WILD PEARL CICHLIDS IN AUSTRALIA, Feral Geophagus brasiliensis are taking over our Waterways!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- This beautiful aquarium fish has unfortunately started to make a bad name for it self, originally from South America this fish has been pretty popular in the aquarium industry in the past, unfortunately for them they are very tough and produce 100s of young readily, some would think this is a good thing but they can quickly overwhelm the owner hobbyist and their local fish store that can only sell so many.
We all hate the tough laws in Australia but if we're not responsible as pet owners they will only get tougher and here's a good example.
Us as hobbyists have a responsibility to first see if there is a demand for a fish before breeding it as it can't help it's own natural instinct to want to reproduce, I have made this short video to show just what could happen when things start to get out of hand.
If you want to keep these types of fish as I do my self just don't let them reproduce unless you definitely have people that want them or this is what could happen, most may feel sorry for the fish and think it's humane to release them, but what about all our poor natives that then have to deal with our mistake.
It is actually illegal to release even native fish into our waterways as even the natives can spread disease or cross breed with other fish locals to produce hybrids, nothing good can come from this practice unless licensed to do so, for example qualified restocking programs.
Thank you for watching I hope this was helpful and please don't release unwanted fish, if you see any strange fish or aquatic plants don't hesitate to report them to your local fisheries, you may help stop the spread and damage as you have seen in this video.
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Knowing that someone would've dumped their unwanted aquarium fish really annoys me as a fish keeper myself. If you want to keep fish, be responsible about it.
If you're not prepared to care for these types of fish for the term of their life, don't buy them. And doing some proper research into the fish you're thinking of buying before buying it would be a great idea too.
Thanks for bringing awareness to invasive species.
Thank you for watching and your comment 🙂
I love Australia but become saddened when travelling around and seeing the landscape overrun with weed and introduced pest animals. Even at home and seeing neighbourhood cats roaming around makes me hate people and their lack of respect and appreciation for our unique flora and fauna.
Yes same!
You're absolutely not alone there. Roaming cats drive me crazy and the number of aquarium fish in our water ways is just depressing.
@@shibibi1 I've always said, it's weird you need a permit to keep native wildlife that probably wouldn't cause any damage if it got away, but anyone can own a cat, one of the most destructive animals you could keep.
If you need help spearing them let me know@@australianbiotopes4563
I’m a Gold prospector and I’ve learned a lot about many invasive animals through the hobby. There’re so many thorny bushes here that are non native all through the gold fields. Diggers brought the blackberries and thorny trees to provide bush tucker, provide more habitat for non-native animals they brought here that they intended to hunt for food. And brought fish like European Carp, multiple Trout species, Redfin, multiple Perch species I’m probably missing some fish but all these non-native fish compete for resources with native animals not adapted for such competition, and they in turn become threatened by predation and competition for food. Reducing the populations of animals that have lived here and evolved on this land for literally unimaginable amounts of time. Whenever I’m out there it’s impossible to not see an invasive species of something. I always wonder if the old diggers knew that the thorn trees would just take over the fields and make a lot of the gold pretty inaccessible unless you’re wearing a damn EOD suit. I always feel like they’re laughing at me from their graves when I fall into an invasive thorn bush or something. Like they wanted future gold diggers to struggle.
Then Australian aquarium hobbyists wonder why so many species are banned in Australia. This probably was released by a hobbyist.
Yes maybe, or maybe someone that just didn't know any better, that is the reason I made this video, to show people what could happen.
Best upload I've seen on TH-cam for a while. Well done, thank you.
Thank you for the nice comment! 🙂
Great video
Thanks
I have goldfish and koi and would NEVER release unwanted fish in our natural environment.
I like the fact you give the warning at the end of your video.
Have sent your video to friends many of them work for our federal Quarantine dept.
All the best
Lewis
Sydney
Thank you! I have also tried to share it as well, hopefully these videos go viral and something might get done, I plan to do as many as I can on the invasive species in future, but I want them to be done well with good footage so they don't just get brushed off.
I'm an old aquatist . These fish have got to be netted out of this system, pronto ! Great that there's a video out there, but we need to get in there and net the bloody things out !!! AND the place needs continued monitoring. Come on Australia !!!!!!
I don’t know if extermination is possible.
An example of this is Florida which has dozens of invasive fish species from their aquarium trade.
