Tank Bred or Wild Caught

[sharkweek178]

If you can choose between purchasing fish that are either tank bred or wild caught, which do you prefer and why?

 

[Back in the fold]

Tank bred. Cheaper.

 

[connorlindeman]

Tank bred.

 

[Byron]

Wild caught because they are without question healthier. Now, I should qualify this by saying that I kept very soft water fish, primarily Amazonian, and I had the ideal water parameters for these fish. It is no coincidence that the only time I ever had serious disease introduced to my tanks from new fish was when they came from chain stores or were the species commercially raised. South America has the Project Priaba, worth a read (we had a thread with videos on this several months back).

The diseases introduced on commercially raised fish involved internal protozoan, something that spreads through hatcheries like wild fire, and especially the SE Asian market. The only wild-fish disease I encountered was gill flukes in some Corydoras once, easily cured. And this over 30 years of fish keeping.

Now, if you are into livebearers, you will usually be dealing with commercial fish, you have no choice, though knowing a reputable local breeder should help. And I do not consider it coincidental again that the problems with fish like neon tetras, which are so weak these days and prone to disease (just look at the threads on TFF) is due to being commercially raised. The generations of inbreeding weakens the fish, adding to the problem.

 

[betta4ever!]

Tank bred. Simply because l don't like the thought of taking them from their natural habitat. My Betta Coccina are just f1, so they're probably just as healthy as wild caughts, but a bit more tolerant on water conditions.

 

[Ellie Potts]

Tank bred. I struggle with the morality of wild caught - some companies do it right, but many don't and I have a hard time figuring out which ones are ethical.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Tank bred. I struggle with the morality of wild caught - some companies do it right, but many don't and I have a hard time figuring out which ones are ethical.

Agree but a lot of fish that are tank(or pond) bred aren't treated any better than wildcaught ones. Hobby-tankbred I like the most for that reason.

 

[Uberhoust]

Tank Breed. There are some special cases where wild bred fish are collected in a sustainable manner but I feel the majority are not. We have a critical issue where wildlife is being lost at an alarming rate. For a hobby I don't want to see additional damage to our wildlife stocks.

 

[Ellie Potts]

Agree but a lot of fish that are tank(or pond) bred aren't treated any better than wildcaught ones. Hobby-tankbred I like the most for that reason.

I agree that the fish in tanks aren't necessarily treated better. My concern is actually more with the environmental impacts. We've seen entire species go extinct from being over-caught, or river life suffer from the methods of catching fish. Hobby-tankbred is for sure the most ethical!

 

[Slaphppy7]

Tank bred

 

[Byron]

I agree that the fish in tanks aren't necessarily treated better. My concern is actually more with the environmental impacts. We've seen entire species go extinct from being over-caught, or river life suffer from the methods of catching fish. Hobby-tankbred is for sure the most ethical!

I'm sorry but this is just not true. You may think it is ethical, but it is anything but ethical. The majority of fish in North America come from SE Asian farms. These fish are known to be weak, and many (not all certainly) are disease-ridden. Second, there are highly ethical wild caught programs like Project Priaba in South America which are working to protect the habitats and species, and they are.

 

[Ellie Potts]

I'm sorry but this is just not true. You may think it is ethical, but it is anything but ethical. The majority of fish in North America come from SE Asian farms. These fish are known to be weak, and many (not all certainly) are disease-ridden. Second, there are highly ethical wild caught programs like Project Priaba in South America which are working to protect the habitats and species, and they are.

Yes! There are certain exceptions to the rule. But I'm not referring the breeding farms when I say "hobby bred". I'm referring to hobbyists (like us) breeding and selling to local clubs. The massive farms aren't ethical either but aren't as detrimental to the environment.
Wild catching - horrible for environment, bad for the fish being caught, few companies do it right but some do! often healthy fish
Mass breeding - not great for environment, bad for the fish being bred, few companies do it right but some do! less healthy fish

I slightly prefer breeding because it isn't depleting a natural resource of fish. Above all, though, I prefer hobby-bred

 

[Byron]

There are many fish that I have kept that would never be hobby-bred locally. Also, be careful listening to the animal rights folks who would encourage your thinking because they want the hobby shut down. It may take some thought, but it is possible to keep wild caught fish with benefits and not destruction to the habitat and the species.

 

[Ellie Potts]

There are many fish that I have kept that would never be hobby-bred locally. Also, be careful listening to the animal rights folks who would encourage your thinking because they want the hobby shut down. It may take some thought, but it is possible to keep wild caught fish with benefits and not destruction to the habitat and the species.

Yeah, just have to be really careful. I've done some conservation work and it's kind of shocking the damage irresponsible companies have done to entire populations. PETA will say there's never been a single fish kept ethically, which we obviously all disagree with lol. Certainly some fish HAVE to be wild caught if you want to keep them, so long as it's a healthy population caught in a reasonable way it's ok (which I'm sure is what you're referencing)

 

[GaryE]

Wild caught whenever possible. It's only since I moved that I have kept a few farmed fish, and they are rigidly QTed for life, away from wilds. Farmed fish, comparatively, are plague bearers due to unethical crowding and corner cutting on farms. Camallanus, tb, the results are striking. I buy farmed if I think I can breed them and raise them away from their parents, who will live out their lives apart and never be in contact with their young.

First off, every fisher I have spoken to is a subsistence worker. They fish close to where they live. There are species that have been eradicated everywhere but where they are fished for, because they are a valuable resource to local people.

There is a serious danger to new finds as new fish get high prices. I hope we can develop a network of ethical farms for them, as we log, mine, build dams. grow soy and palm oil, ranch and otherwise destroy their habitats. Ethical farms could produce healthy fish, but they would cost more. They won't be the megafarms listed on stock exchanges that supply the dismal chain stores with sickly fish. Somewhere between would be better, but we would have to pay a little more, and that won't float in North America. They would never be sold in chains.