A reminder about why you should NEVER dump fish into waterways

[Chrona]

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[Drumachine09]

Dang skippy!

I quit allpetexperts after ginvinig some good advice on this subject, and then getting flamed for it. The lady said she had her oscar in a 29, but it kept bumping in to the sides, because she thought it was trying to attack her. She said she relesed it into a canal pond that "looked like it had other cichlids in it". I told her the reason he was bumping into the sides, was because HE WAS TOO BIG FOR HER TANK! I also told her that that was an EXTREMELY iresponsible thing to do, and that that could seriously screw over the ecosystem. She sent a message back that said, "you are bad at this. i didnt even get an answer" (by the way, there was no question mark in her "question" so there was no question to be answered), and then she told me how i was bad at this. So i sent her a personal email about how she needs to learn WAY more about aquariums before she should be allowed to have one. I once again told her that it was an extremely iresponsible thing to do on her part, and it wasnt a very smart thing to do at that.


Then i disabled my account, because i gave good advice, and was flamed.

[cocoa_pleco]

Man, thats a crazy story.

I had the same issue with allexperts too. I remember someone had a ID shark in a 10g, and i told them they get huge, destructive, and they'll likely need a 75G soon, and they flipped out and wanted to chuck him in the lake so that he can have all the room he needs.

[Rue]

"I showed it to people so many times that I think it finally died of shock," he said.

Tourtillott decided not to mount it because he figures someone in the area will one day catch another.

Clements plans to display his ferocious find in an alcohol-filled jar. He's enjoyed the piranha-vs.-pacu debate, but wonders if another might be lurking in his boyhood fishing hole.

...way to go guys...

[cocoa_pleco]

...way to go guys...


lol:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:

[gm72]

This kind of thing absolutely angers me to no end. Stupid people doing stupid things. I don't get angry often, and this is only one of about 3 things that just pisses me off.

[Lady Hobbs]

Dang skippy!

I quit allpetexperts after ginvinig some good advice on this subject, and then getting flamed for it. The lady said she had her oscar in a 29, but it kept bumping in to the sides, because she thought it was trying to attack her. She said she relesed it into a canal pond that "looked like it had other cichlids in it". I told her the reason he was bumping into the sides, was because HE WAS TOO BIG FOR HER TANK! I also told her that that was an EXTREMELY iresponsible thing to do, and that that could seriously screw over the ecosystem. She sent a message back that said, "you are bad at this. i didnt even get an answer" (by the way, there was no question mark in her "question" so there was no question to be answered), and then she told me how i was bad at this. So i sent her a personal email about how she needs to learn WAY more about aquariums before she should be allowed to have one. I once again told her that it was an extremely iresponsible thing to do on her part, and it wasnt a very smart thing to do at that.


Then i disabled my account, because i gave good advice, and was flamed.

My God. Nothing like a total idiot considering themselves an expert.

[Incredulous_Ed]

Good job drumachine and cocoa pleco!

[Drumachine09]

Now, i understand people make mistakes, but thats not what lit me up.


She said she had 2 in the 29. She released the bigger one. After i told her that it was iresponsible, and extremely stupid to release the one, she sent an email to me telling me i didnt know anything, and that she released the OTHER one. When people do something stupid because they are uninformed, thats one thing. But when you have FULL knowledge that what you are doing is wrong, and STILL DO IT, thats what makes me not like you.

[gm72]

Ditto, not much else to say other than that. Why don't people think of the consequences of their actions?

[Algenco]

There was a confirmed red belly piranha caught in the lake here about 5 years ago. DNR said there was no worry, they can't survive our winters.

30 years ago while working in Miami the big talk was about all the 4# plur Oscars that were being caught along the Tamiami trail.:1:

Now they have a problem in Lake Okeechobee with Burmese pythons over 20' and large Monitor lizards in the Miami area

[kimmers318]

Scary thought that people don't care what they dump into our waters.....maybe I should dump a couple of my puffers into the lake at camp....hmmmm, they would have LOTSA room, plenty of food...so what if a few fingers or toes from a little kid looks suspiciously like a worm.....it would be okay, they aren't big enough to eat the whole kid after all.....think they would still come to see me when I stopped by???:laugh1blue: :laugh1blue: :laugh1blue:

[gm72]

Even if they don't survive the winter, they will still do a fantastic job at destroying the ecosystem that mother nature has worked so hard to establish. I'd love to punch those people in the face. Seriously.

