Where a fish is from

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dromo2189

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Dec 1, 2016
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Hello I just wonder if it really mattered where a fish was from and if there is a better place then others
 
Not really. Most tropical reefs are very similar water condition wise.
 
Hello I just wonder if it really mattered where a fish was from and if there is a better place then others
There actually is a difference where the fish come from. The method of collection is the main difference. Some areas still use drugs to collect their fish while others are net collectors ( the ones you should be supporting. (y) ). Net collected fish are going to be a little more money but the long term health of the fish and your pocketbook will make the extra money well worth the price.
Another difference will be the coloration of some fish. In certain areas, the fish have geographic color differences. In the past, I would get Regal Angelfish from the Marshall Islands that were 100 times more colorful than the ones from Philippines and even Bali. Another regional fish is the coral beauty. Depending on were you get them determines what color they will be. Same with Queen Angels and Rock Beauties.
So yes, it does matter and can matter more depending on what you are looking for. ;) (y)
 
Okay thanks. I was looking at a blue hippo tang and notice how many different places they came from
 
less chance of a lot of illness or parasites also less stressed , only down side is tank raised fish usually don't have that vibrant coloring as wild caught , but it's not to noticeable unless you have 1of each side by side .

you do need to be aware the blue hippo needs a large tank as they get rather large
The best place to see tank size recommendations is live aquara , this way you know what fish will work in your tank , just thought I put that out there as I don't know how big your tank is.

I made that very mistake back when I first started I had a 37g tank and put in a grouper
not paying no mind how big they get , 6 months later he was almost 8 inch in size . it was not fun trying to catch him as I had a lot of rock and he kept hiding , finally caught him and traded him in at a local reef shop .

I learned my lesson after that now if I'm not sure how big they get I research it , another thing to be sure of is how fast some fish grow to others, some grow super fast and others grow at slower rate .
 
Tank raised or Captive bred would be a good first choice as they are not reducing the wild populations. ORAfarm.com is a company which produces popular corals and raised captive bred fishas well. There are probably other supply /wholesale companies but I don't know the names. Hobbyists too.
 
Is it better when a fish is tank raise rather then wild caught?

That is a loaded question. Not everywhere in the world has the same collection practices, as has been stated above. I wouldn't want to put a fish into my system that was poisoned in order to be caught. This stuff stays in your system and can cause a fish to die in your house after all the transporting and additional stress put on it.
In general, fish that are able to be bred in captivity tend to be hardier to transitioning into new systems and are sometimes less skittish when people are moving around the tank.
So, the answer to your question turns into...availability. Pretty much every clown and cardinal that you see in any big name chain story carries captive bred. Outside of those categories, we simply haven't caught up to nature when it comes to breeding many of the popular fish in our hobby. The nice thing is that we are working on it, and having a first round of yellow tangs being captive bred last year is another step in the right direction...though due to Hawaii's collection laws these fish are far from in any danger of never being seen again. In fact, their numbers have increased on the last data I read.
So, in reflection...only buy healthy fish from your lfs. Buying fish that appear sick or lethargic can mean that they were collected with some not ok means. These are the same signs you should be looking for anyway, collection methods aside. Don't buy sick fish, it only feeds the problem.
 
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