Wild Caught Vs Tank Bred

[johnwilson]

Hi all

I was wondering what the pros and cons were of wild caught vs tank bred fish
When people advertise they make sure you know they are WILD CAUGHT, suggesting they are in some way better than tank bred fish.

If you were offered a wild caught or tank bred fish which would you take?

Thanks John

 

[smegforbrains]

Wild caught fish are IME, a lot more expensive in most cases because they are so much rarer.

 

[rdd1952]

Wild caught are more "pure". They haven't been subject to inbeeding to attain certain colors, etc. As mentioned, they are usually more expensive simply because it cost more to attain them. I'm certainly not a breeder but I would assume that someone who breeds angels for instance, has a lower outlay per fish than that for angels caught in SA and then shipped half way around the world.

The biggest down side is that some popular wild caught fish are being caught to near extinction because of our hobby. And some fish have never or rarely been bred in captivity so those are always wild caught.

 

[england]

for example i have two wild caught snakeheads which were a new discovery back in 2008........
luckily for me i got them in exchange for my jaguar cichlid, the man paid 60pounds each for them and had 14........
Wild caught fish in my oppinion have amazing true colours.....but as said there are some fish which are nearly exstinct now because of over fishing..

 

[Colin_T]

wild caught are generally harder to keep because they require more accurate water parameters. However, if you keep them alive they are often better coloured and produce healthier young.

I only keep wild caught fishes that I have caught. The reason being that I lost all my fish to TB some years ago and I am paranoid about contaminated fishes coming in from Asia. But if I had a choice of wild caught or captive bred and I didn't worry about the TB, then I would probably go with captive bred.

 

[drobbyb]

IMO tank bred specimens are better. These fish haven't been subjected to the stress involved with wild caught fish. Also these tank bred fish do not take away from the wild population. I breed rainbows, so all my output are tank bred specimens. My stock are only a few generations away from wild so the color is still fantastic. Support your local breeders and buy tank bred specimens.