# Remember the Hotties?



## KipperSarnie (14 May 2017)

Having read the article about the legality of selling certain plants in the UK does any of the NW members remember "The Hotties" at St Helens back in the 70's?

Adjacent to one of the Pilkington Glass manufacturing sites (Watson Street?) the cooling water was sprayed into the canal which raised the temperature of the canal to the low 70's F.
No one was ever sure how it started but the canal was full of tropical fish & at weekends you'd find many people pond dipping & many Guppy breeders would collect stock there to start new lines as the guppies had bred back to wild form.


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## dean (14 May 2017)

I live in Warrington 26 years now and I've heard this before 
Thought it was just an urban legend 


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## PARAGUAY (15 May 2017)

A now derelict mill we would often walk past when it was a hive of activity was teeming with carp,tench and on really hot days you could see huge Goldfish in between large clumps of Eloeda in the moiddle areas at the surface, my Dad always said there were Tropical fish in there.The water was always warm ,we always thought he was joking after what Kipper has said maybe there was


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## dw1305 (15 May 2017)

Hi all, 
I've never been, but when I used to fish I knew some-one who claimed to hold the British record for "Albino Walking Catfish" (presumably a _Clarias_), caught in the out-flow of the Pilkington glass-works in St. Helen's.

cheers Darrel


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## KipperSarnie (15 May 2017)

Well guy's "The Hotties" were real, I went a couple of times.

I'm just not sure which Pilkington works it was it was a few years later that I became a subcontractor to Pilks looking after the loading shovels. 
UK5 became Greengate, Watson street was in the centre & Cowley Hill was near the East Lancs.  There may have been other works but they are the 3 sites I regularly worked at.

The main rumour on how it started was that the stock from a closing down local fish shop was dumped there! 
If that's true I'm sure a number of unwanted hobby fish also ended up in there as well.


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## KipperSarnie (15 May 2017)

I found this from the Liverpool Aquarist: 

http://liverpoolaquarist0.tripod.com/hotties.htm

At the time I was Chairman of the Bridgewater Aquarist Society based in the Bolton, Walkden area the name was taken from the Bridgewater canal as the club covered such a large area.


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## roadmaster (16 May 2017)

I remember all the "Hotties", and as I am rapidly becoming an old fogey,,it's about all I CAN do is remember.
Carol,Susan, Debbie,Teri,Mina...


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## Tim Harrison (16 May 2017)

I grew up in Nottingham, the Trent Valley was well known for a string of power stations sited along it's banks. In fact it was so well known as a powerhouse that during the cold war it was thought to be on the soviets nuke list.
The river water was used for cooling which elevated the rivers average temp by a few degrees, but a lot more directly adjacent to power station outflows.
Anyway, there were regular reports of anglers catching tropical fish around the outflow of Radcliffe on Soar power station. I think there was even an article in the local rag about one fellow who caught a red bellied piranha


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## zozo (16 May 2017)

In my country Guppies reportedly live in the Meuse river, at an electricity power station. Also in a artificial dug channel dumping the cooling water back in the river.  But never been there myself, red about it already long time ago it in the oficial Dutch aquarium textbooks..


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## dw1305 (16 May 2017)

Hi all,
I think there are a few places in Europe where escaped Tropical fish live in naturally warm (geothermal) springs. I remember reading about <"one in Central Europe"> where _Hemichromis_ were naturalised, and while I was looking for that I found <"A tropical fish community in thermal waters of southern Tuscany">.

The hot spring, in Bath, has no fish, but it does have the snail <"_Physella acuta_">.

cheers Darrel


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## Tim Harrison (16 May 2017)

I was looking for that too Darrel...had a sneaking suspicion you'd beat me to it. I'm sure there's a video somewhere.


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## roadmaster (16 May 2017)

Tropical cichlids such as Oscar's,Dempsey's, are routinely released here in U.S. in southern states such as Florida where they thrive to the detriment of native species.
Is same with Asian Carp,big head carp, introduced accidentally year's ago from farm's where they were being raised for food.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (16 May 2017)

All caused by humans and in most cases without good results. I watched a few documentaries where Lion fish were decimating the Caribbean local fish which previously had no predators, it must have been a field day for the Lion fish. They suspect that the Lion fish got there by being released into the wild by aquarists in Florida. there was also another where sea weed was taking over entire reefs which wasn't indigenous. They traced it back to the Jacques Cousteau  aquarium centre reckoning it had been flushed into the water, ironic that a man who had dedicated his entire life to marine biology had inadvertently caused so much damage to something he loved.

Don't know if it's an urban myth or not but they reckon that the largest population of tigers is in Florida. kept by shows and drug dealers.


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## zozo (16 May 2017)

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Don't know if it's an urban myth or not but they reckon that the largest population of tigers is in Florida. kept by shows and drug dealers.


No that's true, at least there are nowadays more tigers in captivity or so called domesticated than in the wild. I can truly imagine that most captive tigers live in the USA.


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## zozo (16 May 2017)

roadmaster said:


> Is same with Asian Carp


All carps are from Asia  They ended up in Europe alledgedly with the Roman Legions. Later in the USA and Australia, in Europe they are present for so long and deemed indegenious.. In Australia and USA it is a crime if you do not kill it when you catch one.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (16 May 2017)

Yeah, on the documentary about lion fish people were actively encouraged to kill as many as they could with no limits. If spear fishing lion fish is your thing florida is the place to holiday. Locals in the Caribbean were getting paid to do it so had started a micro economy also benefitting local Fishermen whose  catches were going down through predation. 
Reminds me of round our way in the late 70 's early 80's where the local council would pay you for rat tails.

