Can these peacock cichlid eggs hatch?

[Andy Sager]

If we had non-native fishes like that swimming around here, I would be out there every week collecting them and selling to the shops.

I like the website, "don't feed the wild monkeys". I didn't know Florida was home to wild monkeys, plenty that drive cars and use phones but didn't know about the wild ones

Yeah, Florida has a lot going for it but all the invasives are a real problem. It's not easy to go to any canal or stream and find native fish species in quantity or sometimes at all. Some are not even just from aquarists. Many waterways in the Southern areas are connected ditches that were dug for making roads. The engineers then filled in the ditches with water and connected them all to the everglades so there were then fish species in the canals. The bright Florida sun then made all the canals fil with algae so the Dept of Wildlife imported Tilapia to eat the algae. They did so well that they overpopulated so the Dept of Wildlife imported Peacock Bass to eat the Tilapia. The only problem with all that was the Peacocks found the native fish easier to eat than the Tilapia so there was a depletion of natural species. The only real positive to all this was the creation of an industry based around fishing for Peacock Bass. When the Bass were first imported, it was illegal to target fish for them or keep any you accidently caught. Now, doing that is big business.

So now you can catch all kinds of livebearers, African Cichlids, South American Cichlids, Snakeheads, Oscars, Clown Knifefish ( to name a few) in the canals and lakes so most stores won't take any let alone buy them. I had that with Oscars I brought with me when I moved from New Jersey to Florida. People in NJ were buying them like crazy. People in Florida could care less about them. " We don't need to buy them. If we want Oscars, we just have to go to any canal with a net." If there was any money to be made from collecting them, the canals would be less populated. LOL

As for wild Monkeys, yeah, there are wild populations that started as escapees from some research facilities. There were also lost pets. I got my Squirrel Monkey from a woman who had him living in her back yard. She came into the pet store I was working in asking how to care for him when he decided he wanted to live inside her house and my co-workers all told her to talk to me as I was the exotics " expert". I told her what she needed to do and get and offered to take him if he was too much for her. Long story short, I got a call about a week later to come get him. LOL I had him for over 21 years. He was partially trained so had to be a pet that escaped. Me and my Monkey: https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/41382-albums14447-picture69400.html

So as I said, in the 40+ years I've lived in Florida, I've seen the exotic invasives list grow from a few lines to a pages full of species.

 

[Colin_T]

Who was wearing the lead and collar in that picture, you or the monkey
The monkey is taking me for a walk, be back in an hour

The PNG government brought in Tilapia to provide a food fish for the locals in various villages. The locals didn't like Tilapia and the cichlids thought the local endemic fish were rather tasty. Half the rainbowfish in New Guinea are now endangered because of politicians releasing fish.

In the south-west of WA, the state government releases thousands of trout fingerlings into local waterways for recreational fishing. The trout love the endemic fish and crustaceans and the trout also introduced Fish TB into the local waterways. Needless to say, there aren't many native fish left down there. I think the planet is screwed

 

[Andy Sager]

Who was wearing the lead and collar in that picture, you or the monkey
The monkey is taking me for a walk, be back in an hour

The PNG government brought in Tilapia to provide a food fish for the locals in various villages. The locals didn't like Tilapia and the cichlids thought the local endemic fish were rather tasty. Half the rainbowfish in New Guinea are now endangered because of politicians releasing fish.

In the south-west of WA, the state government releases thousands of trout fingerlings into local waterways for recreational fishing. The trout love the endemic fish and crustaceans and the trout also introduced Fish TB into the local waterways. Needless to say, there aren't many native fish left down there. I think the planet is screwed

LOL He had a modified ferret harness that I used for when we were out visiting people or when he came with me on deliveries. Kind of unnecessary as he'd rather be on my shoulder than walking around but for people's safety, he had to wear it. He defended me against anyone.

As for the planet, it's nice that fish from around the world can survive in other parts of the world but I am of the philosophy that if they belonged there, they would have been there already. I'm not a fan of all the transplanting of species. They evolved where they did and not where they didn't for a reason. ?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Going a bit off topic here, but to add to the escaped wildlife and one that Colin might be interested in being an aussie.

