Encountering aquarium fish in the wild- Share!

[Tommy10]

I'd just be insanely surprised that a South American pleco species can survive -10 degree winters and become common to see.

The water doesn't get that cold. Lots of these lakes have hot spring that the fish would just hang around till the water warms up

 

[Carnifex]

Carniflex where in NE Ohio did you find them. I spent the first 27 years of my life living in Cuyahoga Falls. I would love to try to find some just for funzies when I go home this summer for a visit.!

In Hubbard. Near Youngstown. There is a park called Harding that i used to go catch minnows at for my turtles. Plecos everywhere lol. For years there were none and then all of a sudden one summer about 5 years ago boom! Hundreds. I would assume they will still be there because i went a few years ago and they still were. I took a few home for a chiclid setup a friend had given me. They lived with me for about a year until i gave the tank to another guy.

 

[bribo12]

The water doesn't get that cold. Lots of these lakes have hot spring that the fish would just hang around till the water warms up

Crazy haha

 

[Legit Fish]

well i haven't gone to florida for a while but last time i remember in a big lake next to a hotel (i forgot the name but will mention for people in florida willing to catch some), these lakes were 75 percent populated with domesticated fish! the employee for the fishing shack next to the lake said that the people that lived in the other side of the lake would just dump the fish they don't want!!! well of course i did not believe this so i started fishing. i did catch 2 large mouth bass like about 6 inches…. but after a while i got oscars, 5 star general cichlids, zebra tilapia cichlids, tire track eels, black convicts, royal plecos, blue gouramis and some other fish i don't really remember! but i really felt bad for the native fish because they are getting a big challenge with all those aquarium fish….

 

[wildroseofky]

It is sad when people are so irresponsible with non native species. It destroys the local ecosystem usually. I always try to think ahead when dealing with non native plants and stuff. Make sure the only way it gets out is if it is dead. Sounds cruel when talking about fish and things but so many people will not even try to find other homes for such things. They consider them objects not living things. One of my neighbors flushed some large chick lids without even asking if I would take them. I do not know what kind they were but someone told me she paid a lot for them and only kept them a short time.

 

[Brookster123]

Snakehead... Nuff said..

 

[Fresh2o]

Snakehead... Nuff said..

As a Virginian, I was about to same the same thing.

 

[Dubs1281]

Went snorkeling in mexico on a few reefs. This was before I got into the hobby so I dont remember what fish the were but they were cool! What I remembered most is these huge parrot fish that woukd eat out of your hand.

 

[Pleco1415]

No I'm saying bushy nose plecos of the ancistrua genus are not native to Canada and this had to be introduced via someone who released it. Therefore it was an aquarium species an would die at temps below 70 degrees. It was probably another fish that looks like a pleco. All plecos are native to South America.

I'm confused. You said they would not be able to survive in cold temperatures but if all the other fish can why not them? I see these guys every year at my cottage so I think I will do some research on what they are but I'm pretty sure there plecos. If you also want to look into what these algae eaters are the place I found them is called the Trent river. It's in Ontario.

 

[bribo12]

No most aquarium fish would never survive temps that cold. Hence why I'm suggesting they should not be common in the river. If most aquarium fish could survive anywhere a lot would not be sold.

 

[Mebbid]

I'm confused. You said they would not be able to survive in cold temperatures but if all the other fish can why not them? I see these guys every year at my cottage so I think I will do some research on what they are but I'm pretty sure there plecos. If you also want to look into what these algae eaters are the place I found them is called the Trent river. It's in Ontario.

Fish that live places that get cold go dormant in near freezing temperatures. This is why ice fishing is soo easy. Fish that live in warmer climates dont.

 

[trinifella]

Living in South Florida, it was like living in an aquarium. Oscars became common in most canals. Pacu and an occasional Piranha have been caught on hook and line. Green mollies are native. There has been so many releases of fish that there are colonies of different types of cichlids all over the place. I used to catch Africans when I was trying to catch Largemouth Bass. I have also seen large Kissing Gouramis in canals. "It's all good... until somebody gets hurt." Our natural fauna has paid a high price with all these "intruders". I've been in FL for now 40 years this year and I've seen the change first hand. It's not good. So let's not celebrate seeing these things outside their native areas. let's start collecting them and getting rid of them to restore native fish populations. Start getting a lot of tanks cause there's a lot of fish that need to be removed Just my 2 cents.

