Pleco fish in ponds - GOOD IDEA?

[Faebinder]

Great advise from everyone! I have a garden/hobby pond with koi and goldfish. I placed one pleco in the pond 2.5 years ago, never saw him so got another 1.5 years ago and never saw this guy either - I thought they had died or something got them. On Saturday I was removing some leaves and somehow caught one of these guys and he is beautiful and about 10 inches long. Since Saturday morning I have seen him each time I've gone to the pond and found his partner late yesterday. I built rock caves in the center of my pond and I guess they've been hiding there but I am shocked that so much time went by without a sighting.
My pond is about 12'x12' and 3.5' in the center - cement and slopes. Apparently these guys do well with the cold winters which is great news. How big do you think they will get? They were about 1.5" when I got them.
I have seven various goldfish, two koi, about 16 babies, two pleco's and four frogs that live here. I'm hoping the frogs stay and survive the winter. I made two winter homes for them, one inside the pond and one outside. I'm open to any ideas and suggestions.

Thank you,
Cathy

Cathy what state are you in? Your definition of cold winter may be different than ours. I can't imagine one living in my pond in PA.

 

[budgenator]

Plecos need water about 50F or warmer, so any place that has a winter that colder than a warmish fall day, needs to have them come in for the winter. They do get pretty big outside (mine grew to about a foot one summer), so moving them in and out isn't practical if all you have is an aquarium.

 

[sissy]

They have a cold hardy algae eater .That is what Tammy had and we were so afraid of hurting it .

 

[cody]

Great advise from everyone! I have a garden/hobby pond with koi and goldfish. I placed one pleco in the pond 2.5 years ago, never saw him so got another 1.5 years ago and never saw this guy either - I thought they had died or something got them. On Saturday I was removing some leaves and somehow caught one of these guys and he is beautiful and about 10 inches long. Since Saturday morning I have seen him each time I've gone to the pond and found his partner late yesterday. I built rock caves in the center of my pond and I guess they've been hiding there but I am shocked that so much time went by without a sighting.
My pond is about 12'x12' and 3.5' in the center - cement and slopes. Apparently these guys do well with the cold winters which is great news. How big do you think they will get? They were about 1.5" when I got them.
I have seven various goldfish, two koi, about 16 babies, two pleco's and four frogs that live here. I'm hoping the frogs stay and survive the winter. I made two winter homes for them, one inside the pond and one outside. I'm open to any ideas and suggestions.

Thank you,
Cathy

Hello Wood_Cat, what is your climate like? I am very curious about your plecos as I have a large pond in Portland, Oregon that I would like to introduce plecos into but I was not sure if they would survive or not. Any info would be great. thanks!!

 

[wood_cat]

Hello Wood_Cat, what is your climate like? I am very curious about your plecos as I have a large pond in Portland, Oregon that I would like to introduce plecos into but I was not sure if they would survive or not. Any info would be great. thanks!!

Hello Cody! I am in the Athens, OH area. We have been experiencing unusual warm weather which the fish love. When I introduced the first pleco, we experienced -10 in the winter. When I did not see him, I thought he had died due to the cold and I got the second one. Once I found both of them I decided it had to be the rock caves keeping them safe and protected from the elements - heat and cold. My shade trees are still growing so when we have the humid, 95 degree days I use a tarp and create a 'teepee' for shade on one end of the pond. My first pleco experienced lows of -10 and highs of 105 and the second has experienced lows of 0 to 95. Both are about 13 inches long now and just beautiful. I accidentally scooped one up last weekend and he looks really good. I am placing the pump/filter into the pond this weekend and can't wait for clear water again. Good luck!

 

[wood_cat]

Cathy what state are you in? Your definition of cold winter may be different than ours. I can't imagine one living in my pond in PA.

I apologize for not seeing their before now. I am in the Athens, OH area.

 

[Patfish]

I put a pleco in about 6 weeks ago and your story gave me hope. The fish store said they could overwinter in the pond. I live near Columbus Ohio.

 

[Faebinder]

I put a pleco in about 6 weeks ago and your story gave me hope. The fish store said they could overwinter in the pond. I live near Columbus Ohio.

They'll freeze in the winter. There are YouTube videos on people who forgot to bring the plexus in the fall and they found them dead the next day.

Your winter home will be needed.

 

[Faebinder]

Actually if you are in Ohio I would not let the plecos out in the pond till may when the 40F nights disappear and bring them in in September when the 40F nights show up.

 

[budgenator]

Another problem is they will grow explosively in the pond. I put my tropicals in the pond during the Northeast blackout and my 4 inch pleco grew to a foot and wasn't happy about going back into a 70 gallon aquarium that fall.

 

[MitchM]

I had some times in my aquaponics system where the water temperature dropped down below 15c/59f.
The tips of the plecos fins started to turn white and I suspect if I hadn't transferred them into a warmer tropical temperature aquarium, they would have died.

Please don't put plecostomus into a cold water environment.

.

 

[DutchMuch]

Some plecos live in Florida and require a tropical environment. So if you live in Florida, id say your good but otherwise I wouldn't.

 

[budgenator]

My understanding is plecos will die at 50F, and I wouldn't be surprised if individuals had both more and less cold tolerance, my experience is they are fiendishly difficult to find in a pond, mine appeared in the last inch of water as I drained the pond looking for the fish.

 

[bagsmom]

I have a dilemma... A friend has a 6" pleco in her aquarium. It's too small for him and I don't think he gets as much to eat as he should. She would love to have me adopt him.
If I put him in the pond he would have TONS AND GOBS of algae to eat.
I have many hiding places and I doubt I could catch him in the fall to let him overwinter in the house.
So -- let him (sort of) suffer in his current jail -- or let him have a magical (although perhaps short) life in the pond?
Pond ethics...

 

[budgenator]

So -- let him (sort of) suffer in his current jail -- or let him have a magical (although perhaps short) life in the pond?

Too bad we can't tag them with a bright orange streamer so they're easier to find!