Plecos to help clean swimming pools

[Dave Rinaldo]

Summary:
In this recession, more than 13 percent of American homeowners who have a mortgage have fallen behind in their payments or are in foreclosure. Host Scott Simon speaks to Dave Hoy, co-owner of the Shiner Shack Fish Farm in Bartow, Fla. The farm is supplying the village of Wellington with a type of catfish that's eats algae growing in the abandoned swimming pools of foreclosed homes.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =112134968

[andywoolloo]

interesting! they dump in mosquito fish here, They are very busy doing so also.

[L number Banana]

Nature wins again
I heard that story on NPR and thought it was marvelous. I wonder if you could just keep a few in your pool full time and ditch the whole chlorine idea? Of course you'd have to make sure the fish doesn't get ill with some swimmin' with humans thing...

I wonder if they realize how long these fish could live? Better business model to have healthy long-lived "employees", not cooked ones.

[apistomaster]

This post is funny. Not from the foreclosure standpoint as that is very serious business for the effected families but from a fish keeper's POV, hilarious.

The Plecos are easily collected in Texas and Florida where they have gone feral. I saw one listing awhile back where a party was selling Pleco egg masses numbering in the 1000's for very little expense, perhaps ~$50.

I would handle the mosquito problem differently. There are any number of fish more desirable than Gambusia to choose from which would have some value as ornamental tropical fish I would use in unmaintained pools. Sailfin mollies for one.

[L number Banana]

Apistomaster:

I would handle the mosquito problem differently. There are any number of fish more desirable than Gambusia to choose from which would have some value as ornamental tropical fish I would use in unmaintained pools. Sailfin mollies for one.

As a former sailfin molly owner, I'm curious what people would do with the 5,484 babies? You'd have no room to swim

Actually they are using Mollies now in some tropical countries but I can't remember where it's being tried. I think it's somewhere on the DFID website, good luck finding it - their site navigation is nasty.

Here's an odd one for birdbaths/mosquitoes: use a tiny skim of olive oil. Good for birds and the mosquito larvae can't 'breathe'. Kinda weird, eh? I've never heard from an ornithologist if it actually IS good/safe for the birds?

[apistomaster]

Perhaps cod liver oil would be good for the birds and prevent the mosquito larvae from surviving?
Who would be swimming in the swimming pools at foreclosed homes?
Mollies would be possibility but in the South there are many other fish which would do well.
One could set up quite an assortment of fish and include a predator of some sort to control any excess populations.
Once a house is sold the fish could be used to fertilize the flower beds.