On the other hand, I was privileged to be in Belize a number of years ago and saw Firemouth Meekis in their native waters. That was interesting. It was almost a commune of spawning beds. When I was in Brasil, we fished for and caught Pacu and some Geophagus to eat but I also saw some Tetras and other smaller fish (which I'm sure made it into the aquarium trade) in a small pond we were hiking around. It was an experience

Hard not to do on first instance I must say. This thread is not really about celebrating though, rather its about sharing the shock that you saw them outside of their native areas. But yes they do interfere drastically with native fish

 

[delfisherman]

We have quite a few ponds in lower delaware that has these pretties in them. We also have gar and giant catfish and snakeheads around.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

If you see or catch these fish you should terminate them and contact your states invasive species control. Some people have a hard time killing something but it is by far the best thing you can do for the environment. Unless you want to put them in an aquarium and care for them. This is a huge problem and will most likely get out of control and we will soon have rivers full of goldfish and lakes full of cichlids. Warmer places like Florida are going to have a serious uphill battle.

 

[Malupoo]

Seen some rainbows up north of Australia. When I was swimmin off back of a boat in Thailand I think it was I got bitten everywhere by lunar wrasse. Which is what my lunar wrasse did to me at home as well haha

 

[bettaowner]

In Hawaii we have convicts, oscars, green terrors, plecos, jack dempseys, silver arrowana, corydoras, some rainbow fish, Kirbs, and jewel cichlids.

 

[DragonFish71]

I lived in Florida most of my teenage years. I can remember catching Jack Dempseys and Oscars when fishing. Once in a while seeing a gator chomping a Pacu and on the most rarest of occasions, seeing small schools of piranha going after a carcass. Mind you, this was back in the late 70s early 80s and in the Everglades. I can't even imagine what it's like now.

 

[BillD]

I'm confused. You said they would not be able to survive in cold temperatures but if all the other fish can why not them? I see these guys every year at my cottage so I think I will do some research on what they are but I'm pretty sure there plecos. If you also want to look into what these algae eaters are the place I found them is called the Trent river. It's in Ontario.

Trent River is infested with Round Gobies. Are you sure that isn't what you saw? The water temp gets to just above 0 C so I can't see any pleco survive that.

 

[Andy Sager]

I lived in Florida most of my teenage years. I can remember catching Jack Dempseys and Oscars when fishing. Once in a while seeing a gator chomping a Pacu and on the most rarest of occasions, seeing small schools of piranha going after a carcass. Mind you, this was back in the late 70s early 80s and in the Everglades. I can't even imagine what it's like now.

It's gotten much worse. I came to S. FL in 1974 with 6 third generation Oscars I was working on in the hopes that I would repeat my success with the fish as I did up in NJ. I spoke to a few local Pet Shops about my plans and was told that even back then they were so common in the canals that there was no need to have tank raised ones. When I was wholesaling, one of my collectors would go to canals all over dade and broward and bring us what he could catch. His catch looked like a full shipment from S. America. Some of everything.
Just take an umbrella net and a can of cat food and you can stock a tank with exotics while barely getting wet.

 

[Pleco1415]

Trent River is infested with Round Gobies. Are you sure that isn't what you saw? The water temp gets to just above 0 C so I can't see any pleco survive that.

I've seen those gobies before some of them get pretty big. The fish I saw was a sucker fish there was know doubt about that. I don't know we're you found out the temperature of the water but during the summer it feels more like 20 C but during the winter it's probably cools down by about 15 degrees. When I go to my cottage in the spring I will try and find one and take a photo. I don't know of any other sucker fish that aren't species of plecos. It's amazing the things we can find in rivers and lakes now. The Trent river is home to many invasive species like the rusty crayfish, round gobies, chinese mystery snails, possibly plecos, and many more.