I haven’t heard of them controlling and exterminating even one of the invasive species successfully.
The problem is that you literally have to catch every fish. If even a half dozen are not caught - they can breed thousands in the next year or two and you are back at square one.
Florida also has ridiculous numbers of nutria (a form of giant rodent) which grows to half a metre. They also have thousands of invasive reticulated pythons and Burmese pythons that grow up to 23 feet.
Its a real ark of invasive species, over 500 at last count.
I think the ship has sailed on these but hopefully we can stop others from getting in, they are in every nook and cranny of this system and others, the best we can do is maybe keep them down a little and stop the spread to other waterways that don't have them, this is the main reason for this video.
@@australianbiotopes4563 Yes - education is key here. But unfortunately it just takes one idiot to do the wrong thing.
If you can have idiots lighting fires in the middle of a 42 degree day, you will have idiots releasing fish into the system just to be contrary.
If the waterway in this video weren’t so huge (like it was a small dam of 5 hectares) you could just bite the bullet and poison the waterway - make sure the Geophagus doesn’t escape the system. But this lake looks gigantic.
The fear is this fish might get into other waterways during a mega flooding event. Same way those dozen bull sharks ended ip in that golf course when half of QLD was flooded.
@@Whaleydavey The unfortunate part is the Brisbane River Cod is extinct from over fishing, but the good news is they are now releasing the Mary River Cod that is very similar to the Brisbane River system in large number, so this might bring a large predator back to combat these fish, something that has been lacking for years, we will see in a few years if it helps.
@@australianbiotopes4563 Is that an ideal solution?
I watched a TH-cam video of how they introduced the Nile Perch into Lake Victoria on purpose. The lake had hundreds of different species of cichlids and most of them were threatened by the huge appetite of this giant fish.
However if the Mary River Cod is of a similar size and similar behaviour as the cod it is replacing, I guess there shouldn’t be too much harm done.
Yup beautiful and majestic, in South America, or in your fish tank. Ugly when introduced as an invasive species. Anywhere! It’s a shame we can’t be more responsible as a species.
Thank you for bringing this to the attention of aquarium hobbyists. It needs to be said more often.
✌️🦐🐟🤙
Thank you for watching! yes it is unfortunate and not really the fishes fault, they are just doing what comes naturally.
I think Australian Environmental Departments and Fisheries have to step up and start banning the sale of harmful non-endemic species to save our own wildlife, repair damaged habitat. The list of noxious fish and plant species is just growing bigger, from Gambusia to Tilapia and on and on. You can't sell Queensland as a pristine natural wilderness anymore; that is a joke.
Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) have taken over the lower Chapman River system here in Geraldton.
Yes they are like Cane Toads now, almost in every creek on the east coast where it is warm enough for them.
Great work Jason! Thanks for all your efforts in conservation
Thanks for watching! it takes an army I'm just a small part that doesn't want my kids growing up seeing these places destroyed 🙂
I've recently seen them in the Liege Street wetland and the Cygnia Waters wetland along the north shore of the Canning River.
That's no good Thanks for letting us know.
Thanks! Have you thought about sharing this with Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Queensland? I'm in NSW and our equivalent the NSW Department of Primary Industries issues fishing licenses and sends email newsletters to all recreational fishermen. If they share your story, there'll be hundreds of people willing to volunteer their time to catch these bastards. Will share this with my fishing friends to encourage them to catch them next time they're in Brissy.
I have tried to share it where ever I can, I also have some friends here that work or have worked in that field that are sharing it as well, lets hope the word gets around, I am going to try and make more of these on other invasive species as I collect the footage as well to make more people aware of this, I'm also in local fish clubs and they have shared them as well, feel free to share it around as much as you can, Thanks 🙂
What is wrong with people to let these things go in our waterways FFS
Exactly!
Cichlid is a good fish to eat, may be we should drop a few lines down and get ourselves a free dinner
Yes they are healthy in that pristine water to.
So frustrating to see these Pearl Cichlids in our waterways. Just last weekend I visited Northbrook creek and pulled up over 150 of these in traps (all exterminated). So unfortunate to see their large populations taking over beautiful native Australian fish.
Nice one! I'm happy to hear you got out so many.
I lived on Wivenhoe dam 2022 to 2023 and caught cyclids in the dam. I have been 400km West of the coast in FNQ and found cyclids taking over from Sooty Grunter. I have a pet blue gorahmmi I caught in the burdekin.
