Tropical Fish Forums

snakemao62 · Members Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Location: Sac,Ca USA

Maybe we should just leave the fish in the wild.Think about it.....where is the best place for them.How many are killed every year in captivity in one way or another.

Just a thought and yes I still have my tank.

Caton

Most populations in the wild are dying faster than in captivity. Tiger barbs for example die in the thousands if not hundreds of thousands each year, yet they are pretty much extinct in the wild. Do you have oto's in your aquarium? Those are most likely wild, do you have neon tetras? Lots of those are wild...
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unissuh

Ah yes, this topic comes up every so often.

My usual response is a well looked after fish will likely survive longer in captivity than in the wild - true for many pets not just fish. If your average LFS and fish owner knew more, this topic would probably come up a lot less.

I'm also not aware that tiger barbs are endangered in the wild at all, where'd you hear that from? AFAIK wild populations are actually spreading through the actions of silly people releasing them into new areas.
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Fishing in the Rivers of Light

KhiaraFish · Regulars Joined: 18 Aug 2010 Location: Saint Paul, MN

At this point a lot of species have also been domesticated, and would not do well if put back into the wild, because of a loss of immunity to disease, or because their coloration makes them too visible to predators.
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UncleWillie · Advisors Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Location: Georgia, USA

Like previously said, many of the fish you find in stores have been domesticated for decades. Many of the fish (of course there are exceptions) are captive bred and fish taken from the wild are needed every so often to either supplement LFS stocks or to increase broodstock for the breeding programs.

Many fish would be extinct in the wild if it was for aquaria - barrens topminnow, endlers livebearers, and some have had to have wild captured fish for broodstock so that fish can be raised in tanks or aquaculture and then used to supplement wild populations. You can find quite a bit of interesting material on the subject if you know where to look.

katienaha

Set the neighbor's Yorkshire Terrier free with the wolf pack and see how it does...
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Caton

Fern · Regulars Joined: 26 May 2009 Location: SW Florida

Look up lake Victoria in Africa, many species that have gone extinct in the lake still live on in captivity.
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keithkyli · Members Joined: 27 Apr 2010

As far as I know, red-tailed black shark is extinct in the wild. The ancestral home of Endler's LB is now a garbage dump. People behind bulldozers seldom keep fishes. It's the aquarists who are running ahead of bulldozers to save as much as we can. And it's the money that can be generated from this trade which keeps it going.

If we were to keep fishes in the wild, we have to make bulldozers extinct first. Then I don't mind flying 20 hours and spending one or two thousand dollars to see angelfish or discus in their natural habitat, or giving up the ordeal and knowing by heart that these natural treasures are living happily. Wink

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