New clown behavior
- Thread starter reefguy24
- Start date
SundaeBest
New member
Piggy backing a question not directly related to the OP: why do some fish retailers bleach anemones? One of the answers on this thread suggested it's done to increase profit, but I don't understand the mechanism; why does bleaching increase profit margin?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
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There can be many reasons. First, we're assuming the anemone is bleached because of something the LFS did or didn't do. That may not be the case. Unlike when we order something from Live Aquaria (or whatever online store you may use), a fish store generally can't return an animal to its distributor if it arrives sick or even dead. Now, hopefully an honest person would either not try to sell that sick animal or at least be up front about it, but that's not always the case.
We also sometimes assume that the owner or the workers at an LFS are knowlegeable about the care of the animals they're selling. Sadly this is often not really the case. I have met some who really are quite knowledgeable, some whose knowledge is quite outdated (they're too busy trying to run a business to study up on the latest and greatest), and some who really have no idea what they're doing.
That's why it's so important for us to know how to identify a sick animal. Regardless of whether or not the LFS owner/worker should know or do better, in the end, we're the ones who will have to live with the consequences if whe haven't done our homework. . .and we've all been there and done that.
SundaeBest
New member
Ah, I get it now. I had assumed that the previous LFS had purposely bleached the anemone with the chemical for some purpose. It seemed rational to me, since cyanide is often used to catch fish in the PI, resulting in much detriment to the fish and the local ecosystem : /
Fortunately, cyanide isn't used as often anymore as it has been in the past. Your LFS is getting its livestock from a central distributor, who is probably getting it from another distributor, who is receiving shipments from overseas. So, what you end up with is a rather fragile creature going through a rather stressful transport process, so it's not at all uncommon for them to end up at the LFS in a less than healthy state. That's why we as consumers must be very vigilant in recognizing the signs of an unhealthy animal before we buy it. That's not just for our own benefit, but if we continue to buy unhealthy animals, there's no motivation on the part of the LFS and the distributors to deliver us healthy animals in the first place. I'm certainly not saying they completely neglect this responsibility. Some do everything you could reasonably expect, and those are the ones that need to stay in business (primarily by us giving them our business).
P.S.,
While I'm at it, I always ask if their clownfish are wild caught or captive bred. Not so much because I necessarily believe captive bred clowns are better suited to aquarium life (though there's a good argument for that), but for the long term sustainability of a relatively easily bred species.
P.S.,
While I'm at it, I always ask if their clownfish are wild caught or captive bred. Not so much because I necessarily believe captive bred clowns are better suited to aquarium life (though there's a good argument for that), but for the long term sustainability of a relatively easily bred species.
