Sigh... I am not discounting your thoughts on cyanide, but you go into a store and tell them your fish died from cyanide poisoning. I was no way saying you are not taking responsibility in your fish's death. I know how it feels and it sucks.
At this point it should be "us" as hobbyists and consumers to get the testing done and take the tests back to the LFS... If the store cares they would look into their wholesalers and perhaps something get get done about this. If we just "think" it is cyanide, how are things supposed to ever change? We are just as much at fault for turning a blind eye to cyanide poisoning and continuing to buy fish we "suspect" get cyanide caught.
I in no way meant to be unsympathetic to you bringing this loss forward on the foums, but at this point what do we do?
If and when my CBB dies of what I suspect is cyanide poisoning, I will pay for the testing. I am sure someone on these forums must know of a place to send the fish to be tested. If you have something to prove this is the cause of death, then maybe things can change in the future.
If we sit there and do nothing as hobbyists, that are the bread and butter of this industry, then we are as much to blame as the people that poison the reefs and its inhabitants for our hobby.
I am so sorry for your losses as well as everyone else's... but what do we do from here? I do not judge people for their mistakes since I make mistakes myself. I do not take people's losses lightly at all. I have been there myself. I am sorry I offended you, but these fish continue to die and we do nothing about it. SO why can't a bunch of us hobbyists that care enough to get the testing done, pool the price of a CCB for each hobbyist and put it into a fund to get the ball rolling and make a difference?
Any one knowing of a place that can test fish that die of cyanide poisoning please chime in... Lets make something happen.
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Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer
I can tell you almost EVERY 'reputable' store buys cyanide caught fish. There is not much of a way around it. Of course they know it happens but with absolutely no way to know how the fish they are ordering are caught, Im not sure what else they can do.
I think its a very serious allegation for you to insinuate I am using cyanide as a way to NOT take responsibility when I have posted about this in a very open and honest way. I don't appreciate that and that is EXACTLY the reason I was not going to post this and answers other questions above about why people don't want to post about things like this.
The Copperbands I have lost all died the same way and in in four completely different systems over 5 years. Actually if you count this tank as a new system after the transfer, its 5 different tanks. If there was a bacteria in all of them that happened to kill the fish...well I don't know what to say then.
Doing so much research would lead me to believe you have come across studies and facts that give you an idea of how real the cyanide problem is. I don't think testing of this or any other fish will prove anything new. It happens. Regardless of whether this fish died of cyanide or not, would it make a difference? If we found out that in fact it did not die of cyanide, would that mean we could ignore the fact that it happens and destroys reefs? Would it mean I should try another? What exactly would it prove?
I for one will not contribute a penny or minute of my time to any testing of fish. For one, not many places can do it and even less will care to bother. I doubt there is a lab that is going to be willing to test a 'pet' for no particular reason or want to get involved. If you perhaps are conducting a very controlled study to test for cyanide, maybe.
All the power to you if you want to continue to pursue this. I for one just don't see the point. It doesn't matter why these fish do not do well in captivity, it just matters that they do not. I don't need more reason than that to not buy them anymore and encourage people to do the same.
On the subject of cyanide fishing in general and what to do about it, there is already proof it happens, testing a few fish from Canreef isn't going to be some groundbreaking discovery that changes the hobby. What to do about it, I don't know. People are working on it and putting pressure on countries to deal with it. The Philippines are apparently starting to get tougher. Im not sure what your plans are but I can tell you that the best thing to do is avoid these fish and teach others the same. I will feel good about doing my part by not contributing to more CBB deaths or other species that are known to be cyanide caught...
Do what you may but please do not turn this into a guilt trip. I am not trying to justify anything here--far from it. I have admitted I have made some terrible mistakes and I was wrong. Very publicly. I have no intention of taking this fish to be blended up and tested in a lab (probably for thousands of $ if anyone will even do it) so that they can tell me it had traces of cyanide or not. Just doesn't matter.
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