I've Found Heaven On Earth

[DiscusKeeper403]

This is so cool! With the size and a little shelter anything can be accomplished really (fish keeping wise)!

im really amazed by this really

but i wouldnt have gone in and started to take the fish away and put them in a tank....

if you find a new hybred than that would be cool

but if you can get them store bought then why risk disturbing such a beautiful thing



i would just leave it alone and appriciate such a cool little "fish heaven"

Well, I did think about it carefully and decided that taking 3 fish from it would not disturb this cool little place, and it should be obvious from my posts that I have conservation of this place as a number one priority. But I really do respect your opinion, but feel a bit differently about it. However the motivating factor for taking fish from there isn't because I think they can not be found elsewhere (well, actually some probably can't and I have found 3 fish that are unknown to me) but it is more the fact that they are free, and store bought fish aren't.

And to fishfishfish, I am planning a trip there soon and hope to go snorkeling... I will let you know if I find any bottom dwellers.

Watch out! Who knows whats down there (some fish will nip at humans!) I would be careful a Snakehead has been known to attack and hurt humans before so I wouldn't risk it!

 

[eskcarr]

So I was at my the Wal-Mart fish section just looking (I would never buy from there ) while my wife was shopping. An older gentlemen came up to me and told me about a hidden/secluded hotspring pool where tropical fish thrive. I was a bit skeptical as the weather here frequently gets 20 below (F) in the wintertime. But I took down the directions anyways.

Yesterday I decided to grab a buddy of mine and with nets and buckets in tow, we went in search of these fabled hot springs. With the help of some locals and after 2 hours of searching we found a huge pool in the middle of the sagebrush desert, hours away from any sort of city and.... we were astonished to find hundreds, if not thousands of african cichlids, guppies, koi, some south american cichlids, etc living in this pool! It was the coolest thing I had ever seen.

The pool remains a constant 80 degrees or so and empties into a stream where the water quickly drops below 50 within a couple of yards, so all of the fish are self contained in this pool. Our methods for catching fish were terrible at best but we did manage to get one beautiful african cichlid and a fish I have never seen in my life. I will post it in a seperate thread in hopes that I can get an ID. Anyways, pictures are forthcoming, as I forgot my camera... but I will go there again soon. Has anyone else heard of places like this??

Here's a link to one of the fish we found there: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=199045

If you are living in the USA I think your nuts or a least high!!!!!1

 

[Amunet]

eskcarr... did you even bother to read through the thread? Or at least look at the photos AND video this guy posted? As crazy as his story sounded, he proved that he was telling the truth.

 

[Chuka1212]

If you are living in the USA I think your nuts or a least high!!!!!1

Ummmm, what? Obviously you didn't read the entire post. I even put what pages the pics and video can be found. So I'm not sure why I would be "high"... or "nuts". Maybe for going there in the first place... My family would agree with you there.

 

[kribensis12]

i cant wait for some more pics. Check for kribensis while your there.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Didn't find this thread till it was on it's 15th page but it actually sounds really really cool! Like most members I find myself getting anxious to see more pictures!! If you do deicide to go snorkeling try to bring a disposable underwater camera to get some neat pics!

 

[merry78]

yeah, c'mon c'mon c'mon! we wanna see more!!

 

[promithius]

on the gas issue. here in the UK we are paying up to 99.9p A LITRE! thats about $8 per gallon. count yourselfs lucky!

 

[Chuka1212]

Ok, so I while ago I told everyone that I had caught a weird golden guppy at the ponds, and promised to get a picture since my friend was keeping him. Anyways I finally got one and when I saw him again he sort of looked like a platy. What do you guys think?

Also here is a way ugly dude we caught, it looks like a convict cichlid.... anyone know what it is? My friend is keeping him also...

 

[poopsydrew]

The golden fish looks like a platy to me. I am unsure about the second.

Drew

 

[Danno]

A beautiful Platty at that!! I wouldn't mind taking him off of your hands
Second is a guppy (same picture)

Third is a cichlid of some kind...I am not a cichlid person.

 

[SoCalMom]

Pretty cool

There is a pond like that a few hours from me also. I went there alot when I was younger. Same type of fish...koi, chichlids, guppies, and some that looked like eels


I just don't agree with you catching and keeping them

 

[Deep Freeze]

Is this the biggest thread in the forum?

 

[Chuka1212]

Pretty cool

There is a pond like that a few hours from me also. I went there alot when I was younger. Same type of fish...koi, chichlids, guppies, and some that looked like eels


I just don't agree with you catching and keeping them

I respect your opinion, but I really can see no difference in buying fish from a store and keeping them... In fact, some tropical and many marines are caught from the wild and either sold or bred for the pet trade. Also, for some of the fish it is a better life in the home aquarium than in the pond. They don't have to worry about their next meal or about the many predatory cichlids that inhabit the lake. The water conditions in that pond are also not optimal for some of the species living in it, whereas we can create their parameters much better in a tank. And if you have read the thread, conservation of the population is ALWAYS a number one priority of mine and would never hurt the population there.

And to deep freeze- could this really be the biggest thread??? Who would have thought.
To all- Thanks for the fish ID help,
Is that a common color or form of platy? and anyone know what the cichlid is??

 

[SoCalMom]

Pretty cool

There is a pond like that a few hours from me also. I went there alot when I was younger. Same type of fish...koi, chichlids, guppies, and some that looked like eels


I just don't agree with you catching and keeping them

I respect your opinion, but I really can see no difference in buying fish from a store and keeping them... In fact, some tropical and many marines are caught from the wild and either sold or bred for the pet trade. Also, for some of the fish it is a better life in the home aquarium than in the pond. They don't have to worry about their next meal or about the many predatory cichlids that inhabit the lake. The water conditions in that pond are also not optimal for some of the species living in it, whereas we can create their parameters much better in a tank. And if you have read the thread, conservation of the population is ALWAYS a number one priority of mine and would never hurt the population there.

Yes, I actually did take the time to read the whole thread

I'm aware that some fish that are sold in lfs are wild caught; doesn't mean I agree with it any more than I did two seconds ago

I really wasn't trying to start a debate here. Just giving my opinion