View Full Version : pterois volitans in extreme conditions.
i know i know ideally lionfish should be kept in mid to low light, mid to low flow etc etc.
just want to know whats the most extreme tank you have successfully kept one in? anybody got one with 250's? 400's? anyone got one in a 5 footer with 8 streams?
just interested is all :D
steviejasp
05-11-06, 16:35
cant really help you here matey but have you heard that they are now reaching all the way up the east coast of america as far as new york?
tough little bastids
yeah, reaad that in an article somewhere. been there for years apparently but their numbers are multiplying, crazy isn't it!!!
steviejasp
05-11-06, 16:40
cant remember where i read it the other day but i saw that divers had killed over 500 this year!!
steviejasp
05-11-06, 17:04
yes, cos they're alien invaders:confused:
what they are worried about native species of fish?
when fish migrate in this way, never recorded in history, it says to me its cimatic change, currents at least. culling off invaders wont keep them away, it's not like they are on a mission from ossama bin liner.
Reef bloke
05-11-06, 17:13
What you planning you crazy crazy man!
steviejasp
05-11-06, 17:23
they reckon they were introduced into the sea by hobbyists in florida when they'd outgrown their tanks
i suppose it's possible steve, bit like the terrapins in the lakes here i guess. surely tho, lionfish are natural in the carribean anyway. still odd to kill them, especially when there are aquariums out there to house them.
tony, nothing, honest guv :D
But Pterois volitans is a Pacific species that's why there is an eradication programme in the Estern Atlantic/Caribbean area, same reason we are eradicating top mouth gudgeon (P. parvae) here in the UK. A nice fish just in the wrong place
is it just the volitans that isn't native to the atlantic or does that go for antennata and radiata? apart from dwarf lions are there not any kind of atlantic lions?
I checked on fish base. Certainly the Caribbean P volitans are introduced not sure about the P antennata and P radiata though, again fish base suggests an Indo-Pacific range
Scoob have you got something in the pipe line.
John.
i know i know ideally lionfish should be kept in mid to low light, mid to low flow etc etc.
just want to know whats the most extreme tank you have successfully kept one in? anybody got one with 250's? 400's? anyone got one in a 5 footer with 8 streams?
just interested is all :D
New Guy Steve has just posted this ...... He has 2 x 250 MH and thinking of adding another, Maybe you could have a chat to him ?
http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=193384
do they have proof that they were introduced, or is it just that they are damaging local inhabitants, basically i don't understand why the eradication programme is being carried out??:confused:
Yes there is proof they were introduced (Pterois volitans was absent from the Caribbean area from the 1600's, when records began, until it was found there in the 1980's)
Are they doing any harm? Yes they are displacing the Caribbeans natural small reef predators and eating prey animals that have not evolved avoidance or defence strategies. So kill 'em all I say. Fine in their natural habitat (Indo-Pacific)bad where they are not.
simon garratt
06-11-06, 09:51
I think there may be a little miss assumtion that lionfish are veracous preditors when in actual fact they arnt at all. nore are they prolific breeders to the degree they can swamp an area as far as im aware.
Ive watched them in family groups hunting in the wild and they will typically rest up during the day not bothering anything and go out from dusk till dawn looking for schools of small feeder fish (usually blue darts etc). and sit there picking just a few out of thousands off.
I certainly cant see them adding any more pressure onto wild populations over and above the many species of preditory fish allready out there such as groupers, anglers, snappers, juvanile tuna, and a whole host of oceanic/fringing reef open water fish that come in to feed like this every day.
There were rumours that Divers had deliberately introduced them as a feature on guided tours as a way of creating an interest. However i doubt this is true. Id put more faith in the 'hobbyist release' theory to be honest. But my favorite, is ballast tank migration where fertilised eggs/larvae/juvaniles are sucked up into the ballast tanks of commercial ships and transported across wide expanses of ecean to be deposited in other locations..especialy considering the lionfishes penchant for inhabiting less than ideal water conditions such as esturies and ports etc.
regards
Si.
I always find it slightly interesting the concept of control of foreign/invasive species, and the views on different things. Some small things are killed/removed on sight. Others may actually be left alone. The best example that always comes to mind is human kind. We're invasive, spreading to different places and damaging them. Cept there's nothing to keep us in check. If there was I'd imagine we'd attack it :D
hey simon, how interested are you in reading further about ballast water management.
i have some very boring links and pdf files that you may find of interest showing what is and what isn't allowed with regards to the IMO, MARPOL, MCA and DNV.
simon garratt
06-11-06, 12:56
Very interested Scoob. Its (belived by some) that it plays a major roll in how minor species migrate from one location to another across the expanses. and possibly how more developed species have made it to other locations seemingly impassible due to oceanic currents/geography baring the path.
Any info that confirms or negates, would be appreciated.
Regards
si.
Eriocheir sinensis the Chinese mitten crab is supposed to have come into the UK by the ballast water route
source http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/other-invertebrates/chinese-mitten-crabs/chinese-mitten-crabs.html
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