Pet goldfish thrown in lakes grow to monstrous size

The authorities in Minnesota have requested aquarium owners and fish owners to stop releasing their goldfish in local lakes as they tend to grow to several times their normal size and disturb the ecosystem of the water body.

The official Twitter page of Burnsville shared several pictures of oversized goldfish that were found in Keller Lake. The tweet read, “Please don’t release your pet goldfish into ponds and lakes! They grow bigger than you think and contribute to poor water quality by mucking up the bottom sediments and uprooting plants.”

The Guardian reported that last year, officials removed as many as 50,000 goldfish from local waters, which manage to easily survive and reproduce in the Minnesota waters. It is important to note that the fish endanger the other species in the water.

Paul Moline, the county water management manager said that goldfish “are an understudied species” and have a high potential to negatively impact the water quality of these water bodies.

The post has received quite some attention on social media with many wondering why the same fish does not grow when kept in an aquarium but does so in lakes and ponds.