Have You Thought of a Captive Bred Only Tank?

[Rmckoy]

Yes, 'we' are....however imo here is the crux...many of these wild caught are still from what is considered poorer countries, or those run by tin pot dictators etc. I hate to go down this rabbit hole but its the truth. If we see 'Indo' at the LFS well, where does that likely come from? We know....it's entirely possible to support the mariculture with cash invested but where does that $$$ investment actually go? Aquaculture has turned into an absolute enviro disaster in SE Asia....I hate to poop on the party but .....

This goes the same with many things .
but was thinking the other day .
Save the world , carbon blah blah , emissions , global warming .

why are we still seeing Christmas tree stands all over ?
why are we still cutting 1000’s of trees for a few weeks of cosmetic pleasure ?

 

[Nburg's Reef]

Most of my fish are either captive bred, or are now commonly captive bred. From here on out, I’ll stick to captive bred.

My captive bred:
Clowns
Blue mandarin
Marine betta
Coral beauty angel
Forktail blenny
Bangaii cardinal pair

Wild caught:
Flame hawk
Blue tail damsel
Melanurus wrasse
Sapphire damsel
Yellow tang (captive now offered)

 

[i cant think]

Yes, 'we' are....however imo here is the crux...many of these wild caught are still from what is considered poorer countries, or those run by tin pot dictators etc. I hate to go down this rabbit hole but its the truth. If we see 'Indo' at the LFS well, where does that likely come from? We know....it's entirely possible to support the mariculture with cash invested but where does that $$$ investment actually go? Aquaculture has turned into an absolute enviro disaster in SE Asia....I hate to poop on the party but .....

I agree with this, and if there was proper aquaculture why did they start with the easy fish and not the harder or easy rarer fish? I find that the ban did nothing in Hawaii and this hobby isn’t actually denting wild populations as much as people think. I think with coral global warming is doing way more damage than us unfortunately.

 

[Zerodameaon]

This goes the same with many things .
but was thinking the other day .
Save the world , carbon blah blah , emissions , global warming .

why are we still seeing Christmas tree stands all over ?
why are we still cutting 1000’s of trees for a few weeks of cosmetic pleasure ?

That reminds me, its nearly time to start acclimating my living Christmas tree to the indoors. In a few years the tree will be too tall to drag inside for Christmas and it will be planted out in the yard.

 

[mwilk19]

My 120 mixed reef has the following captive bred fish, Regal Tang, Yellow Tang, Singapore Angel, Purple Pseudochromis,
Mandarin, and two Ocellaris Clowns. My 60 gallon anemone cube is all captive bred. Coral Beauty Angel, Starry Goby, Yellow Watchman Goby, and two Lightning Maroons. I've felt for a long time that captive bred is the future of this hobby.

 

[Lovefish77]

Another option is tank raised fish and not tank bred. I only get tank bred now, never order from retailers. Even the best retailers will never give you a fat fish like one that is tank raised.

 

[Zionas]

I’d do one in a heartbeat but not enough options for some groups of fish I could see myself having. Biota mainly does Coral Beauties and despite being common they’re one of my favorite dwarfs, but there’s others I find cooler than the CB that have been captive bred but aren’t sold in sufficient quantities. Overall though going by the Biota site alone, assuming most / all of their selection is available, they do have the majority of stuff I’d be interested in having and I don’t like stocking tanks too heavily.
Now the problem is I live in a part of the world that Biota hasn’t quite warmed up to.

 

[Merv49]

After researching the way that many reef fish are caught I have decided to make my tank a captive bred only tank. I am already pretty limited on livestock selection due to the size of my tank so I don't think I am losing much selection.

What are your thoughts on the current state of captive bred fish?

After a great fish dinner where tons of fish at a time are harvested from the ocean who has time to think about a couple hundred pounds of aquarium fish. What’s your point?

 

[Zionas]

I completely agree that it’s the future of this hobby. What are the sources of your CB fish and anemone?

 

[radiata]

After researching the way that many reef fish are caught I have decided to make my tank a captive bred only tank. I am already pretty limited on livestock selection due to the size of my tank so I don't think I am losing much selection.

What are your thoughts on the current state of captive bred fish?

