Very Interesting Topic:Wild Caught spring firemouth upper florida!

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The same with reptiles not so much people letting them go it’s usually the result of natural disasters hitting a breeder
 
GUYS these fish are in no way damaging the ecosystem in my area, 1) it’s too cold for them to survive in regular bodies of water because it’s too cold they will die off when winter hits. 2) the spring is cut off from the main river, these fish were dumped in here by someone with aquarium fish and have been there since for years. Even if they did escape into the main river they will have many other larger fish and predators that could have these 6” firemouth for dinner. There is no way they are hurting the ecosystem at 6” long.

The Only reason these firemouth are able to survive in this spring is because this little spring never goes lower than 70 degrees.

Now tilapia on the other hand are invasive, and should be killed if caught but I haven’t identified the “tilapia looking fish” so why would I just catch it and kill it?
 
GUYS these fish are in no way damaging the ecosystem in my area, 1) it’s too cold for them to survive in regular bodies of water because it’s too cold they will die off when winter hits. 2) the spring is cut off from the main river, these fish were dumped in here by someone with aquarium fish and have been there since for years. Even if they did escape into the main river they will have many other larger fish and predators that could have these 6” firemouth for dinner. There is no way they are hurting the ecosystem at 6” long.

The Only reason these firemouth are able to survive in this spring is because this little spring never goes lower than 70 degrees.

Now tilapia on the other hand are invasive, and should be killed if caught but I haven’t identified the “tilapia looking fish” so why would I just catch it and kill it?
The problem with letting these fish into the ecosystem is that in the event that they breed and breed and breed they could overrun natural species for the food supply. In this case if the source of these fish is not connected to natural waters then I agree with you that its not a big deal.

The major problem with Florida is the dang ol' pythons. I have no idea what people are thinking when they keep a frickin reticulated python for a pet. I respect the reptile hobby but IMO keeping a snake that is able to eat a small child is just plain wreckless.

Its much too late to really do much about invasive cichlids, I would be more worried about fish like snakeheads which pretty much become top of the fish foodchain. Florida is full of big big Bass that could easily eat most adult cichlids(minus big Parachromis or Amphs). But snakeheads are a different story.
 
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