If I understand it properly, jmaneyapanda's view is that we simply don't know yet whether a prepared foods diet "works" with OSFF, because four months (or a year, or some similarly short time) is insufficient to determine if they will indeed thrive on such foods. Fair enough. But I also sense from the tone of his posts that he disapproves of the effort ("rationalizing these fish in our care," et al.). (But jmaneyapanda, let me know if I'm wrong to impute that view to you.)
But whether he has that view or not, surely others do. But central to my feeling about aquarists' "experimenting" with them as we are is their relative abundance or scarcity in the wild. It seems to me that fact - whatever it is - is crucial to the discussion. That is, if the reefs are just teeming with them, well then, why not see if they are able to survive (and hopefully, thrive) long-term when weaned on to prepared food diets. Does anyone happen to know what the facts are in terms of the quantity of OSFF on the reefs?
I dont disapprove of the effort at all. I disapprove of deeming of success on these methods without consideration that there are factors at play which we dont understand, which can very well NOT indicate success. I only mentioned the "rationalizing the fish in our care" as a situation which I perceived to occur, where a documented and readily observable scientific observation was being questioned, in regards to arguing its innecessity in captive situations. This may not have been the situation, but thats what my reference was to. As for their abundance in the wild, I dont know.
I keep this fish because it is beautiful and I am prepared to feed it live corals in order to keep it thriving. Simple as that. This is a hobby. Not PETA. As most responsible hobbyists agree to try and protect the environment by propagating corals and breeding fishes this is still nothing more than a hobby at the moment,IMO, and it is up to the hobbyist to take care of the animals that we put in our tanks by any means. That's just my humble opinion though which most will probably not agree with me.
I agree with your statement, except I dont understand what the PETA reference is about. I feel this species does, in fact, need to be consuming coral polyps to thrive appropriately, until we cant determine
why they only consume these items in the wild, and
how we can replicate this in captivity artificially. Thats just my humble opinion.
I never said 4 months was any kind of success of longevity. It is a success in getting these fish to feed on various foods. Most die in the first month because they refuse to feed. Once past that, only time will tell.
There may very well be many of the same nutrients in other foods at the level of vitamins, amino acids, ect. that the fish require to be sustained long term. I referenced the study you posted on the auripes & lunula. The auripes doesn't get anenomes which constitue 76% or coral polyps 12%= 88% of what this fish "needs", yet they can live for years in captivity on what you call beer & potato chips.
Your point seems to be it can't be done & it's cruel.
I prefer not to scoff at the short term success that has been achieved with these file fish or Umm fish's plebius. It's the first step & overcoming a major hurdle. I'm looking forward to see how this progresses.
As Ive state
repeatedly, my point is not that "it cant be done". My point is we dont know. And my questions or concerns for dietary specificity go unanswered (because they
can't be answered at this time).
Regarding fish food consumption, I dont think you are understanding my point. Animals have gastrointestinal tracts which are specialized to digest the foods that they are ingested. Typically this involves physiological adaptations and specializations, and microflora and fauna within the GI tract. This occurs within ALL animals. So, in these cases the obligate consumers have adapted a digestive system specialized to digest and assimilate specific items.
Let me make some comparison and analogies- tangs in captivity- why do we feed nori? Why do these fish, by all accounts, fare better when fed algaes? As another analogy- koalas in captivity. These animals are obligate consumers, too. And they are maintained by many public institutions around the world. Yet, with this specialized diet, great costs and lengths gone to in order to feed their natural diet. Why?