I thought this would be way cool. Then I priced an aquacultured CONSPICILLATUS ANGELFISH. I can even get one here in North Jersey, but I still can't afford it...

​

 

[ultraArcite]

Nothing in any of my tanks came from the wild! It's definitely doable.

 

[silvernblackr35]

Sure, if someone else pays for it.

 

[reefinatl]

I am pretty much running one already, with minor exceptions.

All of the corals I have currently were fragged from locals.

Fish list is as follows:
CB Yellow Tang
CB Occ. Clown x2 (local breeder)
CB Azure Damsels
CB Yellow Watchman Goby x2
WC Tomini Tang
WC White Belly Wrasse

Wish List:
CB Mandarin
addition CB Azure Damsels

 

[Zionas]

I love Biota Biota doesn’t love me.

 

[davidcalgary29]

My tanks are fully-populated now, but I would've bought captive-bred specimens for all of them if this had been possible. My captive-bred fish (four orchid dottybacks; mandarin goby; coral beauty; navarchus angel; flameback angel) have been very hardy and have acclimated to their tanks exceptionally well). It's the wild-caught specimens that have brought disease and stress to my tanks. I quarantine, but still.

 

[Zerodameaon]

After a great fish dinner where tons of fish at a time are harvested from the ocean who has time to think about a couple hundred pounds of aquarium fish. What’s your point?

Are they broadcasting cyanide on a reef to catch these fish?

My point is we have a better way to do this stuff, much like stopping plastics in the ocean, change has to start somewhere.

 

[Zerodameaon]

I thought this would be way cool. Then I priced an aquacultured CONSPICILLATUS ANGELFISH. I can even get one here in North Jersey, but I still can't afford it...

​

I just looked that up and I feel like my kidneys just got stolen looking them up.

 

[Theulli]

I for the longest time was running with all-Biota fish. Would still be doing the same except my son fell in love with a couple that can only be wild caught and I didn't have the heart to tell him no. But, in principle I always believe in supporting people doing good things with my pocketbook, and the fewer critters that get pulled straight out of the ocean, with all the accompanying issues, the better.

 

[reefcleaners]

I think getting those harder to keep or rarer fish to breed in captivity will be key to bringing in wide spread acceptance. There is quite a bit of difference between wild catching amazon fish with nets and wild catching reef fish by stunning them.

For whatever it is worth, most (95%+) reef aquarium fish are caught with barrier nets coupled with hand nets. That is a sustainable zero bycatch fishery.

I don’t think cyanide is used anymore, the wholesalers won’t accept those fish. Blasting is (probably?) no longer done either.

It would probably be best for the aquarium trade’s image if Quinaldine was banned, but researchers like to use it for their purposes and people will still have it for shipping fish. In FL the Special Activities License to use it for aquariums is the same one researchers use. It may be hard to decouple them.

Florida Fish and Wildlife did a study and found it had no lasting impacts on reef or fish health like cyanide does. It is expensive though, ($85 a quart I think) so it is used in a targeted manner, and would be ineffective anyway if broadcast over a reef.

I still don’t like it, it isn’t sporting and gives the trade a bad reputation for little trade off.

The fish food that is caught to feed our fish (and supply aquaculture) though is caught with gill nets, trawls and purse seines. That is where I think the aquarium hobby has the greatest impact but has the least controversy.

Amazonian fish are for sure easier to catch by net than reef fish though. They are all over FL because some aquaculture facilities got washed and birds unwittingly transferred eggs. (Not everyone covers their ponds)

Our native freshwater fish have been thoroughly displaced by it, you can toss a cast net here and get an Amazonian or African cichlid in any body of water in the Everglades system or canal from it. Throw it in the same spot and get another 5 seconds later. They don’t seem to understand nets are a threat.

But in that way, aquaculture has ironically caused more damage to Florida than wild fishing but the agencies are getting better at sending manuals on how to protect ponds from wading birds. (They still don’t have elevation or berm requirements for ponds that I am aware of, and no containment requirements). That kind of damage is usually irreparable too. They have no plans for removing cichlids from the Everglades waterways.

The real value for aquaculture is a steady supply of a certain species not subjected to transit costs, stress and closures.

edit - sorry didn’t think about that words other use as a slur

 

[reefcleaners]

sorry just realized that word I used has another connotation