***** Using Cyanide?!

I went into a local pet store today and their "saltwater," expert was telling me that ***** nets their saltwater fish straight out of the ocean and uses cyanide or something in the reefs....?! Do you think thats true and how would that work? Wouldnt that kill stuff?! Im confused. I was going to buy my live rock there because its 114.99 for 45lbs of fiji rock. Some help with this would be great, because i was going to buy some fish from them too.
 

lion_crazz

Active Member
I cannot imagine that they do this, and furthermore, admit to this, however... it is *****. Anything is possible in that company.
 

viper_930

Active Member
I doubt ***** has facilities to catch their own fish. They probably get fish from a few of the same wholesalers the usual LFS gets fish from. There are a lot of divers that still use cyanide though.
 

v-lioness

Member
I am amazed that anyone would even admit to this, but the sad part is, it is the reefs and fish that suffer. A practice that has been around for quite a while and needs to be stopped. Do a search on cyanide collecting fish and you might be amazed at what you find.
Kaye
 

michaeltx

Moderator
***** as well as all LFS are subject to the collectors!!! if the collectors use cynide to collect the fish they will get them in there tanks.***** does not collect its own fish!!!! This is a frowned on way to catch them now and I think its on the delcine due to the attention all the reefs have gotten over the years and people like walt smith educating the collectors on preservation of their trades.
Mike
 

lion_crazz

Active Member
Originally Posted by Catawaba
Boycott any company or LFS or website that supports cyanide use!
That should be done without even thinking about the issue.
 

mrscarface

Member
***** doesnt catch its own fish and the people working there know nothing anyway..... So i wouldnt trust what he said...
 
If this "expert" was at a LFS other than a *****, I would wager he was blowing smoke trying to get your business. Most LFS's are higher priced than ***** and some hobbyists go for the cheaper route and some LFS people will say anything to gain the trust of the consumer so that they will shop there.
 

pogi pants

Member
ok guys, i used to work at a ***** for a few months cuz i needed some extra cash. and for one, yes they do use a wholesaler to get their fish. and two, there are some people that work there that know alot about salt water. at the one i worked at, there was an old man who used to work at sea world for 25 years before retireing. and there was another girl who knew everything about saltwater. at the time i worked there i only knew about fresh water, so whenever someone would ask me about salt water, i would guide them to the other employees who knew about saltwater cuz i didn't want to give bad advice. there's probably some guys that work at the ***** in your area that b.s. their way through a sale, but then there's some *****'s that have employees that know what they're talking about.
 

andy51632

Member
It is ***** responsability to publicly shun all cyanide collecting. A multi-million dollar company should and do have the power to influence where they get there fish from. It is simple ask questions and find out don't turn a blind eye to cyanide collecting. The Philipines reef was practically destroyed by this practice.
 

anthropo

Member
***** does not catch their own fish. they get it from a vendor just like every other store. their vendor is seagrest. i worked there until rescently when i got fed up with that store to the point of walking out.
 

jazzyz

Member
well the people at ***** by me are cluless. i wouldnt be suprised if they add cyanide to the tanks.
 

thud

Member
Potassium cyanide to stun fish. That is why people are always telling others to make sure the fish are CERTIFIED and/or NET CAUGHT.
Only buy netcaught fish otherwise they are going to die.
I've bought fish from *****, guess what happened to them. (didn't last long)
I now have all net caught fish and haven't had one die yet. - Amazing.
 

thud

Member
I just reread the posts in this thread.
People - In order to catch these fish, they put a small amount of cyanide into the water to stun the fish - easy catching as opposed to catching them without it.
ONLY BUY Net Caught fish... Otherwise you're wasting your $30 - $100 per fish.
Buying fish from ***** and similar places is like buying furniture from Wal*Mart - it wont last.
Buy net caught/certified only.
You may also find this interesting - they do the same thing to catch fish for restaurants, I bet you didn't know that! Small amounts of cyanide...
 

mrscarface

Member
^Really? Ive bought a few fish from ***** and they have all lived (its been a year now) except for one and he got eaten...
 

thud

Member
Check out the book "Marine Fish" I forget the author but it has descriptions or 500+ species of salt water fish. They talk about it in the beginning. The book is like $19.00.
Cyanide solutions are used extensively to catch live reef fish for consumption and ornamental purposes. The concentrations of dissolved poison are not meant to kill but only to tranquilize the target fish, which facilitates their capture.
The live food-fish trade concentrates on the catch of groupers and Napoleon wrasse. The aquarium fish trade concentrates on a much wider variety of species of colorful reef fishes
(like the ones in your tank). Live spiny lobsters, are also caught with cyanide. Cyanide fishing is done by divers, using "hookah" compressors and hoses to supply air. A diver on a "hookah" compressor-hose descends 10-40 meters until he spots a target fish. He chases the fish into a crevice in the reef and then squirts cyanide from a plastic bottle into the hole. As the fish begins to weaken, the diver breaks away the coral around the hole, reaches in, grabs the fish, and slowly escorts it to the surface.
The cyanide fishery for aquarium fish destroys large areas of corals, which are broken down after an area has been sprayed with cyanide and the target fishes have fled in between the corals. The use of hookah compressors is a key factor in cyanide fishing practices.
Unfortunately these guys don't have gills themselves to take in the cyanide as well haha.
It's called FISHING for PROFIT, they don't care about the fish, HENCE why when you buy from places like ***** they rarely ask you questions.
Questions that should be asked would be, How big is your tank, how many fish do you currently have, do you have any invertebrates (because some fish will eat corals and stuff)
Think about it...
 

thud

Member
SaltWaterFish.com actually sells that Marine Fish book, but I think it costs a bit more.
 
So you would suggest steering clear from *****? The other LFS is a pet shop I used to work for. They have some pretty knowledgeable staff working for them in the saltwater department, some. They said their fish are wild/net caught, with a few being captive bred as well. Not many though. Their prices are more expensive then *****. Has anyone here bought fish from this website? How well did that turn out for people who did?
 
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