Cheez-Wiz for Fish

[scuba_katt]

you can disrupt the entire food chain...

i'm not full of it! Just think...

if you feed an animal that usually competes with another animal for its main food source, then this OTHER animal will thrive, resulting in higher population levels. These higher population levels will end up deteriorating the food stocks and will then probably have to seek out another source, thereby taking away food stocks of another species....

sounds like gibberish, i know, but trust me - feeding fish can play havoc with biodiversity - whether its cheezewhiz or sea urchins... its all bad!

Just let the little fella's fend for themselves - they've done it on their own for millions of years - why do you think they need a hand now!?

Cheers

 

[Dr. Jay]

I like the Alka Seltzier idea :deadfish:

No, really. The fish I heard of being fed were catfish. Mostly in the springs and stuff. One of the places I dive stocks a pool of catfish (why is beyond me).

The would probably go nuts if they saw me going down with a bottle of that stuff. Although, I'm pretty sure all the fish are used to seeing divers regularly, and I'm sure other people feed them on occasion.

Thanks for all the other ideas, though.

 

[Texass]

I don't know about the "end of the world as we/fish know it" repercussions. I DO know when our local quarry first opened we had cute docile bluegills. Now we have piranha perch and beenie sales are more for ear protection than thermal reasons.

 

[Big-t-2538]

Apparantly, they have that problem too, but the same results have been seen at gilboa. As a matter of fact, my ears have been bitten pretty hard, ad well as wrecncaver's finger, just ask her

 

[Iguana Don]

I don't think the perch problem stems from hand feeding. I have encountered this in many lakes.

Although I am not an animal behavior specialist, I don't see the problem with occasional feeding of the fish. It hasn't caused the squirrels or birds to become extinct. I do see the problem with a continuous feeding tho.

IMHO of course

ID

 

[KeyLargoBrent]

I saw a group of divers being mauled by gangs of bermuda chub and yellowtail snapper. The water around the group became clouded with what looked like vomit (I assumed someone in the group had become seasick).

Back on board the boat, I saw one of the divers discard what must've once been a ziplock bag. It seems that he'd filled it with dried petfood, and zipped it inside his wetsuit prior to the dive... BAD IDEA! Once the bag was opened... chaos ensued!

Everyone in the group was covered with "fish hickeys". Several of them were bleeding. I wonder if they learned anything. I'm reminded of the following riddle.

Q: What are the last words of a redneck?
A: WATCH THIS!

Dive often... and never stop learning.

 

[Rice]

In the caymans my wife and i went to Stingray city, it's a must do kind of thing. We went out with the people from Sunset house and they showed us how to feed the stingrays which, i must say was an amazing experience.

However they told us that if any of the fish was visible in our hand that the Yellowtails would bite us and if we dropped a piece of food we should not try to get it back.

It was suprising how fast the snappers would grab any pieces of bait the stingrays left.

I've tried a fish food product that was made for feeding reef fish. it was dumb and I felt sheepish even buying it. the only fish you are going to attract will get the food in a lightning flash and be gone. it's altering the natural behavour and gets boring very quick.

HTH, Rice

 

[DiveTub]

The only time I feed fish is when they take the bait off my hook when fishing.

You really should not be feeding them in the natural environment.

 

[Amber]

I also went to stingray city in the Bahamas. They told you what to do if one latched onto your finger (not pull it out, they'll just let go) but when one did, I automatically yanked it out...not only did i get a nice hickey but it also scraped the sides of my knuckle because of the calcium plates in the mouth. But on an up note...there was an absolutly beautiful albino stingray in there

At the grotto the fish seem to know when we are eating lunch. I found two things: 1) they like oreos 2) if you spit in the water, they all rush to it like it's food and eat it :diver:

 

[Dr. Jay]

Amber,

Which 'grotto' are you talking about (PM me if it's confidential ).

The place I've heard of this happening is Forty Fathoms. I'm not really sure if this is true or not. Apparently the catfish go nuts! over the Cheez-Wiz