Captive Bred Vs. Wild Caught Saltwater Fish

Saltwater aquariums add beauty to homes, offices and restaurants. Your tank is a balanced ecosystem that must be carefully monitored and maintained. Before you buy any fish, whether captive bred or wild caught, make sure you conduct research to ensure it will be a congenial addition to your tank. When shopping around for additions to your saltwater aquarium, the fish you will buy will either be caught from the wild or raised in a controlled environment.

  1. Capture

    • Catching fish on a coral reef is tricky and potentially harmful to the environment. Besides diminishing the fish population, collectors may damage corals and live rock in the capturing process. Divers sometimes use cyanide to temporarily paralyze fish. Although this method minimizes damage to the reef, it causes stress to the fish. Captive bred fish, on the other hand, are not chemically stunned and no coral is harmed in the process of raising them.

    Temperament

    • Wild caught clownfish are territorial and sometimes called "tank bullies."

      Wild caught fish tend to be more territorial and food aggressive than captive bred specimens. Tank raised fish have no natural predators and do not have to compete for food. Therefore, they make docile additions to your tank. Dottybacks, damsels and clowns are all species that tend to be aggressive, and choosing tank-raised fish may diminish the risk of creating a stressful aquarium.

    Disease

    • Wild-caught fish have the potential to spread disease and parasites to other inhabitants in your tank. A diseased fish at best translates to a monetary loss (whether the fish dies or tank treatment is required), but could be as damaging as killing the entire marine population. Ichthyophthiriasis, referred to as "ich" or "white spot disease," is just one transmitted infection that attacks fish with weak immune systems. Captive bred fish are raised in isolation, thus minimizing the transmission of harmful diseases and parasites.

    Feeding

    • Since captive bred fish are in a controlled environment from birth, breeders have been successful in training species to eat alternative, cheaper food sources. For example, mandarin gobies (also called dragonets) in the wild eat live copepods and isopods. These fish are susceptible to starvation in aquariums due to the lack of food. Tank bred mandarin gobies are raised to also eat frozen mysis shrimp and shrimp pellets, which are cheaper than buying live copepods.

    Price

    • Captive bred fish are more expensive than wild caught specimens, but buying a wild caught fish could end up costing you more in the long haul. You may have to buy more than one wild caught fish of the same species if it dies, creates a stressful environment or transfers diseases and parasites. The initial price for the fish will be more expensive, but the cost for general upkeep will be less in the long run.