Yeah it's shocking where you can find feral fish up that way and sometimes makes you wonder how they got there, unfortunately the warmer weather and floods makes for a perfect place for them to spread much easier, people in the tropics have to much more careful or those beautiful places will be ruined, I've come across some scary stuff while filming, it makes me angry some times, hopefully it doesn't get out of hand.
@@australianbiotopes4563 we also have a pet Red Devil about 30cm long caught in Ross River Townsville. We use talapia as Batr bait and join forces to eradicate the pests. The talapia in salt water are good eating I hear 😋👍
@@patrickmcmanus5373 Yeah we got them down here to in the local man made lakes and they have reverted back to their wild colours, nice fish but they don't belong. Just be careful using the Tilapia, if you get caught with it in your possession dead or alive there are big fines, Stupid law as you can buy the flesh now in seafood shops but it's imported of course so the money goes back overseas rather then fixing a problem here. Tilapia actually has a really nice flesh and is farmed all over the world and if you ever have imported fish fingers you are probably already eating it, this country needs to get with the times and maybe try and fix a problem at the same time make some money in the process, we are never going to be rid of them now, they are in just about every waterway this side of the Great Dividing Range and in WA. they should just let people catch and keep if they want to, dead of coarse for food, most will even release them back because they are a no keep fish, I've even spoken to Bio Security about it and it's like talking to a brick wall they are set in their ways with no good outcome.
@@australianbiotopes4563 a scientist told me that they have been catching feral fish since 1960
Some people are so irresponsible.
Yes or just don't have the knowledge.
As if the Tilapia, livebearers and carp weren't bad enough
Exactly! mate it is upsetting to see.
@@mseeker369 Yes we will never be rid of them, I have seen them in just about every creek up the east coast of QLD.
@@mseeker369 Yes they have been in there for awhile, hopefully the Mary River Cod they are now releasing will cut them down a bit.
Invasive species are terrible & perhaps impossible to stop (eg. Carp) once introduced. Fish keepers and owners of foreign species perhaps, need licencing. This may pay for education. I'm happy for such, if introduced, as it would be a step forward to stopping such blights
Thank you for bringing this to everyone’s attention, with all the normal life issues like the rent crisis and cost of living we really forgot our backyard friends. I hope some day we can get them out and have our amazing fish selection thriving again. ❤
One can only hope, but it's probably here to stay unfortunately.
@@australianbiotopes4563 Yes, that is the sour thuth maybe one day
What is wrong with some of these aquaculturists?
Why would you release an exotic pest?
Madness
Excellent vid mate👍
After the floods a few years ago in SEQ, we caught a few Oscars and convic Cichlids.
Thank you! it wouldn't surprise me.
Where were the Oscars, we could have a fishing comp and call it the oscars
@@vwbusguy LoL sounds good 👍
I've found them in a few places, the creek behind the Windaroo golf course and Pacific Pines park at the small lake that goes into the Coombabah wet lands.
You would be surprised at the amount of South American chichlids that show up!
@@willknight1005 Yeah pretty sad what gets around.
Music is a bit loud at some points bro. Solid info though, cheers
Thanks for your feedback, yes I noticed my self once it was published, I fixed it in the next one.
@@australianbiotopes4563 Keep up the good work. Very informative
Just came back from camping in Imbil State Forest near Kenilworth, caught one of those and a few green swordtail that are also super invasive apparently. 😢
I didnt have internet connection to check if it was invasive, now that i know, next time im there i will net them all.
Music doesn't help, mate. We need to hear your voice.
I just don’t understand why there are not greater restrictions on species the aquarium trade can sell, and why criminalising the release of non native species cannot be reinforced at point of sale. Mum and dad getting little Johnny a fishtank for his room may not have any idea they are doing the wrong thing in liberating the family pet once its outgrown its tank. Educate these people at point of sale and warn of the severe consequences, environmentally as well as legally.
This is so sad! People are irresponsible when it comes to get rid of their pets. Our species is very good in destroying the planet.
We live 20 min away from Wivenhoe Dam but I didn't know about this huge problem.
Thanks for the video, Jason.
Yes very sad indeed! it's not your fault not knowing, most don't know what goes on even in our local waterways, my aim is to change that as much as I can, mostly it is out of sight and out of mind to most but it's just as important as say our Koala habitat as everything has a chain reaction effect.