Lesson for us all here I reckon about taking care of what ends up in our water courses from our tanks. Especially in the UK where temps seem to be rising through global warming. It only takes two fish to survive and away you go, environmental disaster. 

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## foxfish (16 May 2017)

There was similar thing happening somewhere in Wales about 35 years ago but it was in a land locked sea water area.
I think it was to do with cooling a power station? Anyway... mullet were trapped in the warm water & several huge ones above the fishing record were taken.
I remember it caused all sorts of controversy.


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## dw1305 (17 May 2017)

Hi all,





foxfish said:


> happening somewhere in Wales about 35 years ago but it was in a land locked sea water area. I think it was to do with cooling a power station?


Was it Aberthaw? I know there were big Bass there, and it is alleged to be where the "Jif Lemon" float was invented. 

cheers Darrel


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## foxfish (17 May 2017)

Sounds about right, I remember reading the stories in Sea Angler, there were numerous double figure fish caught.
 I was a member of the National  Mullet club at the time & several members were enjoying the sport. The main issue was about one particular fish being put forward for a British record. However in the end (if I remember rightly) a even bigger mullet was caught in Alderney, in the cold sea!


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## KipperSarnie (17 May 2017)

A little further on this, I remember when I was in Singapore 1971/72 ish, Singapore Aquarium had a tank of Piranha with a licence attached to the tank as they were illegal to be kept as a pet due to local water conditions being suitable for them.


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## dean (18 May 2017)

Just goes to show that we humans can be the most caring and at the same time the most careless species on earth 

Many times I sit and wish that there were not as many humans in the world 
Plus when an epidemic breaks out I don't ever feel sorry for the people I just think nature is trying to slow down the infestation of humanity 


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## Natasha (5 Jun 2017)

Didn't realise that hotties were a thing - incidentally our home backs onto the Lea Navigation Canal. I spend a lot of time in the garden and on a good day the water is very clear. There are some interesting fish in the canal. I can't be 100% sure but there was something that looked large, black and velvety that at first glance I pegged as a Black Koi. Mind blow. I'm sure there is a more mundane answer, but for now I am enjoying the thought that the canal is filled with fun ex-pets. Wondering what local historic industry might have changed the make up.


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## KipperSarnie (5 Jun 2017)

Natasha said:


> Didn't realise that hotties were a thing - incidentally our home backs onto the Lea Navigation Canal. I spend a lot of time in the garden and on a good day the water is very clear. There are some interesting fish in the canal. I can't be 100% sure but there was something that looked large, black and velvety that at first glance I pegged as a Black Koi. Mind blow. I'm sure there is a more mundane answer, but for now I am enjoying the thought that the canal is filled with fun ex-pets. Wondering what local historic industry might have changed the make up.



Not necessary a Koi but could well have been a carp.


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## Natasha (5 Jun 2017)

The cormorants do catch carp reasonably frequently - this one did seem different but that's probably my imagination.

Very happy to see the local regeneration efforts cleaning up the canal, still lots of birds nesting in garbage sadly but things seem to be improving.


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## Smells Fishy (5 Jun 2017)

dean said:


> Just goes to show that we humans can be the most caring and at the same time the most careless species on earth
> 
> Many times I sit and wish that there were not as many humans in the world
> Plus when an epidemic breaks out I don't ever feel sorry for the people I just think nature is trying to slow down the infestation of humanity
> ...



Us humans are the worst thing this planet has ever created. We are a cancer but the worst sort imaginable. All we do is rape the world. It's only going to get worse for the world and us with more cars and people being born everyday. I'm glad I'm alive in this time because in a hundred years of probably less its not going to be a nice place to be. It'll get to a point where a ban of having children is in place, did they do that in China? The Amazon as we know will be gone and all are favorite fish will all only survive by being captive bred. I wonder if in the future we will even be able to breath without all those jungles that are no longer. This is very off topic so my bad it's just deans post got me thinking.


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## dean (7 Jun 2017)

China had a one child only policy for years which they scrapped some time ago 


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## Shibboleth (4 Dec 2017)

KipperSarnie said:


> Having read the article about the legality of selling certain plants in the UK does any of the NW members remember "The Hotties" at St Helens back in the 70's?
> 
> Adjacent to one of the Pilkington Glass manufacturing sites (Watson Street?) the cooling water was sprayed into the canal which raised the temperature of the canal to the low 70's F.
> No one was ever sure how it started but the canal was full of tropical fish & at weekends you'd find many people pond dipping & many Guppy breeders would collect stock there to start new lines as the guppies had bred back to wild form.


Yes, remember being taken there once by my Dad. There were loads of people on the bank. As a child it was amazing to see all those tropical fish out in the wild in a canal.


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## Edvet (5 Dec 2017)

Click-bait!!
Was coming here expecting something completely different.......................


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## zozo (5 Dec 2017)

Edvet said:


> Click-bait!!
> Was coming here expecting something completely different.......................



What on your mind Ed? Feeling Hot?
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/wild-caught-goby.51517/#post-506527
Already wondered, Goby's in Steam Tanks?  And expecting something different here


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