Captive or wild ethical debate

[islandkoa]

As a followup to the "if anyone cares about fish. . ." thread that someone posted, I've asked myself if it is moral to keep fish in an aquarium, especially after something died in my tank. I don't know if the life expectancy of aquarium fish exceeds that of fish in the wild, but I don't think that their death in an aquarium is more humane than getting chomped on. Statistically, I could only guess how many fish slowly freeze, overheat, suffocate, starve, or are chemically/biologically poisoned to death while in captivity.
Many people responded (in that thread) saying that this hobby is beneficial by increasing awareness. Personally, I still sympathize with the plight of mountain gorillas even though I don't keep one as a pet. Plus, what does awareness accomplish without action?
I consider my knowledge/experience in this hobby as barely intermediate. I guess I will close this long winded (and mis-categorized) post with the question, if you were to reincarnate as an unknown aquarium type fish (clown, trigger, etc.) would you prefer live your life in the wild or in an unknown aquarium?

 

[keri]

well I guess that depends....who's aquarium?
Mine - sure! But not everyone's.

 

[kydizzle41]

keri made a good point but i guess if i was an unknown fish then i would rather be in aquarium do to the possibility of being eaten

 

[aquaknight]

Would depend on the type of fish. If I was say, a damsel, where everyday was a battle to avoid being preyed upon, definitely prefer an aquarium. Where I can bully other fish, and stir up the owners sand

. But if I was an alpha type fish, like a Titan Trigger, defintiely the wild.