@@australianbiotopes4563 we need more people like you. People who don't close their eyes and take action.
So much damage has been done by introducing species from other countries. Just look at the cane toads, foxes, rabbits... The list is endless. I feel sorry for those animals too because it wasn't their fault that they ended up in Australia.
@@Bonnie10au Exactly! Thank you, I just want our kids to enjoy what I have.
You are doing ssuch a great job with these recent videos.
Thank you! like everything it's a learning experience, when you see a documentary they have a whole crew to do it, but watching some of those on how they put them together actually helps me I love watching them and slowly pick up tips, it's been a process to get to this but I'm slowly starting to really get happy with them 🙂
I thought it is illegal to import any non native animal into this country. I thought I couldn't import foreign snakes and lizards for example, I also had no idea about the aquarium industry, are they exempt from this importation law?
I'll tell you something, some people are absolute garbage, isn't Australia infested with enough damaging feral animals as it is without importing more exotics and releasing them
Over the years the authorities have learnt, a lot of these fish were here before the tougher laws as are some reptiles, the difference is they have made people hand reptiles in, but there are a certain amount of fish that can still be imported as they don't pose a treat, but others do slip through as well and as bio security is overwhelmed and underfunded they can't keep up with it all, once these get into a system they are a lot harder to get rid of as well, but these fish have been here for many years, some have been re-called but others haven't, if this keeps going it will only get tougher though.
Hi Davey, sorry for the late reply. Thank you for taking the time to respond. Much appreciate you commenting. Yes you’re quite right about the isolation aspect of populations. It only takes a furtive female to escape and it’s Florida all over again with rampant invasive species .
In Florida, their tropical fish industry is huge. Imports into the States are massive.
I have known of Australian Navy
personnel buying their marine fish stock from Florida.
I suppose my grave concern centres around our fragile waterways and our struggling natives which end up largely as being prey to the invaders due to the nature of the invasive species. And the fact that the invaders spawn so readily here and how the frey are protected .
Coming from a scientific background, I just wish that the issue of invasion here, was pushed up the priority list. We are very likely to see total destruction of our natural tropical fish fresh water system to invasive species within a decade. 😢
Thank you for commenting but who is Davey, I know my name isn't and I'm the only person doing this channel 🙂
Great video but would be good to turn down the background music so we can hear what you are saying.
Thanks for watching! and thanks for your feedback, yes it was a bit loud in this one sorry 🙂
just quickly wanna thank you for the quality videos you post jeep it up!
Thank you! I try and better my self each time I learn a little more.
It's been warm for an extended periot, eventually a nasty winter will knock em out I imagine. Still, idiots dumping Cichlids and taking out the native stuff in the mean time.
These have been here for probably over 20 years and are cold tolerant, they come from South America but the areas they come from pretty much match our climate in SEQ. they probably won't get down further south but if they get into some of the waterways further north there could be more problems, they have just become more prolific in the past few years so they are seen a lot more.
More berra would help ?
Yes it would but unfortunately if we have one cold snap in these impoundments they all die as it can get to cold for them, good news is they are releasing a heap of Mary River Cod into the system, but it will take a few years for them to grow.
This is such a sad story. But thanks for sharing it and keeping us informed.
Yes I love this area and filming the native fish, it's unfortunate I had to come across this.
Cichlid are insane. I had one small convict take on two large Oscars. It had to be moved to a different aquarium.
Yes they can be really aggressive.
I appreciate your effort to make this more known in the hobby and public via youtube!
Such a shame to destroy old ecosystems by irresponsibly releasing foreign fish.
They been around for awhile. 1997 I 1st recorded finding one in a waterbody near Maryborough
Yes I know they have been here for years, but just in the last few years they have become so prolific.
They are every where in Perth area
Tilapia have become a major problem in Brisbane creeks and waterways
Tilapia have become a problem in just about every creek from the sub tropics of NSW to Far North QLD along the coastal waterways inland to the Great Dividing Range, this is why I posted this, it could happen with these as well if we're not careful, it's bad enough having one, we don't want another.
It’s such A shame that aquarium owners don’t know enough about wat happens if u let aquarium fish go in foreign waters people just need to be educated a little when they buy fish not just a sale
One of the reasons I thought I would make it my mission, as a dedicated aquarium owner my self I feel it's my responsibility with a channel like this, most aquarium stores are very responsible but you do get the odd one that doesn't care, I have actually been unfortunate to work at one of these and I have to say I left as soon as I found out, I didn't want anything to do with them, it's a sad practice.
