# Fine for keeping P's



## TexasBichir (Oct 11, 2004)

What's the fine if your caught with P's in a state that doesn't allow them? I live in Texas, thinking about ordering one and having it shipped.


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## killum (Jun 3, 2004)

I'm sure u don't realy wan't to know







I would start local if I were u.


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## TexasBichir (Oct 11, 2004)

Go local? I've already asked the LFS. "OMG P"S ARE ILLEGAL IN THE [email protected]#[email protected]$one"

That's about as far as I want to go with that.

Why are Cuda's, African Tiger Fish, black tailed sharks, gars, so on and so forth legal to keep and have no restrictions, yet, P's arn't?

So really, what is the penalty? =) Im just curious, my next tank is going to be a bichir tank but Im looking into P's as an option as well.


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## confused (Mar 17, 2004)

500 a fish and the fish get killed here


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## TexasBichir (Oct 11, 2004)

What the hell?

I live in the middle of a desert, what am I going to do, teach them to grow legs and eat armadillos?









I might as well just get some african tigers >=/ They'd have just as good of a survival rate if I bought a few hundred of them, drove 7+ hours to the Rio Grande and dumped them in.


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## Esoteric (Jul 7, 2004)

Who the hell is gonna get a warrant for a P anyways who the hell cares I live in NY!


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## DigitalRhom (Oct 13, 2004)

I agree they are illegal to keep in some areas but who will ever take the time to do anything about it????


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

florida is p[erty up tight about them after several breeding shoals were discovered


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## dutchfrompredator (Sep 26, 2004)

honestly, it's probably like a lot of other things that are illegal but the government can't dream of enforcing the law. i was stationed out in lawton, ok and have been all over tx. keep in mind this is the same state you can shoot a deer rifle in most directions and not dream of hitting someone. the only way anyone will know is if by some miracle a game warden needs to use your phone or if you are indiscreet at local spots where you can be overheard. i.e. you are buying feeders for an oscar (not a piranha) etc. this is america and it is texas. what the hell? as long as you aren't the guy irresponsibly releasing them into lake texoma what could go wrong? that's really the intent of that law. keeping them out of warm waters. if you are not going to put them in the local water i don't feel the law is directed at you personally. that's my philosophy about things when the government treats me like a first-grader. i act like one and do exactly what they say not to do. but remember. loose lips sink ships. and it sounds like they cost alot too.


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## confused (Mar 17, 2004)

They think your going to let em go in a lake. Who gives a sh*t anyway its not like we have real nice fish in lake mead. If anyone ever asks just say theyre pacu...

I hear if they find out ur breeding them they will charge you up the ass for them.. sometimes over 100,000


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## pinchy (Jun 3, 2004)

I have never heard of anyone getting caught. I wounder how often does it actually happen.


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## confused (Mar 17, 2004)

I dont think it happens often but when it does the wildlife people are real assholes


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## daughter snatcher (Sep 27, 2009)

Look up on google. Staten island piranha. A girl and her dad were fishing in the lake and the media said OMG..its a piranha...IT WAS A f*cking PACU!!! Who cares honestly, even if someone dumps them in the lake or river whats going to happen in the winter? P's arent built for that. It would be like putting a saltwater fish in a fresh water tank..


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## memento (Jun 3, 2009)

Most so-called "piranhas" in such stories are actually pacu's.
Yet the problem remains the same - fish get banned because som eidiots dump their unwanted fish in a lake...

However, they actually COULD survive in some parts of N-America.
Allready back in 1997 a study on this was released :
" Cold Tolerance and Potential Overwintering of the Red-Bellied Piranha _Pygocentrus nattereri_ in the United States".

I quote from the abstract :



> _Although temperatures between 12°C and 14°C would not be directly lethal, persistence of piranhas may hinge on feeding behavior. Red-bellied piranhas introduced into areas where winter temperatures remain at 14°C or above, however, would not be physiologically or behaviorally limited by low temperatures and may have the capability to establish permanent populations._


http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1577/1548-8659%281997%29126%3C0841%3ACTAPOO%3E2.3.CO%3B2


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## daughter snatcher (Sep 27, 2009)

I think the key word is "MAY". If you have ever been in NY or Jersey for that matter during December and feel the actual cold, there is no way there making it through that. Im not a scientist but it just doesnt make sense that any tropical fish could make it through a North American winter. Just my 2 cents.


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