03-27-2006, 06:15 PM
now changing the subject....I'm guessing that most of the "piranha" found in the Jordan were actually red bellied pacus. You can buy them at about any walmart or pet store. They are kind of a vegetarian cousin to the piranha, and look a lot like it without all the teeth.
The problem with these is similar to the oscar. People buy this cute little 1" long fish and put it in their small fish tank without realizing that it will grow out to 12+ inches. Pacus will grow much larger than that.
A lot of people that get these find out that even pet stores don't want to take them back at that size. They don't "have the heart" to kill them, so they dump them in their local canal or the Jordan river.
Speaking of which, I'm really surprised that the oscars never got a foothold in the Jordan or Utah Lake. They often live in similar climates as bass, and I'm sure there have been tons of them dumped into the river.
There are areas in Florida that have a LOT of fish that are not native to the area, but have over-run it because of people dumping their pets. There are tournaments in some areas there for oscars. One of the strangest is the 'clown knife'. I believe it is naturally from somewhere like thailand. I have one in my tank. I think they can get up around 40" in the right conditions. They have tournaments for those in Florida.
k, enough about that...now back to the pirahna discussion.
[signature]
The problem with these is similar to the oscar. People buy this cute little 1" long fish and put it in their small fish tank without realizing that it will grow out to 12+ inches. Pacus will grow much larger than that.
A lot of people that get these find out that even pet stores don't want to take them back at that size. They don't "have the heart" to kill them, so they dump them in their local canal or the Jordan river.
Speaking of which, I'm really surprised that the oscars never got a foothold in the Jordan or Utah Lake. They often live in similar climates as bass, and I'm sure there have been tons of them dumped into the river.
There are areas in Florida that have a LOT of fish that are not native to the area, but have over-run it because of people dumping their pets. There are tournaments in some areas there for oscars. One of the strangest is the 'clown knife'. I believe it is naturally from somewhere like thailand. I have one in my tank. I think they can get up around 40" in the right conditions. They have tournaments for those in Florida.
k, enough about that...now back to the pirahna discussion.
[signature]