African Cichlids outdoors in a large pond?

[doninaustin]

My wife and I are looking to move to a new house with three acres. I
would like to make a concrete-lined pond about 8x15' and maybe 4' deep
at the deepest end.
I would throw in lots of porous limestone. The pond would be in direct
sunlight as the goldfish pond at our current house is a real pain to
keep clean due to the trees that overhang it and keep dropping leaves
and crap which decays in the water. We are in central Texas.

I would like to throw a bunch of Cichlids in there and let them breed.
Probably no plants. Would this work? We will have a well so we will
have none-chlorinated hard alakaline water. Perhaps enough so it can
run into the pond at one end and out the other end continuously. I
know of one guy who raised a bunch of cichlids here in Austin in a big
above-ground inflatable swimming pool. My thought was that making it
relatively deep would buffer temperature swings, but I guess I might
still have to take them out in the fall.

We would not be near any other bodies of water that they could somehow
escape to.

All comments appreciated.

Don in Austin

[Altum]

Sounds like fun. I've found that most naturally colored tropical fish
have dark-colored backs and are difficult to see in the pond so you
might want to look at the fish from above before you buy them. Maybe
albino zebras would be visible and interesting.

I assume you'd give them plenty of cover with the limestone. Mbuna
will thrive on the algae you'll get in direct sun. I'm not sure I'd go
with no plants at all - you may have problems with green water. I
really like the easy-to-grow combination of water hyacinth for nitrate
removal and Anacharis for oxygenation in my outdoor tanks and ponds.

--Altum

[Gill Passman]

Sounds like fun. I've found that most naturally colored tropical fish
have dark-colored backs and are difficult to see in the pond so you
might want to look at the fish from above before you buy them. Maybe
albino zebras would be visible and interesting.

I assume you'd give them plenty of cover with the limestone. Mbuna
will thrive on the algae you'll get in direct sun. I'm not sure I'd go
with no plants at all - you may have problems with green water. I
really like the easy-to-grow combination of water hyacinth for nitrate
removal and Anacharis for oxygenation in my outdoor tanks and ponds.

--Altum

It does sound fun but I would be a little concerned about the low winter
temps.....and I wouldn't care for trying to net mine even in their 4 foot
tank, but if needs must I would do it. I'm sure my Mbunas would thrive in a
pond in the summer - especially the one we are having so far....as for
plants....I cannot grow any plants in my Mbuna tank and boy have I
tried....uprooted, shredded, algae ridden....yuk....

They need caves and lots of them....I'm not sure that you would ever get to
see them in a pond unless you have a glass panel.....but if you could make
it work and have the right climate it would be awesome....

JMO

Gill

[robo...@googlemail.com]

I presume you're in Austin, Texas. While I'm familiar with the "Texas
Cichlid", would mbuna really survive in lakes or rivers in Texas? Long
enough to establish a colony? I've heard that in Florida cichlids might
survive a few years, but then an occasional cold winter will kill them
off.