be a little difficult to source from shops as they are very much seasonally available

 

[linchpin]

Honey Blue eyes if you can source some.

 

[Pharian]

I'm in Sydney and have done this same sort of research. Counterintuitively, things like mountain clouds and tiny natives need a surprising amount of space to survive.

From what I have read the old hardy Comet goldfish goes best in smaller bowls like that because they need the least amount of space to be happy in terms of air, of pretty much any aquarium fish. If you go to a few fish shops you will find some really small ones (smaller the better in that size bowl). They're not very exotic, but they will be OK in a small bowl (comparatively).

 

[pebbleoz]

Hi,
I have an outdoor water bowl (52 x 30 cm) approx 40 litre that I have planted with a mix of submersible, floating and marginal plants, its been planted for a couple of weeks and the water seems to be staying clean from plant filtration alone so far. I'm waiting on a small solar pump to keep the water moving and aid oxygen absorption. Is there an appropriate small Australian native fish I could add? I am in Newcastle, a warm temperate climate. Ideally id like a frog friendly species that will eat mosquito larvae - but something that's both interesting to look at and will be happy in the environment - which is obviously the most important thing.

What you need are Australian Native Rainbow fish.
They are small and very quick moving. They also breed easily although they may not in your little pond.
They don’t eat frog eggs but they do eat mosquito larvae.
We do not feed ours.
You have a fabulous retailer (wholesaler too) near you “Wallis Creek Water garden” who sell native rainbows and Waterplants all of which will be aclimatised for you.
We live on the South Coast of NSW and the rainbow fish are fabulous except for the fact that the first generation are shy. They move too fast for the Kookaburras so their number don’t get decimated like goldfish in an outdoor pond.

I see the OP hasn’t been active for a while but this info might help others.

 

[JamieB]

I'm in Sydney and have done this same sort of research. Counterintuitively, things like mountain clouds and tiny natives need a surprising amount of space to survive.

From what I have read the old hardy Comet goldfish goes best in smaller bowls like that because they need the least amount of space to be happy in terms of air, of pretty much any aquarium fish. If you go to a few fish shops you will find some really small ones (smaller the better in that size bowl). They're not very exotic, but they will be OK in a small bowl (comparatively).

Comment goldfish grow, and I don’t know the calculations for litters to gallons, but I’m thinking 2 ltrs roughly equal a gallon, so no, not enough. I’d try a betta first, and bring it in when temps are expected to be lower than they like.
Just a bit of info if someone else reads this for advice.

 

[Pharian]

What you need are Australian Native Rainbow fish.
They are small and very quick moving. They also breed easily although they may not in your little pond.
They don’t eat frog eggs but they do eat mosquito larvae.
We do not feed ours.
You have a fabulous retailer (wholesaler too) near you “Wallis Creek Water garden” who sell native rainbows and Waterplants all of which will be aclimatised for you.
We live on the South Coast of NSW and the rainbow fish are fabulous except for the fact that the first generation are shy. They move too fast for the Kookaburras so their number don’t get decimated like goldfish in an outdoor pond.

I see the OP hasn’t been active for a while but this info might help others.

OOh nice. That place is amazing. I've just finished building my pond and might need to go for a bit of a drive up there soon.

NOTE: That on more investigation my comments about Comet's needing little space are 100% wrong. Unfortunately, I can't delete the post but anyone reading it please ignore my previous comment about Comet's. I was 100% incorrect.

 

[pebbleoz]

OOh nice. That place is amazing. I've just finished building my pond and might need to go for a bit of a drive up there soon.

NOTE: That on more investigation my comments about Comet's needing little space are 100% wrong. Unfortunately, I can't delete the post but anyone reading it please ignore my previous comment about Comet's. I was 100% incorrect.

They are so nice there. I bought 6 fish (I counted them) and by the time I got home (It took 10 days to get home) there were 20. Either they bred in the bucket (40litre bucket aerated) or there was roe in the water or on the weeds he gave us.

In my experience, which is very limited, small comets in a small tank stay small.

Sorry it took so long to reply. I have notifications set to send me an email when I get a reply but it doesn’t work.

 

[mrsclem]

Its a myth that a fish grows to match its environment. If fish stay small in a small container its most likely stunted growth.