Tropical fish collecting

[DiveInFlorida]

A good book for anyone interested in Breeding Marines Tropicals is:

"The Complete Illustrated Breeder's Guide to Marine Aquarium Fishes" By Matthew L. Wittenrich.
The book has a lot of good info and talks about breeding over 90 species. I'm sure it is available on Amazon.

 

[tridacna]

But don't the fish die in transport?

Yes. Last I saw, about 1/10 of the fish that get caught on the reefs make it through the long haul. That's crappy, but can be improved through education on all fronts.

90% mortality is way too high. Agreed. Is this going to be improved by education? Nah...it's a game. Those fish are bought at 10c to 50c each and sold eventually at $30-$100. 10% works out fine thank you very much for this.

 

[Just another Cinderella]

What about public aquariums that are supposed to be educating the masses.
Some of the ocean reef tanks are filled with fish that have lost all their natural color due to malnutrition etc. They look nothing like what we are privileged to see when diving in the tropics.

Farm raised specimens will be better suited for the home aquarium and if the fish can be raised in sufficient quantities and diversity it can start to put exporting out of business. It has helped some with tropical birds and orchids. Of course somebody always wants the Regal Angel etc.

 

[tridacna]

What about public aquariums that are supposed to be educating the masses.
Some of the ocean reef tanks are filled with fish that have lost all their natural color due to malnutrition etc. They look nothing like what we are privileged to see when diving in the tropics.

NJ Aquarium in Camden tried that. Ha ha. Lasted about three months. No visitors. People want to see pretty fishes in public aquariums. So they built a coral reef. The visitors came back. Even I am not making any arguments against Public Aquariums.

Most Public Aquariums do a damn good job of animal husbandry. Their exhibits seldom use live rock or corals. Longevity of animals is excellent. And they know not to keep Moorish Idols.

 

[smellzlikefish]

Tridacna- The aquarium where I work, we have maintained a moorish idol for the past 5+ years. It still looks just as nice as any I see on our reefs. There are a few keys to keeping them, but we'll save that for another day.

As for education, most aquariums have signs, tours, and videos in an attempt to educate but people are still just wowed by movement and pretty colors. You can lead the masses to water...

 

[darenufee]

Well I'd like to say thanks to those who actually posted helpful suggestions/ideas. Next I would like to say that I am not a novice Aquarist, and would not take something with out proper attention to transporting it and it's future care. I took a dc/ac inverter to run a small powerhead and air pump. So the losses I incurred were zero. In regard to losses in transit, a friend of mine was trying to bring some inverts back from the Philippines and spoke with a collector there. He said the collector stopped shipping to Florida because the losses were about 10%. Shipping to California resulted in about 3%.
I wish people would do proper research prior to collecting or buying anything. I saw several Flame Scallops, but took none because I know I could not recreate a viable habitat for it. People on the internet sale them all the time....

On to the cool stuff.....The things I found were Peppermint Shrimp, Rock/Condy Nems, Jackknife, pudding wife (it's a fish), hermit crabs, Gorgonians, etc.

 

[tridacna]

Tridacna- The aquarium where I work, we have maintained a moorish idol for the past 5+ years. It still looks just as nice as any I see on our reefs. There are a few keys to keeping them, but we'll save that for another day.

Aquariums don't count! LOL. I've worked in many aquariums over the years...You have zoologists, volunteers, students, veterinarians and seriously dedicated care. I was referring to home aquarists. I know a few people out there - ever work with Charles Delbeek at the Waikiki Aq?

 

[tridacna]

.

On to the cool stuff.....The things I found were Peppermint Shrimp, Rock/Condy Nems, Jackknife, pudding wife (it's a fish), hermit crabs, Gorgonians, etc.

You took gorgonians? Is that allowed?

 

[smellzlikefish]

Chuckie! Charles left about a year ago, but he was quite the character. As a proper send off, we roasted him, bringing up every incident our feeble minds could remember in his colorful history with us. He always had the crappiest jobs to pass off to the idle students. How do you know him?

 

[tridacna]

Chuckie! Charles left about a year ago, but he was quite the character. As a proper send off, we roasted him, bringing up every incident our feeble minds could remember in his colorful history with us. He always had the crappiest jobs to pass off to the idle students. How do you know him?

I've been keeping reefs and marine fish for over 30 years. Working in aquariums for years; Attending MACNA conventions forever. Met him and the usual reef cast many times...