We have a population of wild wallabies here in Derbyshire, UK. Escaped from a small local zoo a few decades back. I think there is also a population of wallabies in Scotland too. Ive also heard rumours of wild capybara too in Derbyshire escaped from the same zoo, and there are certainly big cats because ive seen those.

 

[Andy Sager]

Going a bit off topic here, but to add to the escaped wildlife and one that Colin might be interested in being an aussie.

We have a population of wild wallabies here in Derbyshire, UK. Escaped from a small local zoo a few decades back. I think there is also a population of wallabies in Scotland too. Ive also heard rumours of wild capybara too in Derbyshire escaped from the same zoo, and there are certainly big cats because ive seen those.

It's the big cats that would make me nervous more than the Wallys. Then again, I have Alligators which can eat you too here.

 

[Colin_T]

Go the Wallabies
On a serious note, a lot of wallabies in Australia are endangered so if you have a few populations living in the UK, they might help keep the species alive when we wipe out all of ours.

I don't like chocodiles or gators, I reckon both of them could go extinct and it wouldn't phase me one bit.

 

[Andy Sager]

Go the Wallabies
On a serious note, a lot of wallabies in Australia are endangered so if you have a few populations living in the UK, they might help keep the species alive when we wipe out all of ours.

I don't like chocodiles or gators, I reckon both of them could go extinct and it wouldn't phase me one bit.

But if the Alligators went extinct, who would eat all the invasive Burmese Pythons in the Everglades?

 

[Colin_T]

But if the Alligators went extinct, who would eat all the invasive Burmese Pythons in the Everglades?

People. There are too many people on the planet and we are running out of food. People can go in and catch them. Anyone who makes it back with a live snake, gets paid and is sent back in to get more.

 

[Andy Sager]

People. There are too many people on the planet and we are running out of food. People can go in and catch them. Anyone who makes it back with a live snake, gets paid and is sent back in to get more.

They already do that and it's not enough. They are only out there for a short time compared to the animals that live there. An Alligator can be hunting every waking minute, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

 

[Jacky12]

That’s a handsome son you have there, Andy. Looks just like you with that reddish hair. When was the photo taken?

There’s a colony of wild cherry cheeked conures (parrots) in San Francisco, California. A mated pair escaped circa 1920. Over the years they bred and were joined by other escapees. When I lived near SF, a pair came around my house, attracted by the loud squawks from my parrots. I had Amazons, Moluccans, Timneh &Congo Greys, and a drawf macaw. I secured my birds & opened the window & left nuts on the table. Both were inside munching away with an hour. I closed the window and kept them. These were not feral as both were soon crawling all over me.

Ethical and environmental issues aside, I’m hard pressed to imagine who would release most of the fish you mention. They are of monetary and pet value. Wherever I’ve lived, people sell unwanted fish inexpensively or give them away. That cockatoo was surely an escapee. I paid $1500 for a bird like that years ago. No one would toss such a bird to the winds or mangrove swamps.

If you can lure a Galah (Red-breasted Australian) Cockatoo into your house, I’ll pay you a grand or two, depending.

 

[Colin_T]

We have thousands of pink and grey cockatoos (red breasted galah) here. There's some outside as I type this. They are noisy irritating birds that survive just about anywhere (a bit like humans). We're not allowed to trap and export them, but councils can trap and poison them, and farmers can shoot them. They could be sold overseas as a live export and bring in millions but nope, not allowed.

A lot of birds that end up in the wild are there because something happens to the aviary the birds were kept in. I used to keep birds and had a war with the neighbours over their cats killing my birds. Long story short, someone broke into my back yard, cut the wire from top to bottom on every panel of every aviary and flushed all my birds out. I came home to find a few birds in the backyard but most were missing.

I have seen aviaries that were damaged by tree branches falling on them and the birds get out through the damaged section. I have had customers come into the shop saying they will release their birds into the wild if we don't take them. We took the birds.

