What do you think?

[Alex]

I was in a aquatic centre today and saw 3 wild caught frontosa cichlids. I was a little upset ( maybe me being silly) bit I know that they are found at depths of 30 metres (about 100 ft). How can this be reconstructed in an aquarium? and are the fish really that adaptable? I would love some feedback, because it quite upset me.

 

[Amadaca]

I dont know a whole lot about this particular fish, but it upsets me as well. Its the same reason I have ALWAYS been against marine aquariums. I think they should be banned, because at the very least, 95% of all saltwater aquarium fish are taken from the ocean to be placed in a four, five, six foot aquarium, simply because they look, "pretty".

I always buy aquarium-bred specimens. The only time I would consider any kind of wild-caught fish is if the animal came from a natural setting that would be inferior, say, poorer surroundings or smaller area of space.

 

[cichlidmaster]

Case in point:

Those aquarium specimens had to come from somewhere!!!!! If not wild caught specimens, then where???

CM

 

[Alex]

originally yes, but now that they are supposedly reasonabley easy to breed in captivity, surely that is the kinder option. Also the fact that they are caught so far down, (which as I asked before "can it be reconstructed in an aquarium" I'm asking about pressure etc.) I suppose everyone has different thoughts about the rights and wrongs of this.

 

[cichlidmaster]

A little info on wild caught fish.........

First off,

While it is true that most fish are easily bred, a continuos influx of "new blood" is necessary to keep genetic defects from happening....

Case in point.....(and an answer to a previous post)

Labidochromis caeruleus (electric yellow)

The electric yellow was first discovered in 1981. Only two fish were detected and caught. These two fish turned out to be a male and female. They were eventually sent to Pierre Brichard who was successful in breeding them.

I'll cut to the chase here....Between 1981 and 1990 there were no imports of wild yellow labs known. Even after a small import of yellow labs in 1991, the majority of yellow labs in the hobby are derived from that single pair collected.

Although the make up of this fish has withstood time, it is one reason you will see a lot of electric yellows with either washed out color or with the faint black stripes.

Unless you have a supply of wild fish to introduce back with existing stock, the current lines will start to deteriorate and show a lot more deformities.

As far as setting up an aquarium to house fish collected in 100 feet of water, this is a moot point. Any fish collected at a depth of 25 feet has to be decompressed before being brought to the surface.

Let me ask you this simple question.....

When is the last time you saw a display tank at a public aquarium that was 100 feet deep???

Would you suggest public aquariums be shut down because they have wild caught fish in their display's or is that alright because they are on public display???

Take my word for it....

Wild fish are here to stay and are an essential part of the hobby to keep those pretty little fish free of deformities.

Hope this helped clear up the reason why wild fish are necessary in the hobby still today!!

CM

 

[Macquatic]

When Frontosa are caught, the fishermen use a decompression method (like divers). This entails 3-4 holding stations underwater at different depths and the process takes a few days.
It is impossible to recreate the pressure but the fauna is not a problem. If these fish were not happy with the conditions they were kept in they would never breed.

Wild caught fish are much more colourful and vigorous than their tank/farm bred counterparts.
Wild caught fish generate a reasonable income for local people supplying the aquarium market rather than a food fish.


I have absolutely no qualms about keeping wild caughts as my intention is to breed them anyway and as above if the conditions aren't right they won't. Mac.

 

[Alex]

I can see your points in many ways, but these full grown fish are being kept in tiny tanks, at the moment, and have been there for weeks. If things brought in from the wild for breeding were either given straight to breeders, or only bought in if requested, so they didn't have to spend weeks in a 8 gallon tank, I'd be happier.

 

[Macquatic]

I'm disappointed that you let your lfs keep Frotosas in 8 gallon tanks!!!

This equates to a tank size of about 20x10x12 and a fully grown male will exceed 8"
Even though this cichlid is pretty inactive (sometimes termed "the word's laziest cichlid") it needs more room than stated.

If I saw this happening in my lfs I'd report them to the RSPCA! Mac.

 

[cichlidmaster]

That is appalling!!!!!!!!!!!

You maybe should say something to your LFS. Let them know that this is inhumane and that these fish need way more space then this.

The fact that they have been in these tanks for any length of time tells me that the shop is not going to sell them quickly.

When I bring in wild fish I have 4ft and 6ft holding tanks for them. I will not bring in any fish unless I have proper digs for them.

I can understand your concerns now!!!

CM

 

[Alex]

Dear macquatic, I totally agree that something ought to be done about this, but unless policies have changed in the RSPCA, I think you'll find that fish have very few rights, and they will say that they are "in perfectly adequate" conditions. I used to work for them, and they are very limited in what they can do.

and dear CM it is one of the chains of LFS, most of the people in there know next to nothing about fish (and care even less). A woman was asking one of the assistants what a fish was, he said "I don't know, I'll find out about it" my 5 year old son said "that's a type of polypterus!" The assistant said to the woman "no it isn't, its the wrong colouring, I'll find out what it is". he soon found out it was a polypterus omatipinnis; he was very ) and so he should be. But it says it all about some of these chain FS, that my 5 year old is more knowledgable about the fish than their assistants.