Wild Caught vs. Captive Bred

[benzjamin13]

There's always seems to be a debate about this and I'm just curious on what other people think about this topic.

Do Wild Caught really look THAT much better then a captive bred fish?

I don't really see a big difference and to be honest...anyone that sees your fish probably wouldn't care or notice themselves. I also think that buying captive bred is better (whenever possible) because it helps preserve the ecosystem

 

[Lupin]

Depends what species you're talking about. Take the Betta splendens for instance. The wild-caught ones usually look drab in comparison to the captive-bred ones which have been selectively bred for decades already to achieve the colors, finnage, etc.

Remember, there are many fish that have yet to be bred in captivity such as a few hundreds of loach species so most of the loaches we get are wild-caught and can be a little more sensitive to acclimate in tank conditions compared to the ones already bred such as the clown loaches.

There have been few reported cases of altum angelfish breeding although I cannot confirm an affirmative whether they have been bred or not. All I know is some cases appear to be P. scalare x P. altum cross rather than the pure P/ altum itself.

Some wild-caught specimens have already been banned for exports such as the L46 (Hypancistrus zebra) due to the fast declining population rate from high demands. So you are expected to obtain only the captive-bred ones, not the wild-caughts.

The same thing happened to Puntius denisonii a few years back but they have marked a comeback since their population apparently is restoring fast enabling us to be able to get the pleasure of owning them although they remain to be relatively expensive due to high demands. This is a similar case with P. altum.

 

[Bogwoodbruce]

It doesnt matter at all gto me, were i work we import mainly wild caght fish and some stuff looks no better than its tank bred counterpart.

 

[pcfriedrich]

as far as looks, it doesn't matter. an individual fish is going to have individual looks. regardless of where it is born. there are a few exceptions, though. oscars have been selectively bred into different "breeds", none of which resemble their wild cousins.

Its been recommended to me, and I pass on the recomendation, always buy captive bred. leave the ecosystems be. fish have a hard enough time thriving in the wild with pollution and fishing for food as it is.

that goes especially for hard corals. it takes decades, if not hundreds of years, to grow a piece of coral that makes a good ornament in your tank. if everyone tried to keep coral tanks, there would be none left in the ocean. coral are a very important part of the marine ecosystem, but not necessary at all in your tank.

 

[loach43]

Again it depends on the fish. Example: Wild Hemigrammus Rodwayi (gold tetras) are gold in color. F1s in captivity are silver. I prefer F0 whenever possible even when there is no typical visual difference in the generation to come. Starting from scratch just seems more fun to me for some reason.

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

I usually try to get something like f1 to avoid inbred fish, etc. but I have both f0 and captive.

 

[headbanger_jib]

i always prefer captive bred less fish being fished out of the wild for the small tanks
anyways again it all depends on the buyer
but i would always prefer captive bred to wild caught

 

[dogofwar]

I prefer F1 or high quality F2 fish. They're almost always more colorful and healthier than wild (F0) fish.

Usually F1 fish are better than wild ones because:
- F1 haven't had to deal with the rigors of the wild (lack of food, predators, competition)
- F1 don't have internal parasites
- F1 are from the largest, most colorful wild parents (i.e. the wild fish that are collected for breeding are generally exceptional - not average - specimens).
- F1 cost a fraction of wild
- F1 haven't had to adjust to aquarium life (more outgoing behavior).

I have both wild and F1 fish...and I prefer F1, when available, for the reasons above

 

[benzjamin13]

How does this F series work? Is F0 the original wild pair and F1 is the first spawn? What's F2 and is there any other F numbers after? I've only heard of F0 to F2.

 

[loach43]

How does this F series work? Is F0 the original wild pair and F1 is the first spawn? What's F2 and is there any other F numbers after? I've only heard of F0 to F2.

Correct. F2 would be a spawn from F1 parents. F3 wold be a spawn from F2 parents etc.