With fish, a lot of them get released because they are too big for a tank or someone gets bored of looking after them. People inherit fish tanks and don't want the fish in them so dump them in a waterway. Some people deliberately release fish into waterways to create wild populations they can then harvest and sell to shops. And some people want to give their fish to a pet shop but the local chain stores refuse to take them so the fish get dumped. This last bit is becoming more common all around the world and even happens here in Australia. I used to be able to get rid of unwanted fish to any pet shop but virtually nobody will take them now due to diseases like worms and TB. Worms are easy to treat but TB can't be treated. But when a chain store says they won't take back fish they sold you even when they give you the wrong fish, and their excuse is they don't want diseases. My response is any diseases in my tank came from their store. If you can't get rid of your fish to a pet shop and you don't have anyone who wants them, you either kill them or release them. I don't like killing my pets and don't want to release them, so what do you do.

 

[Jacky12]

All in all a very sad situation. And I know how the Galah revered here is regarded there. Almost didn’t want to mention them because I knew you’d know.

 

[Andy Sager]

That’s a handsome son you have there, Andy. Looks just like you with that reddish hair. When was the photo taken?

There’s a colony of wild cherry cheeked conures (parrots) in San Francisco, California. A mated pair escaped circa 1920. Over the years they bred and were joined by other escapees. When I lived near SF, a pair came around my house, attracted by the loud squawks from my parrots. I had Amazons, Moluccans, Timneh &Congo Greys, and a drawf macaw. I secured my birds & opened the window & left nuts on the table. Both were inside munching away with an hour. I closed the window and kept them. These were not feral as both were soon crawling all over me.

Ethical and environmental issues aside, I’m hard pressed to imagine who would release most of the fish you mention. They are of monetary and pet value. Wherever I’ve lived, people sell unwanted fish inexpensively or give them away. That cockatoo was surely an escapee. I paid $1500 for a bird like that years ago. No one would toss such a bird to the winds or mangrove swamps.

If you can lure a Galah (Red-breasted Australian) Cockatoo into your house, I’ll pay you a grand or two, depending.

Redish hair?? I've been a blond ( from almost white to Sandy blond) all my life. No red hair on my head. LOL That pic was taken about 1977-78. He was actually big for a squirrel monkey according to my Vet.

South Florida is full of wild Red front Conures, Quaker Parrakeets and Nandy Conures along with a variety of other "pet" bird species. Just 2 months ago I saw a Maluccan Cockatoo on a wire out on the Trucker's route down there. ( That's way out by the sugar factory so no homesteads anywhere near there.) Obviously an escapee. I know people forget that even when they have their bird's wings clipped to disable them from flying away, they forget that when the bird molts and the feathers grow back, they open a window for some fresh air and WOOOOPS!!!! Bye Bye Birdie. Personally, my favorite 'Too is the Major Mitchell's. If someone would lose one of those near me, I would gladly adopt it.

You give people too much credit Jacky. People just don't realize that releasing a non native fish into their local rivers or lakes is not only illegal in most states, but bad for the environment they are going into. More often then not, the native fish species are the ones that suffer. Their desire to not have a fish suffer in their tanks or be sent to an unknown aquarist who may or may not take good care of them, leads them to the " Well it's a fish that lives in water and this river/lake has water so it has to be okay in there" philosophy which is just the recipe for disaster down the road. I heard it over and over again working retail. If they only asked before acted, there would be a lot less invasive species in the US.

 

[Jacky12]

Reddish or blonde, a handsome pair of primates, Andy. I had a pet monkey years ago. My dad made me give her away. But that’s the subject of another forum, to paraphrase Dostoyevsky.

I am working on a 125 G pleco tank. More later. I love these guys and am learning the secrets of plucking foot long plus poops, a true art form.

 

[Andy Sager]

Reddish or blonde, a handsome pair of primates, Andy. I had a pet monkey years ago. My dad made me give her away. But that’s the subject of another forum, to paraphrase Dostoyevsky.

I am working on a 125 G pleco tank. More later. I love these guys and am learning the secrets of plucking foot long plus poops, a true art form.

You make me blush.
I've had Squirrel, Whooly and Spider Monkeys and worked with a Chimpanzee at one store but he was the best of them all. He was with me the longest of them all.

I'd just use a small diameter hose ( maybe 1/4" id) and suck them footlongs out of the tank. They don't break up as much that way.