1 in every 6 species from "Finding Nemo" is threatened by extinction....

Statistics are @#$!^. I don't care about statistics. There's a statistic for everything in this world that there can be a statistic for. Most of those statistics don't even count for real life and ingenuity.

While the article is shocking, it's far from the truth.

I agree. Being a 4 time Iraqi veteran, I can honestly say news agencies only put out the news that will bring them money, and then they spoof them all to heck. While I can definately agree that people buy "Nemos" and "Doras" who are incredibly unqualified to keep them (especially the tangs), I doubt that this will drive them to extinction. Extincting a fish would just take a horrendous amount of neglect and abuse that's just unheard of these days, what with the 400 activists eyeballing sea life catchers and all.

Just brings to mind PETA and renaming fish "sea kittens."

I think there's an underlying truth. Finding Nemo definitely changed this hobby.

Also not taken in this article that 90% of the clowns fish at our LFS are tank raised. Only rarely do I see direct from the big blue ones available. There is also the fact that this hobby is a taken a big hit from the worlds economy, just look at the amount of LFS and on line stores that are no long out there. +1 on what adonis311 says about sensationalize the issue.

Very true. What sells more issues? "Finding Nemo adds to fish sales." or "Finding Nemo threatens an entire species."

I'm always very hesistant about buying fish that aren't tank raised anyway. Just seems ineffective to take something that had all the space on earth and then put glass walls around it. At least tank raised were born in the walls and are more suited for life that way. (Maybe even a better life under a good owner, seeing as they won't have preditors and they'll be fed and cared for on a regular basis.)

You have to be careful with buying "tank raised" fish. It's the latest craze, and many stores are exploiting it and saying their fish are tank raised, when in fact, they're not. Tank raised fish also usually come with a higher price tank, so LFS's are making out by claiming the fish are and then charging more money. We have one LFS here that I finally asked to see his shipping slips because I was convinced they weren't tank raised, and oh, what a surprise, they weren't.

That is the other way around here in Chicago, all the ones from the ocean cost more than tank raised. Signs on tanks say "True Percula Clowns" while the tank raised just say "Percula clowns". when I asked why they say because the colors of the ones from the ocean have better color and wider black ban around the white. 

Shipping slips. Very good idea.

It's not easy to get them to show them to you. I happened to be there when the shipment came in, and new the partner. Everything was trans-shipped. :-(

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gemmy 

Also, many LFS get there fish from a distributor. The fish make their trip from the big, blue sea and sit in holding tanks for who knows how long before a LFS requests an order. The shipment that comes in from the distributor that will have the shipment manifest of what is included in the order, but it does not show where exactly the fish came from.

You can usually tell based on the distributor.

Interesting thread, but stupid article. Sorry Krista.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gemmy 

 

I knew the article was lame, but it did make me think about where the livestock we get for our tanks comes from.  There is a reason why some states are restricting the harvesting of certain specimens. The reefs in the world are very vulnerable to threats. 

That's true... but, IMO, most of the depletion of reefs are not caused from our hobby. Pollution, commercial fishing, and other things do a lot worse to our reefs/oceans.

BTW, I love your line under your user name.