Yes, although they are not tamed in the real sense of the word. What they
do is to associate you with food and will actually follow you as you walk
around the pool.
>Do most of you feed your pond fish at all? I was
>reluctant to feed mine due to the plethora of mosquito larvae and fear of
>polluting the pond. I realise it's not a good idea to feed when the
>temperature is low as now.
Depending on the amount of fish in the pond you may not have to feed them
at all particularly while the water temperature is low. During summer you
may have to supplement with some fish food. However, you should know if
they are getting enough "natural food" from their reaction to you when you
approach the pond.
>BTW I cleared up most of the algae problems in my pond the easy way by
>installing a pump and filter. My P.signifer fry have thinned out
>considerably and the lowest temperature I have recorded in the pond is 10
>deg. C. The fish are local (Myall Lakes), is this too cold for them?
10 degrees C is getting near their lower limit for survival. Its been
reported that M. fluviatilis begin to die in their natural habit when the
water gets below 10 degrees. I would assume that signifer would have a
similar temperature tolerance.
I would suspect that they could handle this lower temperature for a little
while or occasionally. However, if it were to remain at that lower level
for some time then I think they would start to die off?
Perhaps you should test the pond water at different levels to see what the
overall temperature is?
Adrian.
Adrian R. Tappin
Brisbane, Australia.
atappin at ecn.net.au
"Home of the Rainbowfish"
http://www.ecn.net.au/~atappin/home.htm