I’ve never known this fish was even in our waterways. This is crazy that they’re in reservoirs and waterways. I’ve never come across them.
They are still patchy but they are slowly spreading unfortunately, they don't readily take bait like most fish being that they are sand sifters, still they do occasionally get caught.
Is there an eradication programme similar to the one with crucian carp? Does the government know about their presence?
Not that I'm aware of, that is one of the reasons for this video.
What we need is a native predator to be introduced to this dam because as we aquarists know big fish eat little fish . There will be obvious decimation to other species but these can easily be re-stocked .
We used to have one, the Brisbane River Cod, but is now extinct , the goo news is they are now re-stocking the Mary River Cod back into the system, they have just not long released thousands of fingerlings, they are really closely related to our extinct cod and I think in a few years when they start to get size to them it will help.
I use to keep and bred these years ago. Quite prolific breeders and aggressive fish as well.
Yes they look nice but not the best aquarium fish, I had 10 in a tank, they all got killed but one pair that started to breed, pretty aggressive fish.
Thanks for keeping watch over our natives so that our future generations may get a chance to have first hand experience in its beauty.
And also thank you for sharing mate! 🤗
Thanks for watching! I'd love to document as much as I can and encourage others to do the same as we don't have enough out there on our native habitats and we have many nice biotopes.
What's the fisheries doing to stop the spreading of this species ?.
Gerard.
Not much as far as I know.
some cultures have a traditions to release their fish for various reasons so education needs to be a key motivator to help stem the issue getting worse , the great lakes in america had the same issue with snake heads and flying carp ect
Yes this is another problem.
Thankyou
Bloody carp of the North 😢
Not quite but getting there, I'd say Tilapia take that roll, still not good though.
Our Stupid Fisheries will put a Catch Quota on these too
I doubt it, it's a big headache for them as well.
I've caught at least a hundred of these bastards in my local creek they make it so hard to catch any natives
Yeah it's annoying but better out then in, next time I go out and catch some big ones I'm going to see how they taste, maybe smoke them, the good thing is you can take them home where you can't with the Tilapia.
Great video.
This might be a dumb question but how do they survive our winter temperatures? I thought they were a warm water species or do they just adapt.
Southern South America probably gets colder then here, we are used to seeing all the jungles but we aren't much different.
Another excellent video pin pointing what an invasive fish can do. Thanks
Thank you! and thanks for watching 🙂
Box net the creek for 3 years to try deplete the numbers?
I've been trying, I get everything else but them, they don't seem to want to go into traps, you get the occasional one, the young are easy to catch on hooks but the adults are more fussy, as earth eaters, I even threw live worms in front of them while snorkelling and they ignored them and just kept chewing the bottom.
@@australianbiotopes4563can you spear them instead?
@@ladypeiandtheclown5410 It's illegal to spear fish in freshwater or I would of done that, while I was snorkelling you could see how close I could get to them, they weren't afraid.
@@australianbiotopes4563 damn that’s a shame
I knew that this would happen.
Who let these into the country in the 1st place ??
They have been here for a long time, unfortunately this happens, that's why I made this video, hopefully it will educate people.
Throw some Oscar’s into the mix 😂
That will just make it even worse.
Wow I had no idea😢why are people so irresponsible😢
It may not just be people being irresponsible, it could also be lack of education, some people don't know any better and don't want to harm the fish and think by setting them free is an option, that is one of the reason for these videos to educate, yes there are probably irresponsible people as well, our local fish club has done up a heap of posters to educate people as well and we have as a group started to hand them out to fish stores to try and help this problem, hopefully it will stop it as much as it can, Most good stores will take unwanted fish back as well as an option to be re-homed.
It was bad enough when we were dealing with carp and tilapia. Lately (the last 5-6 years) I've been hearing more and more reports of these fish around the western areas of Brisbane. Then plecostomus. Then oscars. I even read reports of peacock bass found near Mackay. Rumors of wolf and jaguar cichlids and red devils are also getting about. We're starting to look a lot more like Florida every day it seems.
I've actually seen the Red Devils in Forest Lake, but you can't fish there, someone showed me a pic of Texans down the Gold Coast, it's really sad, this type of thing will toughen the laws on keeping if people aren't careful, it's getting that way a bit, if we aren't careful we got the perfect temps. here we will be the Florida of Australia.
