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About 3 years ago I put a heap of cherry culls outside in a pond. To my amazement they have not only survived but thrived and are breeding well. They are on a patio that gets afternoon sun in winter and mostly shade in summer. I added a solar fountain to move the water but have no filtration or heating. I have tested the water temp at 33 c in summer and so far about 8c in winter. I don't keep cherries anymore inside except some yellows so I caught a few of the pond shrimp out to see how they go. Originally I only put blacks, chocolates and a few blue gene red Rili . I now have a lot of blue diamonds, a few that look like carbons , a few red Rili, a few Bloody Mary , blacks and chocolates with very few wild types. I don't do a lot with the pond but top up with straight RO water when the water evaporates, I have a lot of moss, rocks and a small amount of both benibachi substrate and sand . I have a lot of frogbit also which grows wildly and needs thinning out monthly. I am surprised the colony has done so well and after 3 years all the shrimp in the pond have been born in the pond. Due to the success of the cherries I now have another pond setup for my cull Taitibees. I started this one in January this year and the hottest the water got was 28 c - this pond is on the ground under a pergola so only gets a small amount of late afternoon sun. The water has gone down to 8 in this one too. It's too soon to see how they go but so far the population seems to be stable and I haven't found any deaths. It will be interesting to see if these breed in the spring when the water warms up a bit. They are very active and eating well - I put mulberry leaves in that disappear and shrimp snow plus there is plenty of algae growing on the sides of the pond. Pictures are of the cherry pond and the cherries I caught out and put in a small tank to see how they are going - I'm mainly catching them to make sure no deformities are occurring. I have just had the first lot of babies born this week and all seems well.

my 2cents - using peat to lower pH (at least ime in aquariums) is hard to manage and mild in effect at best. i asked this same question a while ago here on skf and was advised to get benibachi fulvic grains. i havent got some yet i think it may be expensive? anyway just thought id chime in. :-) love n peace will

NO. Brunnings Peat Moss @Bunnings is a Peat Moss substitute made from composted pine bark (stated in the fine print only). I just went thought this last week. I did confirm by phoning two manufacturers that "Attunga" and "Searles" brand peat moss is New Zealand sphagnum peat... but I had to go to an independent garden center to find it.