natalie265
Fish Crazy
Some of you will know exactly what i'm talking about. For those that don't, here's some background info:
About 2 years ago, someone posted on this forum that they were approached by a stranger at Walmart who told him about a secret hot springs that was populated with tropical fish. The poster lived in a climate that frequently dipped below freezing in the winter time, and he was skeptical, but eventually followed this man's instructions and found the springs just as the mysterious man had described.
Members of the TFF were also skeptical because the poster did not take any pictures on his first visit to the springs. Pages and pages of replies ensued of people anxiously awaiting proof of this unlikely find. The poster went back the following week and provided photos that could not be disputed.
The poster decided not to disclose the location of the pond in order to protect it. Then, the poster moved away, and presumably is no longer on this forum. His secret was lost....until now!
When i saw his photos of the pond, the terrain was very familiar and i suspected it might be located in my home state of Utah. In fact, it is in a neighboring state and its location is EXTREMELY remote! It's amazing i found it! During my visit, daytime temperatures were about 50 F, and about to get much, much colder! But the fish in the pond are clearly thriving.
Most of the fish were cichlids, and unfortunately i'm not a cichlid person. I would guess yellow labs and electric blues. The largest and most prevalent fish i cannot ID, though i believe it is a cichlid. There were tons and tons of fry of all different shapes and sizes! Also a few comet goldfish that i suspect are not that happy in water that must be at least 75 F. I did not have a thermometer, or a net (to get a better look and better photos of the fish). I did bring a water sample home and tested the PH which is about 7.8.
I'll get some photos up tomorrow night. Maybe someone can positively ID the fish.
About 2 years ago, someone posted on this forum that they were approached by a stranger at Walmart who told him about a secret hot springs that was populated with tropical fish. The poster lived in a climate that frequently dipped below freezing in the winter time, and he was skeptical, but eventually followed this man's instructions and found the springs just as the mysterious man had described.
Members of the TFF were also skeptical because the poster did not take any pictures on his first visit to the springs. Pages and pages of replies ensued of people anxiously awaiting proof of this unlikely find. The poster went back the following week and provided photos that could not be disputed.
The poster decided not to disclose the location of the pond in order to protect it. Then, the poster moved away, and presumably is no longer on this forum. His secret was lost....until now!
When i saw his photos of the pond, the terrain was very familiar and i suspected it might be located in my home state of Utah. In fact, it is in a neighboring state and its location is EXTREMELY remote! It's amazing i found it! During my visit, daytime temperatures were about 50 F, and about to get much, much colder! But the fish in the pond are clearly thriving.
Most of the fish were cichlids, and unfortunately i'm not a cichlid person. I would guess yellow labs and electric blues. The largest and most prevalent fish i cannot ID, though i believe it is a cichlid. There were tons and tons of fry of all different shapes and sizes! Also a few comet goldfish that i suspect are not that happy in water that must be at least 75 F. I did not have a thermometer, or a net (to get a better look and better photos of the fish). I did bring a water sample home and tested the PH which is about 7.8.
I'll get some photos up tomorrow night. Maybe someone can positively ID the fish.
), I don't know anything about that. I would not know how these fish got there, and when, and if any other fish had been there before. Okay, I assumed that this is the way it has been for quite a while, and basically jumped to conclusions, but it is best to preserve it unless we know 100% for certain. I'm sure someone can enlighten us further, though, as to whether they had possibly displaced native fish, if there were in fact any. Maybe there was nothing at all, and somebody decided to 'experiment.' But at the end of the day, whatever the case, you can guarantee there'd be someone to mess AGAIN, if anything has been messed with already. If it's entirely artificial, then shame on the person who displaced native wildlife (if they did) - and if they didn't, then it's still unique and quite an interesting experiment (or reckless, selfish, etc...depends how you look at it, so many ways to...someone could have been abandoning their fish, and this could be how it ended up).
.
/www.mystichotsprings.com/Tropical_Fish/tropical_fish.html