@@australianbiotopes4563 a big annoyance for me is being prohibitted by various councils from fishing for pests due to "public safety".
@@TheCaptainbeefylog Yes I agree, it's peoples fault though, I used to fish my local lake and they would show a blind eye to it, then people started leaving their unwanted line with hooks and sinkers and unwanted bait behind, they also would lite fires along the bank at night to keep warm, and basically just ruined it for everyone, people started complaining and now they have cracked down on it, once this type of thing happens it's hard to reverse the damage done, now the fish will keep breeding unchecked and overflow into our waterways, I think the local councils need to get onto this if people can't fish for them, it's their responsibility to eradicate them, or it's basically just a breeding program for a noxious species.
Awesome video! It's really sad to see things like this happening all over the world.
I quite often watch videos from Florida and that's just mind blowing how man invasive species they have down there.
There are a lot of people that actually think invasive species aren't a problem which is even more insane.
Thank you! yes they are at a whole new level, I don't think there is any turning back from all the invasive species they have, that actually makes me worried we are heading down the same path.
@@australianbiotopes4563 I'm worried about the same thing. I constantly get asked about Vampire Crabs in Australia. They are a banned species from what I am aware but sooner or later some idiot will sneak them in (if they haven't already) and we'll have a new invasive species disaster on our hands. They breed fast and are escape masters so even if people don't intentionally let them out they are good at escaping... We both know how that ends.
I wish people were more responsible. At least hear in Europe super cold winters kill most things.
Chuck Palahniuk . . the sinister author of Fight Club , 'fiction' book . . recounted in the book Haunted . . the invasive species US
@@benwinter2420 Well even parasites have a limit we don't unfortunately.
Can go into rabbit control 'programs' in Australia in past . . but it seems a sore topic
Great video, deeply saddened by the situation at hand and hope that it highlights and brings awareness to the public and to organisations that can try and eradicate the fish. It’s scary to think what our natural and native waterways can become 😢
Yes it sure it, hopefully videos like this will bring awareness to the situation.
and the solution is...... nothing.
The solution is not to spread them anywhere else and educate people not to release anything else that's exotic, they are also releasing a whole heap of Mary River Cod into the system, that will hopefully slow them down a bit, they are very closely related to the now extinct Brisbane River Cod and will fill the spot as a large predator fish that is lacking.
How can we battle it as fisherman?
The best we can do is to catch them young, they go for baits as a younger fish much more readily than the older fish.
I do need new fish for my aquarium
There is plenty out there.
How in the hell they get over here ??? Ahh wait on I betcha was released from someone’s aquarium in a water way mane possibly the Dam (Wivenhoe) it self ???
Yes they are a popular aquarium fish, the problem with them is they readily breed a lot of young, that in turn overwhelms the keeper, this is why I have said not to breed them as even the aquarium shops can't keep up with them.
@@australianbiotopes4563I used to breed them, as well as Severums, Jewels and Kribensus in the 1980s. The geophagus were beautiful to watch as breeding pairs but nobody wanted the babies. I knew a kid in Newcastle who bred Severums in old concrete laundry tubs in his backyard with no heating. These fish will thrive in Qld.
@@gdlivo3353 Yes I did the same with Convicts as a kid in a baby bath, some fish are just naturally tough.
1:52 is that a tetra ? Which creek is it ?
No it's an Australian Smelt.
non agressive and nuisance algae eater.......not so bad........as frog .........I am brasilian and love this fish......
people blame fish...and God blame humans.....unfortunately people are blame yourselves....
In their natural environment they aren't a problem because they have natural predators, but here were they don't belong they are doing a lot of damage unfortunately, they have damaged this creek.
@@Manumanunitomidri I agree it's not the fishes fault, but that doesn't change the fact of the damage they do, this is why I am making people aware so they know what damage can be done and maybe stop it happening in the future.
@@australianbiotopes4563 yes.....I agree with you......
What a shame, if the aussie bass is cautious of these they must be ferocious
We will have to wait and see how they go up agains the thousands of Mary River Cod that have been released into the system to replace the now extinct Brisbane River Cod, maybe it will restore the balance, we can only hope 🙂
2 Questions.
Are they the only fish in QLD waterways with the metallic pattern on the face, so it cannot be mistaken for a native?
