Interesting use of Pterygoplichthys

Post by **Silurus** » 22 Feb 2012, 23:31

Never looked at it this way before.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 3/abstract

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 22 Feb 2012, 23:51

That is very interesting, but I can't help thinking it's a very bad idea indeed.

environmentally friendly control strategies

There's nothing environmentally friendly about promoting further propagule sources of these fish in tropical counties with little in the way of regulation.

Nowhere in the paper do they mention the risks from invasive species.

Narwhal72 · Post by **Narwhal72** » 23 Feb 2012, 02:51

Yeah but if you are culturing tilapia in a country that they aren't native to your not going to care about gibby's either.

Still an interesting use of one fish to control parasites indirectly on another.

Andy

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 23 Feb 2012, 03:08

Yeah but if you are culturing tilapia in a country that they aren't native to your not going to care about gibby's either.

True enough. When you're gonna screw up the environment, why not do it properly!

Bas Pels · Post by **Bas Pels** » 23 Feb 2012, 07:58

I further wonder whether the summary will turn out to be correct.

Pt gibbyceps has been kept for decades, and never has any fishkeeper reported such a result of a gibby in the tank

putting it mildly, the matter will need further study before people are advised to put a few gibby inthe tanks

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 23 Feb 2012, 08:09

Pt gibbyceps has been kept for decades, and never has any fishkeeper reported such a result of a gibby in the tank

I think it would only work in bare tanks, and not many people would keep them that way.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 23 Feb 2012, 08:11

I've had gibby's and similar species die of white spot......

not exactly a way of dealing with the disease: finding a huge bloated cadaver floating in the tank and poisoning the water doesn't seem like a method to improve matters for the rest of the fish to me; but YMMV

Narwhal72 · Post by **Narwhal72** » 23 Feb 2012, 19:04

An aquarium and commercial aquaculture can be vastly different things.

In the experiment, the gibby's were introduced into an aquaculture pond and the gibby's ate the detritus off the bottom of the pond which decreased the habitat for the parasite trophonts.

In an aquarium we keep our tanks a lot cleaner to begin with so there would probably not be any effect.

The gibby's did not clean the fish, nor did they completely eliminate the parasite. Just reduced it.

Andy

Interesting use of Pterygoplichthys

Interesting use of Pterygoplichthys

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