Goldfish are about the best option for the BH because they do very well in coldish water, and they eat algae. Over the years I have seen Carp, Piranha, trout, and a few other varieties in BH. GF, and Carp seem to do well, most others don't.
GF are NOT surface feeders. The issue we had in releasing the GF was that the outflow can and does carry fish away. In addition the flu was raised at some point and the BH lost a lot of fish, not just GF.
I think dumping a bunch of GF in the BH on a regular basis is a great idea. Unfortunately most will NOT survive, but some will. That is just the nature of life. If we want to see an increase in fish population, then stocking the hole is a very good idea. Unfortunately for those of us living 5+ hours away from BH, hauling GF is a bit of a dicey task.
KOI would make an awesome addition, but they are bit pricey. Someone mentioned pulling some KOI out of their pond and dumping them in the BH, but I don't think that ever happened.
Not really. Packed in plastic bags appropriately, little water and lots of air, and the fish move around enough to aerate their water. 12 hours is doable on air, 24 or morw if you use oxygen altho not many shops will have the latter. Keep them cool and out of sun. I used to ship in 5,000 at a time from Missouri by plane in 5 large styrofoam boxes.
http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/09 Regular/final/HB0467.pdf
The division of wildlife may have some issues with release of non native fish.
Technically, yes. Realistically, probly not. GF, carp, koi, and the like are not welcome additions to fishing lakes, and there is also the risk of importation of disease and parasites.
OK, I will bite... where does all the water go from the blue hole? I assume you know the answer right?
Theoretically, to the Pecos River altho the ground water is removed so much that I doubt that it gets far other than during
gully washers. It is possible that fish in BH that were swept over the spill just might make it to Sumner Lake in a hard rain.
Still, there is some risk of getting into trouble with city, county, state, and federal authorities from introducing non-native fish that can be considered invasive to a local ecosystem. You do know that GF and Koi are members of the Asian carp family?
Several species of carp are listed as invasive species by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and worldwide large sums of money are spent on carp control.
from USDA
Invasive Species: Aquatic Species - Asian Carp
Species: Bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)
Otherwise, none of them are welcome in lakes as they compete with native fish.
Trout won't survive in that environment due to the low dissolved O2 levels, since the water is underground fed. Bummer.....
I think that is a major challenge for fish along with not much to eat.
So yeah, it's neat to see some colorful fish there, but there are violations to consider. Don't get caught anyway.