[2manyfish]

I agree with the whole "not dumping your aquarium fish into waterways, ponds, etc.." but there are a couple of things not mentioned in that article. Actually, they got a couple things just plain wrong. The whole lionfish off the coast of the US thing. Scientists believe that the fish didn't get there from aquariums but rather the ballasts of ships just like those zebra mussels. When the ships take on water, they also take on everything in the water too. And saltwater fish larvae are one of those things. Scientists think the larvae were dumped into US waters as the ships entered harbors. Ships commonly dump their ballast as they enter the shallower water. For whatever reason, the lionfish larvae survived the cooler waters and settled on down into the ecosystem. They are believed to be breeding on their own now. Second is the statement of "lionfish are toxic". They are not toxic, they are venomous. There is a difference. Thirdly the article didn't even mention the species that were intentionally released by the US fish and game department!! Did you know that gambusia have been released all over the southern US in an attempt to combat mosquitos?? Did you know that gambusia don't actually eat mosquitos or their larvae? Rather, they prefer the fry of other small fish. Way to go government!! Tilapia were released on purpose in (at least) Florida by the fish and game department as were peacock bass and oscars!!
A couple of years ago, in Minnesota I believe, someone caught a snakehead. Exotic species that is well known to be quite the predator. US officals in an ignorant decision decided to poison the entire lake the fish had been caught in! They killed off a whole ecosystem to prevent this fish from spreading. Might have been a good idea except that snakeheads cannot survive winters. The first good chill in the water would have killed them off. Sure, the fish (if there were even any more) may have done some damage but it wouldn't have been everything in the lake.....

Again, I agree with not letting fish or inverts go from your tank into the wild. Not the right thing to do at all. But it bugs me that the US government is doing the wrong thing too and oh so eager to point the finger at someone else.

[gm72]

Great post. There was just recently an article in the USA Today about certain types of invertebrates being introduced to the Great Lakes by the "Salties," that is, the international ships that enter the Lakes. They fill their ballast tanks at their home port and release the ballast at their destination, thereby introducing all kinds of material into the Lakes. Irresponsible nonsense.

[Sasquatch]

Hmm, that's illegal I beleive. There are regulations now that force boat captains to switch ballast in the open ocean. The salt gradient kills off whatever is in the balast and they release the saltwater into the great lakes.

I remember when I was in Ontario there were some pretty stiff regs about invasive species. The Ministry of Natural Resources has some very stiff fines for fishing with invasives as bait. I remember one nimrod got caught with a bait bucket full of ruff. When the game warden came by, he kicked the bucket into the lake! He go nailled with a hige fine.

The other one that gets me is the asian carp. Who's bright idea was it to raise them on the Mississippi floodplain? When the ponds were flooded, we ended up with king size vegetarian carp in the one of the biggest river networks in North America. Real genius!

[kenyth]

The first Oscar I owned as a teen was caught from the canal in our backyard in Florida.

[cocoa_pleco]

The first Oscar I owned as a teen was caught from the canal in our backyard in Florida.


WOW! how big was he?

[kenyth]

WOW! how big was he?


Six or eight inches long. My brother caught him. Once we cured all his ails, he was kept on the back porch in a 45 gallon tank. We fed him crustacians, amphibians and minnows/small fish netted from the same canal. He particularly liked ghost shrimp. Those grow wild in many southern states.

[Incredulous_Ed]

That awesome kenyth!

[Drumachine09]

That awesome kenyth!

I can see how you would think that, i mean, hey, free oscar, right?




But the fact that it was introduced into the wild in the first place is a grave, grave matter.

[cocoa_pleco]

It is. I remember one time at my summerhome, i found a actual clown knife. Theres a pretty much abandoned river there, and i went boating. I stuck my hand over, and something long and silver flashed, and bit me. It was a almost fullgrown clown knife, right in that river. The natural species there are pike, and about 5 other fish, so the clown knife was eating something. Im surprised a pike never got it.