I can't describe how happy I am to see all you guys and gals responding to this, for me, HUGE ISSUE
And I salute you for it !!
Quote:
The main issue is, us fishkeepers are a small minority in this hobby.
You would be surprised how much WE CAN CHANGE
Look at Marcos Avila our host, what he achieved here with Aquahobby.com !
He made a huge impact on fish-keeping and started this philosophy of Responsible fish-keeping. Am I right?? ONE MAN first, than followers and than you have a new fish-keeping culture developed
We can do a lot, trust me on this one. Yes it does take time.
Tom Barr needed 10 years to convince us all that dosing PO4 is beneficial to keep most of the algae at bay. As well as CO2 when it comes to BBAlgae.
But he did it.
And not just Tom, but also our Steve Hampton helped this hobby becoming more enjoyable.
There are more people to mention but they already know who they are
Even this issue we are discussing now, it will take at least 10-20 years to see the change.
But we shouldn't give up!
Maybe writing petitions to governments can make faster changes.
Local Aquarium organisations certainly can help a lot with this issue, and so on.
wholesale fish- mortality rates, cost per fish, etc.
trans-shipped fish- mortality rates, cost per fish
acclimation procedures and effect on death rates
acclimation procedures as a result of local breeder bringing fish in
I am not entirely against transshipping as it means everyone gets a crack at the good specimens, but I do see a major difference in how many fish seem to survive the trans-shipping.
I wonder if the fish are as harmed as they appear to be though, or perhaps they are "killed" by clueless LFS employees who don't know how the transshipped fish should be handled.
Fish brought in buckets seem to be acclimated better than fish that come in from the trans-shippers and I wonder how some locally bred fish would fare if they were treated as badly as the shipped fish.
Just some general thoughts on what info I'd like to see us begin trying to find.
_________________ "Just don't look in my fish room honey... it's just better for all of us. "
Would it be worthwhile to create a new forum here for finding local clubs and breeders? I could definitiely see the benefits, but I'm not sure if it would fit somewhere else. I would think the ads/links forum would cover it but such topics might get more visibility in their own forum. Know what I mean?
Blah, now this whole discussion has me confused about if I want to buy some other "large" fish to replace my gourami. (larger than rasboras.) My tank looks lonely without the big centerpiece, but it's plenty successful without one (not to mention fairly full). My desire says yes, but my conscience says no. _________________ --Kathy--
I was just looking through this, and was thinking maybe I should get my new fish from a local breeder... but apart from one betta breeder (who works at my LFS) I don't know of any...
I do agree with Dusko, we can change this hobby over time.
Another thing to add to number 6's lost:
Taking wild caught fish and bringing them into the fish trade should be controlled, or completely wiped out, at least until we know how to breed them
I think it will be a shame that future generations will not be able to enjoy the same species as we do. On a heavier note, we are also endangering species, which we have no right to do.
Another thing to add to number 6's lost:
Taking wild caught fish and bringing them into the fish trade should be controlled, or completely wiped out, at least until we know how to breed them
In some cases, it's better to keep the wild-caught fish in the trade for the sake of the local environment. With cardinal tetras, the idea is if the fish are no longer caught from the Rio Negro, there will no longer be a reason to protect that area thus allowing logging and similar practices to move in on the river. I'm not going to say this is the truth, but it's what I have read. _________________ --Kathy--
It is true for the most part Luna... If the people of the area are granted ownership, they tend to self regulate and protect the wild area.
If no ownership is given to the locals, then the opposite can happen... unethical short sighted people will wipe out the area for a quick buck.
For the most part, catching wild fish for the aquarium trade is not the problem for the wild populations. _________________ "Just don't look in my fish room honey... it's just better for all of us. "
Taking wild caught fish and bringing them into the fish trade should be controlled, or completely wiped out, at least until we know how to breed them
that's a complicated issue. in addition to what others have stated, we do sometimes need wild caught specimens to widen the captive bred gene pool, otherwise we may have problems with break downs in breeding lines.
also, has anybody here heard of project piaba? it has many aims but it is essentially trying to keep fisherman in the amazon fishing instead of clear cutting the rainforest for farm land. after many years of study, they have determined the cardinal tetra population to be an annually renewable resource. commercial fishing for the aquarium trade has not been found to cause damage to their populations. why this is so is a complicated subject that I don't have space to go into here.
but on the other hand, collections should be monitered so that we do not take more than the earth is capable of replenishing. that's part of the goal of MAC, the marine aquarium council, which helps regulate the collection of fish for the marine hobby. _________________ New to fishkeeping? Click the banner
Bobo - Gene pool... excellent point. They transport elephants, pandas, etc. cross-country to keep the gene pool strong at any given zoo, and even then it isn't that great. Also, some species are so difficult to breed in captivity that it isn't commercially viable. (Only one... maybe two farms exist for cardinal tetras, that I know of anyway.) _________________ --Kathy--
Bobo - Gene pool... excellent point. They transport elephants, pandas, etc. cross-country to keep the gene pool strong at any given zoo, and even then it isn't that great.
Actually, it isn't a good point. Up untl about 5 to 10 yrs ago, this was the prevailin wisdom and I'll bet you could even find a post from me saying this was so.
It now strongly appears that this whole idea is a big giant disaster...
outcrossing to wild essentially slaps a bandaid on bad genes... like painting over a crack in the wall... not a good idea.
Even zoos are really re-assesing their whole breeding strategies because this out crossing practice actually increased fertility problems and other negative phenotypes in the long run...
I own wild fish... and F1 fish... and there are NO genetic benefits for using those as breeders that I can tell at all. _________________ "Just don't look in my fish room honey... it's just better for all of us. "
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Chat
Help
Search Board
Memberlist
Usergroups
Profile
Check your private messages
Log in
Register
