I love the idea of having a trouble-free, hardy fish. I really don't like the hassle/worry of quarantine (did I do the quarantine right?,hope so,pray pray pray). But up-front price is a real consideration.
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I don’t feel good about taking a fish from his ocean reef, shipping it across the world through horrible conditions and multiple vendors, and likely contacting debilitating parasites along the way. If I can avoid that, I will.Captive bred fish: Does it matter? Does it matter to you?
Many saltwater fish retailers offer both wild-caught and captive-bred fish. Sometimes there is a price difference – does the pricing impact your decision? It has been said that nearly 90% of saltwater fish in the aquarium trade are wild but it appears that more and more fish are being captive-bred each year. Tell us in the thread below if you think that the tension between captive-bred fish and wild-caught fish? Let us know if you think it matters and if it matters to you. We believe this is an important and encourage everyone to be respectful as you share your perspectives!
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Photo of captive bred yellow tang by @PacificEastAquaculture
We realize that over time perspectives may change. Whether this is due to a change in culture, availability, information or other reasons, sometimes thoughts and ideas on topics morph and shift. Here is an R2R article about captive-bred vs wild-caught fish from 2017. Have opinions changed since then?
Are Captive Bred Fishes The Only Way?
Nowadays it’s not uncommon to see a hobbyist say, ‘I’m only stocking my tank with captive bred fish.’ Of course, their heart is in the right place, and it’s understandable why most people would think this is the best route forward for wild reefs...www.reef2reef.com
I may be late to the party, but I wholeheartedly agree with Slocke. In addition, I would hate to see something like the Great Barrier Reef be stricken with less fish because we just want more for our aquariums. I realize that the world is a great big place with many, many habitats for fishes. But wouldn't it be better if we could buy our fishes from a Captive Breeder than having gone out to catch them instead? It seems a waste of time, energy, and money to do so.That is a very solid argument. However you could make much the same argument for quarantined fish. I'm 7 for 7 for CB fish and that's definitely better than wild. Not coming with parasites, knowing they weren’t collected with cyanide, and just knowing they didn’t go through a crazy shipping process to get to us is probably the difference.
Where is Biota? I never heard of it.I like buying captive bred straight from Biota so I can drop them right into my display tank without worrying about disease coming with them.
There used to be a guy on YouTube that just went under freeway overpasses in Australia and collect corals and fish. It was super cool but I lost it since I watched it on someone else’s computerI may be late to the party, but I wholeheartedly agree with Slocke. In addition, I would hate to see something like the Great Barrier Reef be stricken with less fish because we just want more for our aquariums. I realize that the world is a great big place with many, many habitats for fishes. But wouldn't it be better if we could buy our fishes from a Captive Breeder than having gone out to catch them instead? It seems a waste of time, energy, and money to do so.
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If the need to have a specific breed of fish is so important, wouldn't you want to wait to see if your LFS can get it from a CB? I would rather not have that specific fish if it can only be caught in the wild. But that's just me.
What's your opinion?