Quote:
Originally Posted by 0sprey
For me, the biggest problem with purchasing cleaner wrasses is the fact that they are such an important species in the wild. It's kinda irresponsible, especially with so many cheap, hardy alternatives out there.
Just my two cents.
Let us know how the little guy fares.
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I agree to a point. But unfortunately most people who argue these ethical points are just way too hypocritical. If you have a tank, you have contributed to a reefs destruction in some way. You have fish in an unnatural environment.
I am all for ethical fish/coral collection and argue it here all the time. I wish more could be done to make certain species less likely to die suddenly in our tanks because they were caught by poison. But in the end, if I really cared as much as I often think I do, I would have given this hobby up so long ago. The day I realized what this hobby does to the reefs around the world should have been enough to discourage me from buying ANY fish or coral. But it hasn't.
Apparently I am selfish enough to continue.
Personally I care a heck of a lot more about how fish are caught but don't feel any species should NOT be caught or kept other than threatened or endangered fish. It just starts to get way too hypocritical when you start to argue what fish should and shouldn't be kept.
A healthy 4" cleaner wrasse in a 180G tank may not have its natural diet but in that same tank a 16" Naso Tang has even less space in comparison. How can you argue that the cleaner wrasse should not be kept in the tank unless you also argue that Naso shouldn't be kept in the tank? Either way its less than ideal yet people will say the cleaner wrasse is unethical