Are they any good to eat?
Yes, there are a few saltwater species but they are the only freshwater ones.
@@australianbiotopes4563 Thanks, any good to eat? I'm in Yeppoon. Any sighting of them in the Rocky region?
@@geoffbreen2386 Depends if you like freshwater fish I guess, no they are pretty localised to here for now.
great video dude keep it up 👍
Thank you! 🙂
great video
Thanks!
guess ya best buy a net n start fishing
I've been fishing them out for the last couple of years, hasn't made much difference, especially when you see how many young they have.
How can I get in touch with you?
You can look me up on Facebook, Jason Sulda and PM me, if I don't reply try again as I do miss some, I get a lot of messages.
So lures or bait?
I think bait would be better.
It's a dam pull the plug
Then South East Queensland will have no water and it will flood half the city, and the fish will probably still be hare.
I removed one from Wivanhoe dam about 6 months ago and have since caught fry(babies) at another dam while visually seeing a breeding pair that I was un able to catch although if I had a cast net that could have been a different story
If I would of been able to use a spear or spear gun I could of got a whole heap of them but just like cast nets they are illegal to use in freshwater creeks that aren't tidal.
@@australianbiotopes4563 I haven't looked into cast net laws I'm from NSW but staying in Qld for awhile so learn something new everyday but yeah next time I'm at this dam they'll be my target species
@@GU-24-WD You can in tidal brackish though, that was like last time I went down to NSW and found out you can't use them down there, they should really change the laws nation wide, it would make things easier.
My fish tank 😂
Good inspiration for a tank 🙂
Good job for spreading awareness I live in Perth Western Australia and almost every lake in parks has pearls in them I even drove 3 hours away and still saw them
Thank you! yes pretty upsetting news, once they are there I think they are there for good, I just hope they don't spread into other waterways over there, there are some pretty venerable fish in your neck of the woods.
@@australianbiotopes4563Pearl cichlids can even live in salt water
@@kangaroo0177 Yeah I've mentioned that in other comments, they are very tough.
Caught one a year ago in Bassendean...
@@peteh7966 Sad to see they are over there as well.
Are they good eating?
No reason why not, just like any other freshwater fish, probably taste nice smoked, and can be collected as they are only invasive unlike Tilapia that are noxious, the only problem is they are a bit fussy with what they eat as adults being sand sifters, I dropped a pile of live worms in front of them while snorkelling and they ignored them and kept sifting, you may get the odd one, the young readily take the bait though and grow fast, so maybe good for aquaculture.
They produce over 800 fry each time not 150 to 200
They can with older fish maybe even up to a 1000 in good conditions, but they average around 150 to 200.
@australianbiotopes4563 I had a 8 month pair that would produce over 900 every 3 weeks
Thanks for sharing and raising awareness.
It's an important subject, Thanks for watching and feel free to share it around 🙂
Thank you for your dedicated work. This country has way too many imports, in the water and in the streets.
Thanks for watching! 🙂
Spearfishers, you know what to do.
Unfortunately it's illegal to spear fish in freshwater creeks and it's not worth getting fines for it, a bit of a joke, they won't even bend the rules for invasive fish or I would of had the place cleaned out.
@@australianbiotopes4563 Wow that's crazy! Hopefully as this becomes more of a problem they will change the rules *fingers crossed*
@@sandrinakeffufal6008 We can only hope.
What a shame we've got another pest putting pressure on our waterways. Lovely clear water though! Which creek is this? Is it deep enough for snorkelling?
Yes nice place to snorkel, it's the lower reaches of Northbrook Creek.
Great video Jason 👍🏽
Thank you! and Thanks for watching 🙂
It is time to electric fish these things out!! People are idiots emptying there aquarium water. Have you sent this to video to the minister and premier?
Mate it would be a waste of time, they care about votes not problems, have a look at the crime wave across the state and what they are doing about it, the best thing is to make it public like this and get more people on board so then they have to take notice eventually or hopefully, this is the best because there is then proof on film.
@@australianbiotopes4563 I find doing things like sending to the right politicians does help. If you don't try you never know if something comes of it. Not just politicians but media have you sent it to your local newspaper or member? Lots more to that list. Get the locals upset that their creeks are being ruined!
