Study- Compatibility of Largemouth Bass and Peacock Bass in the wild

[ewurm]

A great study on the compatibility of the two species considering that both species are frequently stocked and sometimes mixed.





http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu86MN...lications/Publications/manuscripts/lmbpkb.pdf

 

[ZaireBlue.com]

Excellent read as well. It goes to show you that despite the aggression that Cichla exhibit in reagrds to feeding, they are less hardy in general...and easily dominated by other, more aggressive fishes...like in this case the LMB.

Also, the study shows how important DO is to Cichla, as well as temperature. The fact that Cichla have a narrower range of tolerance to these two parameters compared to the LMB shows that clearly the Cichla have no chance.

Yet, in Florida, the Cichla have established themselves quite nicely in the presence of native LMB populations. Perhaps it's the fact that LMB are essentially non-specialized carnivores compared to Cichla, which are specialized carnivores (in this case piscivores).

Great stuff, EWURM.

 

[ewurm]

Excellent read as well. It goes to show you that despite the aggression that Cichla exhibit in reagrds to feeding, they are less hardy in general...and easily dominated by other, more aggressive fishes...like in this case the LMB.

Also, the study shows how important DO is to Cichla, as well as temperature. The fact that Cichla have a narrower range of tolerance to these two parameters compared to the LMB shows that clearly the Cichla have no chance.

Yet, in Florida, the Cichla have established themselves quite nicely in the presence of native LMB populations. Perhaps it's the fact that LMB are essentially non-specialized carnivores compared to Cichla, which are specialized carnivores (in this case piscivores).

Great stuff, EWURM.

You would think that even though the Cichla are piscivores, they would be more adaptable to their environment in the wild, especially since they are very adaptable feeders in aquaria. It's fairly easy to get a Peacock bass off of live fish. They seem to be very opportunistic in aquaria.

 

[ZaireBlue.com]

You would think that even though the Cichla are piscivores, they would be more adaptable to their environment in the wild, especially since they are very adaptable feeders in aquaria. It's fairly easy to get a Peacock bass off of live fish. They seem to be very opportunistic in aquaria.

Yes, but wild Cichla are markedly more difficult to switch off of feeders when compared to CB Cichla. Also, I would think in a natural setting they would be less likely to be so liberal in their feeding choices. I mean several fishermen who have traveled to SA to fish for these animals have said time and time again that the only thing the big ones will hit are lures mimicking live fishes.

 

[ewurm]

Yes, but wild Cichla are markedly more difficult to switch off of feeders when compared to CB Cichla. Also, I would think in a natural setting they would be less likely to be so liberal in their feeding choices. I mean several fishermen who have traveled to SA to fish for these animals have said time and time again that the only thing the big ones will hit are lures mimicking live fishes.

I would suppose that in the situations where they are introduced, there is no need to be more opportunistic because forage fish are readily available, but in aquaria, they only have to choose from the foods that we offer.

 

[crenipterus svenagalus]

wow. my brain feels bigger already from reading all of that! im really surprised at the outcome! i honestly would have thought the cichla would have done better than they did. now, if the variables changed (such as introducing lmb to s.a.) i wonder how the outcome would have changed, or if it would have changed at all?

good article! thanks for the good reading!

 

[High City Rida]

Very nice read thank's ewurm. It got me thinking of the benifits of replicating a mock envoiroment of flood/low level water's in the home aquaria to see the result's on a personal level. Food for thought. I guess this could be done with a pond system for x amount of month's and then back to a deep tank.

This PDF said the study's begin conducting there reasearch in 1992 July 13 I read that somewhere in the info. I was 13 yrs old. Wow.

 

[bOOsteN aUdI]

You would think that even though the Cichla are piscivores, they would be more adaptable to their environment in the wild, especially since they are very adaptable feeders in aquaria. It's fairly easy to get a Peacock bass off of live fish. They seem to be very opportunistic in aquaria.

lol i can deff. vouch that this is not 100 percent true and have found that each cichla species is a bit different in there own way when it comes to feed and habit.

 

[channarox]

zaire blue is absolutely right...
we always here about how powerful and aggressive channa micropeltes are.
but here in singapore,cichla have been introduced and they have brought the channa population here to near the brink of being endangered.
just goes to show that cichla are serious business....

 

[Venom SS]

This explains the difficulty in keeping juvenile LMB with wild caught juvenile Cichla as well. The LMB is a much more diverse and opportunistic pedator thus leading to faster growth in the aquarium setting. But if all the fish in the tank are just as opportunistic from day 1, I think it will work. I am about to introduce a similar sized LMB to my Cichla community. After reading this I feel the compatability of the two is largely dependant on the personality and feeding habits of individual fish. If the cichla wont take prep food and will only take live, this could lead to the LMB becoming dominant and lead to big issues. But, if the Cichla are just as opportunistic as the LMB, they can probably coexist just fine. This may be why there are so many mixed reviews from keepers that have tried the LMB / Cichla combo. I will have a total of 6 fish ranging from 7" to 9" in a 96x36x24. Will be interesting to observe!