Rosy Reds Minnows: Entertainment All Year

Rosy Reds are great fish for either a pond or an aquarium. They are brilliant orange, peaceful, communal and hardy. Rosy Reds can often been seen swimming in a school under the ice in a pond, a memorable winter scene of brilliant orange surrounded by white and in a cold wind. During the summer months, hardly a mosquito can be found, rosy reds are a nightmare for this summer pest; the mosquito larvae are a favorite food. Entertainment all year, regardless of the season.

Rosy Reds are actually a color variation of the native Flathead minnow. At maturity, they will be between two and three inches, making them ideal for an indoor aquarium or a smaller outdoor pond. The male is somewhat larger than the female.

Rosy Reds will breed easily when they are about six months old. In a outdoor pond, breeding begins when the water temperatures are between 65 degree and 85 degrees. Generally, the time span from April to September in many northern climates.

The male will select the spawning area and become protective of the site, allowing only a ready female to approach. Rosy Reds like to breed in cave-like structures, under rock overhangs , and sunken pieces of wood in the pond. In an aquarium, an overturned clay pot works well as will many other ornamental additions which provide cave-like cover for the fish. Once the female deposits the eggs, the male will fertilize them.

The eggs will be guarded by the male, who will fan the eggs to keep water flowing over them. The eggs hatch in five to seven days and the small fry will be an orange color. The female will be ready to spawn again in about 18 days. In a pond, nature will take care of the food supply for the developing fry; in an aquarium any fry food similar to that used for goldfish of koi can be used. There can be hundreds of rosy red fry from one breeding. Additional females may be allowed into the cave and the male has quite a "fry chore".

Rosy Reds grow rapidly; they can live, according to most information about three years, some longer depending on conditions. In a pond, the rosy red population is kept under control by larger fish, frogs, snakes, and turtles along with other predators. In the indoor fish tank, rosy reds get along well with other fish although some larger fish could look at them as a tasty meal.

Rosy Reds can be purchased at many pet stores, often sold as feeder fish. They are also sold as fish bait at bait and tackle stores. They don't get a lot of care and attention under these circumstances, so if purchased for other purposes, it pays to watch them closely for a time and treat them for possible disease problems.

My experience with Rosy Reds.

I came across mine, luckily, from a nearby neighbors pond. He was an avid fisherman and had a small pond for the rosy reds so he had an adequate supply of bait fish.

I netted a dozen one day about four years ago since his pond was overcrowded with rosy reds. I placed them in a ten gallon fish tank, equipped with an air filter and water plants. They did just fine and I never lost a fish. They did breed but I lost most of the fry, a ten gallon tank was too small for that number of fish for any successful breeding.

In the indoor fish tank, they were carefree, peaceful and entertaining all year.

Two years ago, I had a small pond dug out which was about twenty feet around, give or take, and six feet deep. Winters can be severe and the ice can easily be two to three feet thick, so I wanted depth. Rocks were added at the bottom of the hole and stacked into cave like structures and hiding places.

A month after the pond, now called the rosy red pond, filled and settled somewhat, water plants, including a red water lily, were added . Soon afterwards, a five gallon bucket filled with about a 100 rosy reds of all sizes from the same neighbors pond and my own indoor aquarium rosy reds had a new habitat. Within several months, I was noticing hundreds of smaller fry of different sizes and not a mosquito around. Bullfrogs and leopard frogs soon moved in as did salamanders and a few turtles.

The rosy red pond sits at the edge of a forty foot square vegetable garden and makes vegetable gardening even more relaxing and peaceful. Today, people walk by raised beds of ripening tomatoes, squashes and corn, asparagus and horseradish, without so much as a glance, to see the pond and watch and feed the fish. It's a favorite for grown-ups as well as kids.

The rosy red pond is entertainment all year; a peaceful place and perhaps the most memorable moment was a winter day watching the rosy reds under the glass clear ice. Today, I am giving away rosy reds to other pond and aquarium owners.

Rosy Reds, communal and peaceful, are a great choice for a carefree and fun fish for indoors or outdoors any season.