I want to start a discussion thread about the various "bad practices" that people complain about in this hobby. My agenda - to be completely up front - is to tamp down people's moralizing and indignation -- especially in regard to the so-called Tang Police -- by pointing out that particular concerns we might have (for example, inappropriate tank sizes for certain fish species, specific bad husbandry practices, etc.) don't justify a bunch of vitriol and indignation when put into the context of other and sometimes bigger problems with this hobby. Problems in which we may all be complicit.
My agenda isn't to fault people for pointing out or criticizing bad decisions -- or what they perceive as bad decisions -- but only to stop the unnecessary moralizing and indignation. I also don't mean this as giving license to people who are indifferent to the well-being of their tank inhabitants and clearly are inflicting unnecessary suffering. But I am pretty appalled with the frequent self-righteous laying down of arbitrary dictates about what can and cannot be done, and the insinuations that people who disagree are either heartless or stupid.
With that said, here's a list of problems with our hobby that many, if not most of us, are complicit in and which all of us should consider before jumping on our high horses:
I'm sure there are many more such "bad practices" that I've missed, so feel free to add to the list.
My agenda isn't to fault people for pointing out or criticizing bad decisions -- or what they perceive as bad decisions -- but only to stop the unnecessary moralizing and indignation. I also don't mean this as giving license to people who are indifferent to the well-being of their tank inhabitants and clearly are inflicting unnecessary suffering. But I am pretty appalled with the frequent self-righteous laying down of arbitrary dictates about what can and cannot be done, and the insinuations that people who disagree are either heartless or stupid.
With that said, here's a list of problems with our hobby that many, if not most of us, are complicit in and which all of us should consider before jumping on our high horses:
- Buying wild caught fish. This includes any and all surgeonfish, triggers, angels etc. that currently are not captively bred to any meaningful degree. The number of ornamental marine fish that die during the collection process or in transit is tremendous. According to a research paper from the University of Florida: "The greatest losses of wild-caught aquarium fish may occur during the handling period between capture, local exporting/importing warehouses, and transportation docks. While in transit, fish may be subjected to physical injury, extreme changes in water quality conditions, water temperature fluctuations, and indiscriminate exposure to toxic chemicals used as prophylactic treatments for disease control. Also it has been determined that mortality of captured fish from the wild can be species dependant. For example, mortality has been estimated to be high (e.g., 80%) in some marine tropical fish such as the Banggai cardinal fish..." http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa124 So, by buying any fish other than captive-bred clowns, gobies, etc., we are likely inflicting more suffering on a larger number of fish than by any other husbandry practice. In addition, buying wild caught fish can have negative effects on natural environments through particularly destructive collection practices (cyanide, etc.).
- Buying wild caught fish that also are endangered (e.g., cleaner wrasses). This is bad for the same reasons as above plus the fact that it causes potentially permanent harm to ecosystems in the wild.
- Keeping fish in inadequately-sized tanks. This is wrong because it inflicts unnecessary suffering on an animal in our care. However, this is also the place in which the most arbitrary dictates are laid down based on narrow considerations often informed only by conventional wisdom and anecdotes. The ease at formulating -- and seeking to enforce -- clear rules for appropriate tank sizes unfortunately appeals to people's baser instincts to moralize and condemn.
- Keeping fish in tanks with inadequate or improper flow, oxygenization, or water quality. Same issues as above, but these factors elicit less knee-jerk incriminations because they're more subtle and less easy to spot. However, there's no reason to believe -- or, at least, I've never heard of a reason -- that these are any less important issues to a fish's well being than tank size.
- Keeping fish that otherwise are "incompatible" with a tank setup. This ranges from (i) keeping fish in a tank in which they'll likely starve (e.g., mandarin fish, butterfly fish, etc.), (ii) keeping any hard-to-feed fish (e.g., ribbon eels) in a tank in which you're not spending the many hours needed to feed them in a way that will yield the best chances ofthem accepting food, to (iii) keeping a fish with other fish that will kill or perpetually harass it (e.g., keeping multiple territorial conspecifics).
I'm sure there are many more such "bad practices" that I've missed, so feel free to add to the list.
