gams through winter - 02/03/07 02:07 AM
this is aimed at meadowlark, but would love responses from any or all.......
as some of you may recall, last April 05 i "stocked" nine mosquito fish in my pond (~1 acre). by September/October 05 there were perhaps 10's maybe 100's of thousands (i hesitate to say millions but it looked like it).
as the water temps continued to decrease going through Nov/Dec 06 and into Jan 07, i saw no gams around the shorelines and assumed they moved to deeper warmer water. it was only yesterday (after a few days in the 50's and low 60's) that i have seen any, and only a few individuals near the shoreline.
my questions....
what is the typical lifespan of gambusia?
i had the first ice-over i've ever seen in 11 years that lasted about 2 weeks in mid-january, did the gams survive just fine?
will i see a great emergence of them as the weather continues to warm?
what water temp do they need to start breeding again assuming i still have breeders?
i'm not sure if i should/need to stock additional gams, although it probably wont hurt a thing no matter how many are in pond, correct?
as some of you may recall, last April 05 i "stocked" nine mosquito fish in my pond (~1 acre). by September/October 05 there were perhaps 10's maybe 100's of thousands (i hesitate to say millions but it looked like it).
as the water temps continued to decrease going through Nov/Dec 06 and into Jan 07, i saw no gams around the shorelines and assumed they moved to deeper warmer water. it was only yesterday (after a few days in the 50's and low 60's) that i have seen any, and only a few individuals near the shoreline.
my questions....
what is the typical lifespan of gambusia?
i had the first ice-over i've ever seen in 11 years that lasted about 2 weeks in mid-january, did the gams survive just fine?
will i see a great emergence of them as the weather continues to warm?
what water temp do they need to start breeding again assuming i still have breeders?
i'm not sure if i should/need to stock additional gams, although it probably wont hurt a thing no matter how many are in pond, correct?