Does anyone feel guilty?

[reeferx]

Ok. I am hoping this post will help rationalize our addictions to this hobby.
Everyone has lost fish. Multiply that by the thousands (millions?) of us out there and that is a lot of fish. Behind the scenes even more fish are being lost in capture and shipping. Somewhere in the world right now someone is squirting fish with a water bottle full of cyanide, or throwing dynamite overboard, or breaking off some slow-growing coral to sell to tourists on the beach.
I realize that even this does not cause as much damage as poorly managed fisheries or military activities, etc, but are we doing more harm than good? I can name a few postives, but do these really outweigh the negatives?
I don't want to rain on everyone's parade, I love this as much as anyone else, but this guilt is something that I, and I suspect many of you, wrestle with from time to time.
What real positives come from this hobby?
Sincerely,
Matt Rogers

 

[reeferx]

<img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />

 

[fishymissy]

There are many threats to todays reefs. Mining for construction, pollution, over fishing, damage from boat anchors, collection for the hobby trade, collection for the tourist and curio trade. One of the biggest threats right now, is global warming. The prediction is that 50 years from now the reefs will be gone! The ocean will become too warm for the stoney corals, they will expel their zooallanthe and die. Only this hobby has the potential to recolonize the tropical reef, once the problem of global warming is dealt with. (And it will have to be dealt with.....the biggest problem is that they feel that even if you were to stop all forms of pollution that contribute to this right now, it will take many, many years for this to reverse itself). This hobby may also be a means for releasing fish into those reefs. At this time, our understanding of marine fishes is limited, but I feel we are gaining ground on this. The biggest problem we will have in the future will be the lack of biodiversity in the reconstructed reef.....nobody wants to keep the "ugly" fish...or the "dull" sps coral! But they are all vital to the health and balance of the reef!
Many years ago, the freshwater discus was being shipped all over the world from their homes in the Amazon. That was the only way you could get a discus, since the art of breeding them was unknown. A huge portion of those wild caught discus died at capture, or from shipping. Even more died in the tanks of the aquarist. From trial and error, they were eventually bred, and now the ones most offered for sale are captive bred. Hardly anyone keeps wild caught discus anymore.
I'm hoping that it will be the same with saltwater fish! That is what I hope this hobby will do.

 

[bigeyedfish]

I read somewhere that if humans left the ocean alone for just one year, it would repopulate itself multiple times. Now you cant believe everything you hear, but you never know. I am bothered from time to time about our hobby and how high the death rate must be in order for us to have fish in our tanks. However the fact that we can breed some species in captivity and learn more about the oceans from it, i feel more comfortable when i make a purchase at the LFS. I do everything in my power to make sure my fish are happy (basically spend as much money as i can afford), therefore i feel my karma is in check. Its the unscrupulous dealers that give me the chills.

 

[davidcanupp]

I constantly battle with feelings of hypocrisy because I am so against some activities that I feel are detrimental to the ocean, yet I buy fish and corals. Robert Fenner's book, The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, has a passage that helps me to rationalize the situation: "humans only love what they know; and people do not destroy what they love." That makes a lot of sense to me.
As hobbiests, we can increase public support for saving the reefs through writing Congress (yes, this is really important and it can really work), publicizing the problems and making people care about the future of our oceans. This is a key point, and I beleive that this is our duty as marine aquarists. People only support what they think will affect them. What they don't know is that the ocean affects them in many more ways than we thought a hundred years ago, and we find out more ways that it affects our lives every day.
I hope that through grassroots research in our aquariums, we can accomplish large-scale fish and coral reproduction in captivity, and really contribute to the massive effort that will one day be necessary to repopulate our oceans and reefs. Not only will global warming play a role in the decline of these fragile environments, but fishing, cyanide use, the oil industry, shipwrecks, etc. damage our reefs. People must become aware of the issues, and who better to inform them than us?, the people who love the oceans so dearly. We realize how much of a role that the inhabitants of these environments can affect our lives, let's tell everyone else how important it is to save them! If the sheer beauty is not enough, the key to curing disease may lie in various undiscovered sponges. Who knows how else these wonderful ecosystems could benefit us, and maybe we can help them. Think of us and the ocean like a clown fish and an anemone: we can keep it clean and healthy, while it can provide us protection from disease and God knows what else.
What do you guys think?
David

 

[jakob4001]

surprises me that no one that I have noticed as of yet has addressed the issue of the "what if" what one has in thier tank is the last of a speicies that one somehow ended up w/ or of a species that has never before been seen; can't tell me that everything that ends up in a reef tank has always been known
to exists at some time;people
go years w/o ever have bothering about checking about what crawls/swims/slithers around in the tank at night...
NOW, back to original posting...WE ARE HUMANS...as such we do all kinds of stupid things just because it makes US feel good, other words by nature we are selfish for the most part (although, some might just say we are curiuous by nature;well if curiousity killed the cat, just look what it does to the environment as a whole)do we ever put much thought as to where do burgers come from...easier to stick to why is water wet or why is the sky blue...but we got to eat...I guess what I am trying to say is, it's only bad if we just ignore it; but as w/ everything in life, there's +'s & -'s; maybe perhaps if there was more of a prevalant agressive push for LFS's & other hobby outlets to REQUIRE you be part of some type of sanctioned marine hobby group or reef group where you are REQUIRED to assist in fragging/growing corals before you may purchase them..course that would greatly raise prices & turn away many possible hobbyist...marine species are almost always more difficult than ANY freshie; don't get me wrong, I had FW off & on for 10 years; even had a brown discus once; but for now, we know less about our oceans then the moon
my um NSHO

 

[reeferx]

Wow. A lot of great points here. Thanks. I appreciate the responses as I realize this one is not as easy as 'what is a sump?' Actually I had a hard time with that one too.
Anyway, I am trying to think of what saltwater fish are bred in captivity these days. Pardon my ignorance, but I can only think of the Percula clown. Anyone know of any others?
Matt

 

[whipple]

I feel no regret for if i didnt take care of my fish they would still be somewhere else and mabey even not as well cared for

 

[superman]

I wasn't much for school. I always had good grades and stuff, but by the time I got to college I just couldn't take it any more I quit after a year. But I do still find myself always wanting to learn something new or learn about something. I have discovered I just like to learn on my own and by my own methods. For me adopting these animals is such a learning experience that it's just to good to let go. Maybe it's selfish wanting the fish for my own personal thirst for knowledge, but I honestly feel that if I am taking care of them and not being neglegent I am doing them no harm. I hope this makes some kind of sense to you, and gives you another thought to contemplate.

 

[striker]

With the options of aquacultured rock, corals and tank raised fish one does not have to feel guilty when stocking a beautiful reef tank. Especially when care, patience and knowledge are fervently practiced when entering this hobby. Just a thought.

 

[deyoe757]

The opinions are endless on this topic. I have a friend of mine who is against all species of animals in captivity but she has a dog???
I look at it as if I am holding my own little piece of the underwater world together. Love and caring for the fish and all other animals is enough for me.