Wild Caught or Tank Raised

[Phil]

Over the past several years I've noticed a marked decrease of hobbyists who wish to keep wild caught fish. Below are some interesting bits of information to read before casting your vote.

Benefits of Wild Caught Fish
Wild fish generally possess better colouration. Nature does a lot better job in bringing out the natural colours in tropical fish through diet, water conditions, and breeding.

Wild tropical fish usually have better genetics. They are less likely to have inbred. Hobbyists that wish to breed their fish will better stock when using wild caught fish.

Wild fish are often collected as exotic fish. Many experienced fish keepers will collect wild caught fish to expand their collection and hope to have what no one else has on the block.

Wild fish are used to breed and in return their fry can be sold at a higher value. Usually F1 fry are very healthy and will have great coloration and markings.

Distributors love selling Wild fish because they sell for a higher price as compared to tank bred species.

Wild Caught Fish cons
Wild fish are much more expensive.

These fish are more skittish. Remember they are not used to human interaction. This is not to say they will not get use to you, but just be aware they will be skittish.

Age is generally unknown. No one has an accurate age of your wild fish.

There are rarely any young fish that are caught in the wild. Mostly adult fish are caught and exported. So raising your fish from fry will not be a likely option.

Can be hard to get.

Are you truly getting wild caught fish? What proof have you got that the fish were imported through recognized distribution channels?

Benefits of Tank Raised Fish
Less expensive.

Wide variety available for you.

Not as skittish around humans.

You have a good idea of the age of your tropical fish.

Can purchase young fry and raise them up to adults.

Your are not depleting the native species population in the wild.

These fish are use to aquarium conditions and can adapt to changing environments.

Tank Bred Fish Cons
Captive bred fish “may” have a poor gene pool. Fish breeders may inbreed certain fish with or without knowing what they are doing. **Excellent breeders rotate their breeding stock regularly with new wild breeders.

Tank bred fish may portray weaker markings and less coloration. This is due usually to poor diet or poor genetics.

[KingFisher]

Tank Bred/Raised:

Reasons

- Cheaper than WC
- Know the source and can see the parents most of the time.
- Hardy, Have been bred in local water and looked after from fry.
- I like to grow the fish up from fry or Juvenile to adult. Make breeding them or keeping them more satisfying for me.(it the journey not the destination)
- Should have maximum growth raised in optimal conditions (Local hobbiest)
- They are eating and will eat in my Tank I can get the same food.
- I am a pessimist (sorry) But I have no guarantee that the fish is WC

Why is it that if you want a canine a puppy is of greater value than a fully Adult dog? Fish the opposite fry cheap Adults greater value

[Phil]

Excellent answers.

[Phil]

Tank Bred/Raised:

I like to grow the fish up from fry or Juvenile to adult. Make breeding them or keeping them more satisfying for me.(it the journey not the destination)

I think this would rank high on many peoples reasons why they would opt for tank raised/bred fish. The transformation of some fish from juveniles to full grown adults is truly amazing to watch. Not only that, but to watch the pecking order develop if you are raising several of the same species is fascinating as well.

[pyro]

I think that early generation tank raised fish will show almost the same colour as wild. The only downside is that if you buy 6 fry to raise, are you buying brother and sister and how does that affect the blood lines? I try to purchase my fish from at least two sources (try it, it isn't easy) in an attempt to keep a stronger line.

[davesolo29]

I think it really depends on the kind of fish you want...and the look of the tank you are trying to achieve.
I have had several groups of both WC and tank raised.
For instance.. aulonocara species. If you want colourful fish you want adults. The juvies are all very drab and it can take years before you see any colour. I know that this does not really pertain to WC or F! though.

[kbuntu]

Very interesting topic.

I've recently talked to somebody and he was mentioning unless you are in the boat with the locals over at Malawi or Tanganyika you will not know where the fish come from. Really good example are Tropheus Moliro and Chipimbi. Since the collection points are so close a lot of times they are mixed. (African Cichlids: Tanganyika I. Tropheus )

I would chose F1's any time over Wild for the following reasons.

1) You don't know how old the WC are and they might not breed
2) Big investment
3) Quality of F1 stock will be similar to wild caught or sometimes even better

ohhhh and big investment. I'm sure a lot of people disagree with me.

[Tye]

By getting tank-raised fish, I minimize the chance that my purchase will refuse to eat. I know my tank raised fish will be happy on anything from flake to veggies to live food should I choose.

Hopefully, I also minimize introducing pathogens that my current stock can't defend against (plus QT, but this doesn't always catch everything - think callamanus). In practice this doesn't always work, but...

While wild caught fish often have stronger colouration, a little work and appropriate foods can go a long way to getting captive bred stock fairly close. Carefully bred fish can even have stronger colouration than their wild brethren. Also, look at artificial colour or fin variations - not often in the wild can you find albinos/longfins/metalic blues/[insert basically any angel variety]/[insert most discus varieties]! While some see these mutations as abominations, if you are not opposed to these changes, you won't find them in wild caughts! (NO! I WON'T GIVE UP MY LONGFIN BNs! Go away! Get your mitts out of my tank!! Mine mine mine...)

[moon]

I like the chellenge of keeping and breeding WC chiclids. WC African chiclids and some catfishes are relatively easy to breed and I have done that. More recently I been trying WC angels like Altums and Heckel discus. Very few hobbiests in the world have been able to breed these fish. This is the ultimate chellenge to hobbiests.
I heard that some one in the UK had bred the Juguar cat fish (L.Oncinus). I can just imagine how this person must have felt to achieve some thing that no one else in the world has achieved.
On the other hand I do feel bad when I loose a WC fish. This fish was caught in some distant palce and shipped half way across the world and died in my care.
JMO.

[dankent]

The benefits i can see is acclimation is easier ... Less Risks of diseases / parasites. QT is great .... but this doesnt catch everything ...