Outdoor Fish Pond with Indigenous Fish

@Liam thank you so much will definitely have a look into them. I researched cold water fish and found out about pumpkin seed fish and I had my heart set on them until I found out they aren’t legal in South Africa, my heart broke since I would have loved a few of them. What is the name of this shop in kyalami would love to go check them out sometime.

We converting our pool to a pond so it’s quite large. Will do reasearch but hopefully it’ll be fine for them.

 

@katja I have sent you a PM. If you are interested in local fish I would highly recommend the book by Skelton mentioned earlier.

 

I have that book though I think it might be an outdated version. Got it from a house my gran bought. It’s from 1982.

 

A little outdated but for the most part it's only the names that would have changed. Good quick reference otherwise.

 

If there was one species I wish I could get my hands on (blacklisted unfortunately) it would be Otjikoto Tilapia/Nguni Fish. they are native to Namibia and endangered. you can see them at the cape town botanical gardens at the entrance. Beautiful fish. I heard that these came from Pretoria Zoo at the time.

 

Many years ago as a kid, we had in the pond some sort of barb caught in the bushveld. I can't remember whether it bred, but the 20 or so individuals lived for many years in the pond. I get it they they occur in flowing water in the wild, that's probably where the have the competitive advantage. I kept tropical fish at the time, and liked the odd fishing, so it was quite nice recognising the likeness of many aquarium fish to our own indigenous fish. Some of the camps in the Kruger keep Tilapia in ponds (Skukuza and Shingwedzi). They don't occur in the Vaal and Orange rivers as far as I know, but some Tilapia can tolerate coldish water, Johannesburg temperatures provided the pond is big enough to buffer against severe swings on the downside. I remember Hartebeespoort Dam used to have some of the smaller (more colourful) Kurpers. It may have been the Redbreast Kurper and Vleikurper.

Indigenous does not necessarily mean "cold water". Many of our species are from the lowveld, and KZN. The bad news is that it makes options in cities like Johannesburg or Cape Town rather limited.

The good news is knowing that many of the species familiar to us in aquarium occur somewhere in South Africa in very similar forms. These include carp like fish like Labeo (related to Red Tail Sharks, Black Sharks etc), several small barbs (the famed Yellow Fish is a large barb), redfins (also barb/ danio like group of small carps). It also includes Cichlids (of course, like the different types Tilapia ["Kurper"] and Bream). Aquarium literature may tell you the Jewel Cichlid is from West Africa (only) but they do occur in the Zambesi and down into the Okavango. Most Kurpers are Tilapia cichlids, but the Cape Kurper is not a cichlid at all, but a labyrinth fish related to gouramis! Any aquarist seeing a picture of a Cape Kurper will appreciate the likeness to Gourami's and fish like the Paradise fish and Bettas. We also have Killifish - in fact the name Killifish comes from "Kuilvissie" and refers to the fact that the fish are often seen in standing ponds as the rivers start to dry - so it could be that they were first described from Southern African specimens. Then we have characins, not only Tiger Fish but smaller tetras, which are locally called "Robbers". They are small and pretty, but I don't think any of them are tolerant of colder water. We also have several species of small catfish, including very familiar ones closely related to the Upside Down catfish (Synodontis). Then we have sensitive fish like Mormirydae (related to the Elephant nosed fish).

Our regulations are not kind towards keeping indigenous fauna. The idea is conservation, but often the opposite happens because of the regulations. If people keep exotic fauna and it escapes into our river systems they can do more damage. We already have wild populations of Guppies and Sword tails. Compare that to for example the place in Brazil, Barcelos, where the Cardinal Tetra is caught. The whole town of 30,000 brands itself according to this fish, they have a festival for "ornamental fish", and as a result of the income it provides, locals take great care in not polluting the river. Many tanks in the town showcase the local fish live. Fish are collected at the time of the year when it's easy, after the flooded plains have contracted at the end of the try season, basically taking the otherwise doomed fish out of the crowded puddles.

Our fish are seriously under threat. I saw conservation minded TV programmes where bass have been caught, and released (supposedly in the interest of conservation). In my mind it should be illegal to stock more bass, and illegal to release a caught specimen. It is a highly predatory fish that displaces many of our cichlids and barbs. If anglers are made aware of our own species, they could focus on having "variety" on their bucket list rather than chasing kilograms, and compete on catching different species of fish, rather than demand dams to be stocked with bass, even in "eco estates"! Cichlids in particular, are quite tasty fish. Our Tilapia is considered a delicacy in is the state dish in Florida, USA, but we displace our own Tilapia with bass (which nobody ever eats). Common carps (an Eurasian fish which is a different variant of the same species as Koi) are not predatory, but I think our Yellow Fish (essentially a carp of the barb variety) are far prettier, and grow big enough for a kick. People do not generally eat common carp.

The Kruger National Park alone has 49 species of fish, representing all of the families mentioned above. Surprising for a relatively dry area isn't it? Driving over low water bridges it is quick to learn to broadly identify fish as carp like (barbs), cichlids (mostly Tilapia), catfish or "other". I've never seen wild Killifish or wild characins (except caught Tiger fish).

Just outside our borders (Mozambique), Okavango, Zambesi many more species of freshwater fish occur.

But I digress..to answer the question of this thread. On the highveld, the most suitable outside species are barbs, some small catfish (babers) and Tilapia. Barbs and Tilapia are active in the day, these are fish that you will actually see and appreciate. If you live in warmer regions (KZN coast or Lowveld) then options are a lot more.

disclaimer: I'm not an expert on regulations and do not encourage breaking them in spite of my criticism. That is different from supporting the idea to have them changed.