Wild Tropicals

[Tag2008]

Hi Guys,

On reading some threads with the mention of a "Wild" fish I wonder if that just means what it says was caught in the wild then put into a tank and bred from....

I wonder whats the differences between " wild and tank bred " ? I know the prices i see for some are way way higher than tank bred..

Do any of you guys catch your own wild tropicals?

Thanks again
Tag

 

[orange shark]

people who have wild fish normally get someone to import them in for them from their native countries

people prefer to buy tank bred, especially endangered fish such as galaxy rasbora, because it means they havent been taken out of the wild for them

 

[maximinimus]

people who have wild fish normally get someone to import them in for them from their native countries

people prefer to buy tank bred, especially endangered fish such as galaxy rasbora, because it means they havent been taken out of the wild for them

Surely you mean Danio margaritatus, or whatever their name is this month


Seriously though, Tank bred tropical fish are in most cases far better than their wild counterparts because:
Tank bred fish are normally disease & parasite free
Tank bred fish are better adapted to tap water conditions if bred locally to you
Tank bred fish are cheaper
Some wild fish die during capture and transportation
Some wild populations are becoming extinct

I have had both wild and tank bred fish, wild fish are not necessarily a bad thing - if you intend to breed them, the mixing of genes from wild stocks to captive stocks is normally a good thing.

 

[Tag2008]

people who have wild fish normally get someone to import them in for them from their native countries

people prefer to buy tank bred, especially endangered fish such as galaxy rasbora, because it means they havent been taken out of the wild for them

Surely you mean Danio margaritatus, or whatever their name is this month


Seriously though, Tank bred tropical fish are in most cases far better than their wild counterparts because:
Tank bred fish are normally disease & parasite free
Tank bred fish are better adapted to tap water conditions if bred locally to you
Tank bred fish are cheaper
Some wild fish die during capture and transportation
Some wild populations are becoming extinct

I have had both wild and tank bred fish, wild fish are not necessarily a bad thing - if you intend to breed them, the mixing of genes from wild stocks to captive stocks is normally a good thing.

Thanks..
What would make these wee fellas extinct in the wild? surley they aint fished for food are they?

 

[maximinimus]

Some are fished for food, but that doesn't normally endanger them, the biggest worries are fishkeepers.

The highest profile case has been the Danio margaritatus, which is only thought to live in 3 lakes in the world and so far only discovered in 1 lake. There are now only a few 100 left out of thousands before the collectors came along, the collectors are only catching a few fish a day now, whereas a year ago they were catching 100s every day.

Lake in 2006:

Lake in 2007:

 

[tenohfive]

Exactly the reason I've just started breeding them myself. If anyone has any advice regarding breeding CPD's (celestial pearl danio's, believe thats the official name at the moment) give me a nudge.

 

[invader]

Hi Guys,

On reading some threads with the mention of a "Wild" fish I wonder if that just means what it says was caught in the wild then put into a tank and bred from....

I wonder whats the differences between " wild and tank bred " ? I know the prices i see for some are way way higher than tank bred..

Do any of you guys catch your own wild tropicals?

Thanks again
Tag

Some fish can only be wild caught, as they haven't been bred in captivity yet. Most of the time, they have to be ordered by people who specialize in certain areas of the world. For example, I get all of my African fish from a guy who only imports wild Africans and I get all of my WC South American fish from a guy who only brings in fish from there.

 

[Ryan_R]

There's also a moral/ethical issue too... wild caught fish have much larger home ranges in the wild, then you're taking them and homing them in a glass box which likely will never match that wild home range... whereas tank bred fish wouldn't exist if it weren't for the hobby... so in some ways you're "improving" their lives by giving tank bred fish a home.

I suppose you could bring in the whole "natures cruel, anyway" argument to justify WC fish. I dunno. The water gets murky there. Your's to sort out however you feel.

-Ryan

 

[damianhucker]

i would guess at saying everyone who reads this has had wild caught fish at some point althought they may not realise it , around 40% of fish are wild caught as its cheaper than farming them or they cant be bred . most plecs are wild caught and things like talking catfish have never been tank reared same applies for most synos , how many people have kept clownloach until recently almost every single clownloach was wild caught , same applies for red line torpedo barbs (puntius denisoni) . now that makes you think!!!!!

 

[Tag2008]

i would guess at saying everyone who reads this has had wild caught fish at some point althought they may not realise it , around 40% of fish are wild caught as its cheaper than farming them or they cant be bred . most plecs are wild caught and things like talking catfish have never been tank reared same applies for most synos , how many people have kept clownloach until recently almost every single clownloach was wild caught , same applies for red line torpedo barbs (puntius denisoni) . now that makes you think!!!!!

Hi, I didnt realise this about clown loaches and tried to keep a pair several years ago...I did not fair well with them and they took whitespot and died, I knew they may be prone to this but they didnt let me give them a change to treat with meds they died quite quickly and now reading what you say would thay have been wild fish and just couldnt cope with my water and new enclosed tank they had?

 

[Tag2008]

Hi Guys,

I appreciate your comments in this thread...

Locally round here I think Id get a stickle back if i fished for wild freshwater fish or summat

But I did think in this day and age that some species would be farmed like they do with rainbow trout and even salmon now in man made or even natural ponds that are stocked and farmed.. I kinda thought that with the popularity of this hobby they either did that or they were tank bred in a large scale...

Ive never knowingly owned wild fish so realy wondered if I was missing out or if I was better with the Tap water tank breds..I wondered was the wild fish more hardy..or were the wild fish maybe somewhat more of a challenge to the more sereous minded aquarist who maybe saught new breeding challenges?

Thanks again for comments and photos

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

I did catch some minnows in the river don a few years back to see how they fared in a tank, they survived suprisingly well, until my cat went fishing that is

 

[SJ2K]

Just to add, most neons you'll find in LFS will be wild caught, theres so many of them in the wild and there so tricky to breed it works out more cost effective to fish for them

 

[shelaghfishface]

thanks for that about the clown loaches i was wondering about that a few days ago, as they are unheard of breeding in the aquarium, feel a bit guilty now tho as i have 4 of these beautiful fish in a glass box

 

[raptorrex]

i have thought of this quite a bit, i do realise that a few fish i keep now are wild caught, plecos being the main ones that come to mind. it is however the main thing that stops me going Marine. as far as i am aware all marine fish are wild caught. whilst we as keepers have an eye on the health and well being of our fish, both those we keep and and where they come from. the people involved in collection of said, are most unlikely to give a toss about the damage they may be doing. its kina a Catch 22 situation, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. considering the problems of getting a true ID on many fish at the LFS, what are the chances of finding the truth of where they really came from?