Amazon Fish Caught In Michigan?

Question

anyone from michigan caught any oscars , pacus , snakes heads , cichlids just curious i know in ponds some people let pacus and oscars go but can they survive

Answer 1

There is no chance that any Amazon Fish will survive a Michigan Winter.

In fact it is an urban myth that Piranha and Pacus will survive in Southern California Lakes and Ponds (unfortunately perpetuated by very uninformed California politicians)

I have maintained several tanks for customers in So. Cal. where they got bored with their Pacus and similar then threw them into their outdoor ponds, only to see them die around late November.

Please see this article:
http://fish-as-pets.blogspot.com/2007/07/piranha-caught-by-fisherman.html

:~) C

EDIT:
As copperhead stated, it would take human intervention or a geothermal vent to aid in the survival. In the case of the Oscar found in Rhode Island I would bet that it was added by someone else earlier that year. This is poor scientific study to make the claim that just because one finds an Oscar in a Lake/river that is necessarily came from the same Pet Store dump a few years back.
The observations I made were under a much more controlled environment where the fish were known.
In the case of the fish in Rhode Island to have been a valid study, the Oscars would have had to been tagged.

EDIT #2
After an off forum conversation I thought I would add this as well;
This is not to be disrespectful, only to keep this more scientific in comparisons of outcomes however the point about the Oscar in RI has flaws in its theory. I would use this analogy: this is like saying that if someone places cats into a cave and a few years later only dogs are seen leaving the cave that the cats somehow turned into dogs.

Answer 2

Sorry but I have to disagree with carl on this one. While living in Rhode Island I was fishing in a drinking water reservoir and caught an 11 inch tiger oscar. I know these fish as I have bred them in aquariums. Upon checking around I found out that a pet store which went out of business 4 years earlier had dumped their extra fish into this reservoir. When I caught this oscar it was late fall and the water temp was in the high 50's. This pond/small lake did completely freeze over every winter. I believe that this shows that although it may not be common, oscars at least can adapt to and survive in a variety of water conditions.

Answer 3

They probably wouldn't survive in a backyard pond (at least not without a serious heater), but they have been known to survive in rivers. A study done a few years back on the Monongahela River (in western PA) found red-tail catfish (the 4+ foot Phractocephalus hemioliopterus variety from south America, not the 6" red-tailed shark), tilapia, and pacu living in the river just downstream from where a power plant was discharging water from a cooling tower. Maryland and New England states have had snakeheads survive to reproduce.

So yes, it is possible for them to survive Northern winters, if the proper habitat can be found (thanks, mostly, to human activities).

Answer 4

I not live there, but, will tell this. Most fish will live maybe during the summer. It depends on what the water temperature gets. During the winter, they would probably die, unless they find a warm water source like around a Nuclear Plant or factory. Down in Florida they have actually stocked Oscars as a game fish. Last I read they have Migrated as far North as the Okeechobee Area.

Answer 5

I am from Michigan and I know people who have ponds year around. As long as they are well heated, the fish should survive. Goldfish are popular in these ponds. As for actually catching the type of fish you mentioned, I have never heard of anyone doing so. These type of fish wouldn't really survive in Michigan's climate.

Answer 6

The Amazon is in a tropical region and maintains a pretty warm temperature year round. Michigan freezes and the low temperatures will kill fish from the tropics. If you release tropical fish in the spring they will live until the water temp gets cold in the fall.

Answer 7

I know someone who let a oscar go is a small lake down in Iowa some years back and someone thought they caught a prehistoric fish, but if you look at it closely it was the ocsar. True story.

Answer 8

I don't live in Michigan. I have heard that snakeheads are over-populating the Potomac River in Maryland. SO as the Pike in California.