Wild Pleco in Florida
- Thread starter Wet Whiskers
- Start date
uncwnells;3186548; said:
You like those, huh? Ain't they sexy as hell? LOL
I borrowed them from my mother-in-law seeing that I had to go several inches into the water and I like my sketchers. Those things worked well for what I needed them for, but I think they may be 'just a bit' of a fashion faux pas. What happened to a good old pair for yellow or dark green galoshes? Oh, well. I wasn't about to let that stand in my way of catching that big guy. 
rhettdepauw;3185781; said:truly awesome, will you ship?
Seriously, it crossed my mind to ship him home. There was the thought of, "I'll throw him in a cooler for now, jump on MFK and find someone who can ship him for me, and then..." It was the unfinished 'and then' part that sealed the deal on him not coming home. My 180 is FULL, and I have nowhere to quarantine him. My upgrade to a big tank isn't going to be finished for probably 3-4 months, so he stayed there. But, I would guess that I'll eventually have one of those guys hanging out in my tank here in SoCal. I figure, between the blue gills, peacock bass, and plecos that hang out in the canal behind my in-laws house, I'm bound to ship a few boxes home from a visit one of these days.
What keeps these guys in check in there native environments? i would think a gator or something would munch them
I have no idea what keeps their numbers under control. Maybe there is a lot of predation on their eggs and young. Also, perhaps there more diseases and parasites they are susceptible to in the Amazon that they don't have here. The number of introduced and/or invasive species in this area is insane. In that tiny little section on the golf course behind their house, we saw peacock bass, blue gills, grass carp, obviously plecos, and a large snakehead. It was pretty cool to see, but frustrating for the native species. So, I propose that all the MFKer's start catching these guys and taking them home.
Wet Whiskers;3185048; said:Nice! I'd love to SCUBA with them. I'd love to just sit at a bit of a distance, watch them lumber around, and just see them in their natural habitat.
I can't believe you didn't find a pleco, though! They're were so many where I was. We were JUST north of the Everglades. I think there was a large breeding population in those local canals.
Anyone know what the fish rules in them are? I had assumed that they aren't supposed to be there, but I heard that they actually have introduced some sterile Peacock Bass just to help with eliminating some of the invasive species. I was told that this is supposed to be helping, but my source wasn't exactly an expert on this subject. I would suspect that these guys just got too big for their tanks and got released, and weren't part of a master plan.
The plecos were aquarium dumps but not all of them. They are breeding and established down here in south florida. The Peacock Bass WERE purposely introduced by Florida Wildlife but more for sport. They wont survive much farther north than West Palm Beach. They are fertile and breed wonderfully this time of year. Saw one in the canal with a bunch of babies.
Check out Midnights went netting threads. He catches alot of them.
I have dreams like this.
I would love to move to south florida, but I don't belive human beings should inhabit any part of florida. Totally unsustainable.
Around Okeechobee and the Everglades, Homo sapiens is definitely the worst invasive species.
I would love to move to south florida, but I don't belive human beings should inhabit any part of florida. Totally unsustainable.
Around Okeechobee and the Everglades, Homo sapiens is definitely the worst invasive species.
ive caugh quite a few tiny plecos as well in the canal system
i think i got a pic of 1 ...
free plecos whenever i want em
i think i got a pic of 1 ...
free plecos whenever i want em
falloutdead;3187880; said:
Nothing!! That's why they are everywhere and their numbers are so high.
They don't have enough predators and/or can out compete native for resources. Exotics are also able to adapt to and take advantage of new resources.
I haven't been to Florida but I think that the combination of climate and the degree of man made environmental change (urbanbanistaion) has opened up a large number of ecological niches for exotics to take hold and prosper.
The removal of or reduction in native species together with the release of exotics often leads to these problems.
