tank bred or wild caught?

lbear

New member
Hi!

I'd like to having two ocellaris clowns as 1st and 2nd fish of my new tank. Is it better to get tank bred or wild caught clown? What's the pros and cons. Any suggestions? Any good articles to read? What's the chance for them to pair up?

Thanks for your help!
 
I would say, tank bred, easier to keep but less likely to host an anenome, some dont even know what one is..

opposite for wild caught..

Id go for wild caught everytime because they tend to have better colours, etc.
 
Captive bred fish are NOT less likely to host an anemone. You should always buy captive bred if possible. They will be healthier, less likely to bring disease into the tank. (QT anyway, even if they are the only fish in the tank.) They are more likely to survive in your tank because they are brought up on the same foods you can get for them at home. Captive Bred fish are no harder to pair than wild caught fish.

As far as color goes, that's a good reason to buy them in person rather than online.
 
i agree tank bred are the way to go.
My tank bred hosted the bta i added within 5 minutes
On the down side.. she did nothing but swim by my powerhead before that. shes never ever ventured into the rockwork
and wont let a cleaner shrimp near her

I added a wild caught, and it took off thru the rock work and acted like it was home.
but.. it hosted the bta and it doesent venture at all either lol

havent noted any color diff. between wild and tank bred..
 
I have a tank bred and I've never had anemone for him but he has a little patch of algae that he hosts in and wiggles through like as if it were an anemone. so I do think they still have some kind of instinct to host something, they just choose what it is! lol :D

Erin
 
go tank bred, you wont regret it. aside from the pros already listed it also diminishes the ecological impact of taking fish from the wild
 
I would go for tank bred because they do seem to adapt to a new tank better.

In response to whether a tank bred will host an anemone or not just depends on the fish. Personally I have two tank bred and they love the anemone in our tank but I've heard of ones that are different.
 
Not only are both captive AND wild one no more likely to host, but they can also change their minds at any time.

I had a pair of tank raised B&W Occ's and they hosted in a large toadstool. The toadstool was removed, and later (3 months) I added a Tyree toad in the same spot. They never hosted in the new one.
 
lbear,
I noticed you are in the Bay Area. Go check out Bay Area Reefers. They have awesome information and are the best reef club ever. Making an account is free and I recommend you buy the membership. Just go check it out. Search Bay Area Reefers.

I got my Black Ocellaris from the wild. They were in the LFS for 6 months and then I bought them. I've had them for 18 months or more and they are laying eggs. 90% or more of all clownfish will pair up easily and spawn in you aquarium. It may take a day to a year for them to pair depending on the personalities of the fish. There is always the option to buy a mated pair, however I wouldn't do so. It sounds like you're a beginner, and with the questions you're asking you probably shouldn't buy a mated pair because you may not be able to raise the babies. Get 2 juvenile clownfish of any kind you like. When I was a beginner I limited myself to the orange Ocellaris thinking that all of the other clownfish would be difficult to maintain. I wish I would have known, but even though some are labeled "semi-aggressive" or "hard to keep", they are pretty much all the exact same with hardiness. I saw Percula clowns labeled as "semi-aggressive" which is why I didn't buy one. I got two 2-month-old Onyx Percs from an LFS about 1 year ago and I would actually say that my Black Ocellaris are more aggressive, probably just because they are a mated pair, but most clownfish (with the exception of maroons) aren't aggressive. So buy any type of clownfish that you like the most and in a few years when you have lots of knowledge in the hobby they will spawn for you and you can rear them. :)
 
This thread is like 4 years old.....I give my input anyway.

I think for breeders like some on here that we should buy our fish wild inorder to get a good gene flow.To get something new and something fresh instead of fish that are already captive.

For hobbiest I think that mostly CB fish should be bought as they are becoming cheaper and are already used to life in the aquarium.

Thats all I have to say on this topic.
 
Captive bred pros
1 Purchasing captive bred does not deplete wild populations. A huge plus!
2 You generally have a pretty good estimate of the fishes age.
3 Are more likely to spawn in captivity.
4 "Designer" fish are readily available.
5 In many cases, they're actually less expensive.

Captive bred cons
1 Birth/nutritional defects are very common.
2 The drive to find a host is not as strong

Wild pros
1 Generally flawless. Both in health and appearance.
2 Strong drive to find a host

Wild cons
1 Wild collection can devastate localized populations. A serious problem!
2 No way of knowing the fishes age.
3 Getting them to spawn can be challenging.
4 Some fish simply can't make the adjustment to captive life and soon die, or live out their lives under great stress.

Generally speaking, captive bred is the way to go. Most are very young when offered for sale, and may live for decades.
 
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