Ok - help me with outdoor setup

[cajunamy]

Heat is high here, think mid 90s and VERY humid. Night temps only get in the 80s, high 70s. So temps are great.

But - I have no shading over my deck, like no roof. It's all open. Will that be a problem? I want them in the back, that way you don't see everything out front! My back deck is smallish though, but I can put up shortish shelves (3 foot) I'd tie them to the deck .. the only bad thing is I am in hurricane central, and it's supposed to be an active season.

The back deck gets sun from morning till about 3/4, and it would be full sun.

So with all that info, do you think I'd qualify for an outdoor setup? What do I need to know, re: heat? How deep should containers be to escape it? The jars I have ready are about 10ish inches high.

I guess I'm most worried about the no shade aspect of it .. sorry for the ramble!

[mernincrazy8525]

what i would do is get a piece of metal and put it so it blocks the shade but it will heat up and provide heat for them. i am not sure about the hurricanes though. i would keep them as low to the ground as possible for wing but that means animals can get them unless you can make a barrier. if you want i can get my dad who is an architect to sketch out an idea and make blueprints for an outdoor fish setup. but you would have to build and pay for it. it would probably be like 75 dollars though

[cajunamy]

I think the only animals I'd have to worry about are cats.. and there aren't that many running around loose here. We don't have any trees in our yard so birds shouldn't be a big problem

[cajunamy]

I can kinda imagine it .. kinda enclose the deck with chicken wire or similiar ... not sure how my husband would feel about that project lol. but then it'd actually be pretty perfect .... hmmm

[mernincrazy8525]

do what i do. Manipulate people and make it so they want it more than you do.

[cajunamy]

buwhaha.

He actually didn't object all that much - except when I said ASAP when he asked how soon. I told him what we can do is I'll use the money I make from the spawn to pay for it ... only issue is that is a couple months away. Luckily we stay hot here till November but still...

I've got it figured out in my head - the deck is about 6x6. I figure some 2x4s in the right places, wire wrapped around the top, and a door in front and tin on top. Really shouldn't be all that hard.

I'm using terms like 'won't have to heat them inside' & 'will get alot of the fish out of the house' to get him there too ;)

[mernincrazy8525]

well hope all goes well and post pics through your process of building it.

[Oldfishlady]

With that heat you will need shade....I wouldn't let the containers get anymore than 1 hour of sun and use 12-18 inch deep containers....they will spawn fine in that depth too and even deeper for that matter-use lots of tannins in the water to keep it dark and lots of floating plants too...this will help with heat....and have a backup plan for bad weather......if you get lots of rain-I would go ahead and get them acclimated to the rainwater so you don't have any shock issue...be sure and make overflows on your containers too so when it rains and fills the containers the fish don't get washed out..especially fry....

[cajunamy]

how do i make an overflow?

i think i've decided to wait till we can build an enclosed and roofed area on the back deck enclosed in wire and a door, with a roof on top, probably tin

[Oldfishlady]

I drill holes in the side of my buckets and some that are already kinda broken on the top I use a fine mesh screen so water can pass but fish can't, however, newborn fry may still pass...but I don't have that many loses...I also have my buckets sitting on an angle so I have control of the overflow direction...when I know we are having a big rain coming I will cover them a little..I want the fresh rainwater but not too fast...especially the ones that I have under the roof ledge...I use a 2x4 to break the overflow from the roof and still get the fresh rainwater.....it tears up the nest...but they will re-make it and all is well......you do have some fry/egg loss...but I want only the strongest to survive......so it works well for me.....