Experience with dojos/weather loaches in outside pond

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Patio_Orangutan
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:43 am
Location: Central Oklahoma

Experience with dojos/weather loaches in outside pond

Post by Patio_Orangutan » Fri Nov 10, 2017 7:48 am

I'm wanting to start a garden pond at some point. Currently I have a 120g water trough with goldfish, guppies and mosquito fish with one pleco and one wild crawdad. I do have a 75g with a gold dojo of which I do not have a size measurement, and I got some little baby golds I couldn't pass up at my lfs. I had them with 2 clowns and 9 khulies and a pleco, but I recently lost my clowns. I have another tank I'm gonna set up for my khulies and Bolivian rams I got in my guppy tank, so I can keep the dojos in their preferred room temp water with a koi or something, I dunno.

I digress. I live in central Oklahoma, and I'm wondering how many of you have experience with dojos in an outdoor pond. What's too cold for these guys? Adding a heater if needed isn't an issue. Also, I can not seem to find anywhere the regular spotted dojos. Any ideas on that as well?
9 little wigglies and 4 big wigglies. Also some guppies, goldfish, rams, plecos and shrimp. Oh, and my wild caught crawdad. Add me on Snapchat, I'm always posting my fish! @TreeclimberCDXX

Bas Pels
Posts: 360
Joined: Sat Nov 30, 2013 9:08 am

Re: Experience with dojos/weather loaches in outside pond

Post by Bas Pels » Fri Nov 10, 2017 2:03 pm

As wheather loaches are found in central Europe, I would assume one could find specimen which have no trouble with an outdoor temp of -20 C.

That is, a pond frozen over with 10 cm of ice or more. However, do mind the water under the ice will still be + 4 C. When a thing gets warmer, it expands. Howeve,r water under 4 C does not expand, but it shrinks, and ice floats on water. Therefore, under 1 C water and 2 C water - there will Always be 4 C water, if the pond is deep enough

In a 1.5 meter deep pond, I would not worry about the winter temp at all.

But, I don´t know where the orange variety comes from. That one might be bit more sensitive

However, I would point something else out. The dojo can survive in your countrie, and therefore you should take the utmost care abot it not escaping. And I mean really the utmost. An example, when you change water, don't let the water flow away into any body of water, but lat it flow away to a place where it evaporates - an excaped dojo will, in such a case, not reach a natural body of water. A sewage system is not safe enough.

However, a new net, controlled on leaks the day you use it, can suffice too.

Patio_Orangutan
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:43 am
Location: Central Oklahoma

Re: Experience with dojos/weather loaches in outside pond

Post by Patio_Orangutan » Sat Nov 11, 2017 7:23 pm

That's pretty informative, thanks!

I don't think the golds are found in the wild nor wild bred. I think they're probably more suited for aquariums only since they're bred and sold in aquariums. But I guess that depends on how long they have been and if they've been conditioned to that. I don't know.

I do know about not letting them escape. I read about dojos becoming invasive in certain areas. If they're all as ferocious eaters and active scavengers as mine, I can understand how they would be an issue.
9 little wigglies and 4 big wigglies. Also some guppies, goldfish, rams, plecos and shrimp. Oh, and my wild caught crawdad. Add me on Snapchat, I'm always posting my fish! @TreeclimberCDXX

BlueLoach
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2016 6:48 pm
Location: Chattanooga, TN USA

Re: Experience with dojos/weather loaches in outside pond

Post by BlueLoach » Sat Nov 11, 2017 7:41 pm

LiveAquaria has the regular variety. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/2099 ... 0+885+2099

I would be concerned about birds getting them in a pond.

Patio_Orangutan
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:43 am
Location: Central Oklahoma

Re: Experience with dojos/weather loaches in outside pond

Post by Patio_Orangutan » Sat Nov 11, 2017 11:32 pm

I've never ordered fish online and honestly I'm scared to. Would birds be more likely to grab a dojo over a guppy or mosquito fish?
9 little wigglies and 4 big wigglies. Also some guppies, goldfish, rams, plecos and shrimp. Oh, and my wild caught crawdad. Add me on Snapchat, I'm always posting my fish! @TreeclimberCDXX

Dojosmama
Posts: 219
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2010 11:37 pm

Re: Experience with dojos/weather loaches in outside pond

Post by Dojosmama » Sun Nov 12, 2017 5:10 pm

Dojos are notorious escape artists. They will surely get out of the pond. They can live for awhile outside of water, due to storing oxygen inside their bodies. As long as they don't dry out. But they can't stay out indefinitely. Even in the open pond water, they can fall victim to predators, such as herons, cats, and other fish eaters. It's self-defeating to put a cover over a pond, as that deprives you of viewing the fish. A good compromise would be 3/4-inch bird netting, spanning across the pond and securely anchored into the ground. With a small pond that's feasible. If it's a very large pond, it wouldn't be practical or doable.

Your dojos are better off being kept in a large aquarium with a secure lid, and any holes in the top cut out for equipment should be small enough they can't fit through, or else sealed around the edges so they can't get out through them.

I'm surprised you can't find the regular spotted Dojos. They are the most commonly sold in LFSs. It's the goldens that are rarer. Have you spoken with the management of the place you got these Dojos from? If you tell them you'd like the ordinary mottled ones, they might stock them or order them for you.

Patio_Orangutan
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:43 am
Location: Central Oklahoma

Re: Experience with dojos/weather loaches in outside pond

Post by Patio_Orangutan » Sun Nov 12, 2017 5:52 pm

The golds are super common in Oklahoma at least. I have indeed asked, and the answers I always get is "we don't come across them very often/our supplier doesn't have them." Bologna if you ask me.

Although it would be hard to cover a large pond, I'm sure there is some way to do it. I grew up a southern country kid, I will rig up anything to make whatever I need to work. However, I'm not gonna try because like you said, it's not really practical.

I've heard they can live a few days out of water, and I've even read they've been found encased in mud. Dojos are weird creatures. I've always heard of them being able to escape, and often doing so, but I've never had a dojo or a khuli escape on me. I've even left for work for 10-14 hours a couple times with the lid open because of being in a rush and feeding in a hurry. I guess they'll just have to be aquarium fish. I might try a few in a mid sized pond in the future, definitely not golds and definitely not soon. We'll see how I feel about it when the time comes. Appreciate the input guys. If anyone else has done this with any sort of results, bump.
9 little wigglies and 4 big wigglies. Also some guppies, goldfish, rams, plecos and shrimp. Oh, and my wild caught crawdad. Add me on Snapchat, I'm always posting my fish! @TreeclimberCDXX

Dojosmama
Posts: 219
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2010 11:37 pm

Re: Experience with dojos/weather loaches in outside pond

Post by Dojosmama » Sun Nov 12, 2017 11:43 pm

I always wonder, when I hear lines like, "Our supplier doesn't have them", etc., etc., if it's really just an excuse because they don't want to go to the trouble of accommodating your request. There's usually a way to get it done, if they really wanted to. I tend to think, laziness and/or indifference. Some of these folks just aren't willing to try very hard.

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