As for your spurious thoughts on the crime levels in this state, yes there are some hot spots but most crime rates have been going down over the years. It just seems that there is slot because we hear about it a lot more than we used too. The fact that we hear about crimes from all over the planet now it was not that way when I was young no satellite news they had to fly the film in so they were very picky on what they got in from overseas and interstate. We only really heard about our local areas and the big stories from elsewhere.
@@johnsamsungs7570 Yeah I get what your saying, I'm old school as well, I have to disagree though back in the day people had more respect, yeah sure we had crimes we always have, but now they are much more brutal and mostly for fun, and even to boast about on public media, back then people couldn't boast so trends didn't catch on, back then kids had a simpler life and mostly just went out to play, these days they find fun in destroying things for fun or for social media, maybe I'm just getting old 🙂 I have shared this video a lot, and some have taken it in but it is also surprising the ones that don't you think would sadly, but feel free your self to share where ever you can, it's public.
@@australianbiotopes4563 I will share it thankyou! I hate that these things could be fixed if it is done when is is a small problem instead of waiting for it to be a huge problem! Good on you for doing as much as you have to bring it to the public notice! I will let you know if I get any reaction from my efforts!
@@johnsamsungs7570 I'd be happy to hear about it 🙂
At 4.14 when the river starts to be noticeable of damage that's when you chuck in big starving catfish from fish farms tried it in carp worked sorta just to many carp but it brought the numbers down abit
They are actually releasing a whole heap of Mary River Cod into the catchment to replace the closely related now extinct Brisbane River Cod, so hopefully when they grow they will cut down the numbers of them and Tilapia, it will be good food for them anyway.
I've spotted them in Cairns QLD creeks, living also in the canals through the city. Shocked me amd was sad to see
Yes it's bad for invasive up there unfortunately, the warm tropical climate doesn't help, at least down this way a lot dies off through winter, but a few tough survive.
I’ve seen this kind of thing all over the place. They are beautiful fish, but it’s such a shame that they have ruined the place you like to frequently visit. I will say that the photography is awesome, and you quite eloquently told a very informational story! Great job!
Thank you! and thanks for watching.
Just highlights the biggest problem really, and its not the "invasive" species
True.
I catch them all the way up the headwaters of the creeks n rivers feeding the Brisbane River.. and in billabongs all thru the forestry..they everywhere :(
Yes I've seen them pretty far up to, they get into every little corner, I've seen them plowing through a inch of water.
Same in WA in the creeks near Newman (Kalgans pool track)- middle of the desert go for a swim and surrounded by mollys, plattys and cichlids.
That really sucks, I went on a trip there with the late Gunther Schmida years ago to get habitat shots for his freshwater fishes book, there are some beautiful pristine spots around that neck of the woods to, I guess where ever they put in towns they will eventually have a pet shop and people will be irresponsible, it's a real shame though as WA does have pretty strict laws as far as they go, and you can see why.
With the amount of floods they’ve had in SE Queensland, I’d imagine a lot of these fish could of entered the environment accidentally
These were around long before the floods, the only thing the floods probably did was help spread them even more.
Great video and footage. Such a horrible shame, impossible to eradicate now no doubt, man a few really stuff it up for the rest of us don't they, so frustrating.
Yes! they don't realise this fish could one day be deemed as noxious and then no one will be able to keep it, not to mention it will make it tougher to keep other fish as well.
If they were below the dam, i would've thought that they could've gotten out of tanks in houses when they went under during the floods.
It's sad to know that people have deliberately released them, as they cant get up that side of the dam wall, unless it was from houses that went under in the upper catchment areas.
Not to mention they have been there longer than from the last few floods, the only difference I've noticed is that they seem to breeding much more rapidly now, or maybe there is just a whole lot more that they are being noticed more.
They are even thick in every pond in Perth Wa.
Pretty sad to hear, WA is pretty strict with their laws to.
Well people wreck everything don't they?
Sure do.
Hi Jason, is this the northbrook creek system?
Yes the lower reaches.
I’ve seen them on the Sunshine Coast qld. In fresh water parts on a salt water system
They are a little tolerant of salt as well so through heavy rain they may move from one body to another if conditions are right.
I am surprised that they can handle the low water temp in winter Wivenhoe dam
They live in the same types of temps. in South America, not the whole of South America is tropical, a bit like our country really.
What the name of the creeks and dams they are in would like to go remove them from the waterways
Try the lower reaches of Northbrook Creek rest area, there are heaps of them there.