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Is buying native fish cheating?


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#1 Cu455

Cu455
  • NANFA Guest

Posted 17 June 2016 - 02:58 PM

I know it is not cheating and what it comes down to is personal preference. I caught nearly all my fish in my tank. It annoys me a little to say I caught all the fish except.... Since I setup my tank I contemplated buying a few fish but couldn't pull the trigger. There is something about catching the fish that gives me that little extra pleasure. I kind of feel like I am cheating with my tank if I buy fish instead of catching them. Any like minded people here, when it comes to North American tanks.

If I lived in Florida I would be a South American tank together with some wild caught invasives.

#2 MtFallsTodd

MtFallsTodd
  • NANFA Member
  • Mountain Falls, Virginia

Posted 17 June 2016 - 03:01 PM

I don't think buying native fish quite counts as cheating but I do think it takes all the fun out of it. Sometimes the best part of a native tank is getting your feet wet.
Deep in the hills of Great North Mountain

#3 littlen

littlen
  • NANFA Member
  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 17 June 2016 - 05:11 PM

I hear what you're saying, and agree to a degree. But sometimes it's not feasible to get species X or Y on your own dime. Much cheaper to purchase them. Most of the time they were collected somewhere, by someone. So the end result is the same.

Getting to enjoy natives in the home aquarium is all that it really boils down to.
Nick L.

#4 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 17 June 2016 - 07:06 PM

I agree with you almost totally.  Not only do I think that you should get out and get your feet wet, I think you should do so locally... if you are going to keep natives, you need at least one tank that is all local fish to you.  It forces you to get into your own water.  It helps you appreciate your own native environment.  It helps you explain to friends and family what you are doing, and engages them in your passion for the environment.

 

Loving any animal has to include loving its habitat.


Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#5 mattknepley

mattknepley
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  • Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 17 June 2016 - 07:58 PM

I'm somewhere between Nick and Michael on this one. I think part of the real joy is getting out there close to home and appreciating it. Buying fishes you have within your own easy reach does somehow seem, well, not right for some reason. On the other hand, there is a boatload of really cool stuff out of reach either geographically or otherwise. No shame in buying that, or trading a fellow NANFAn for it! :)
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#6 loopsnj64

loopsnj64
  • NANFA Guest

Posted 17 June 2016 - 09:14 PM

Heres my thoughts on it

If you can access the fish with reasonable time or effort, do catch it

If it is something too far away to catch, then buy the little bugger


"All good things must come to an end, but bad things think thats rather dull, so they stick around long after their natural end has come"

-From an art book I read


#7 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 17 June 2016 - 10:22 PM

It depends on if the point is to own a native tank, or just to own a specific fish that just happens to be a native. For example, if I decided that I wanted a native community tank, I'd catch everything myself. If I decided that I wanted a tank full of bluespotted sunfish, which I don't have in the area, I'd buy them. 

I wouldn't say it's cheating to buy, but if you can, you should probably try to catch them on your own. Where's the fun in buying things you can get yourself? 



#8 Doug_Dame

Doug_Dame
  • NANFA Member

Posted 17 June 2016 - 10:47 PM

Most of us wouldn't think of mounting an expedition to Indonesia if we decided we wanted a few kuhli loaches for an aquarium ... we'd just head out to the local fish and buy some, without giving it much thought. Or if the fish is more uncommon, maybe look online, or trade with a bud if we're in a fish club. 

 

The moral issues are the same with native fish, they just happen to be closer, and thus the logistics of making a trip to the wild source are easier. 

 

For some years, the vast majority of all the fish I've had in my tanks have been fish I have collected, or at least been part of the expedition. To me, there's extra enjoyment in researching the fish, understanding where it comes from, where in the biotype it hangs out, what other species it cohabits with, etc. Scheming and plotting fish collecting expeditions is fun for fantasizing about what you might see and/or catch. (Not all of which would be "keepers.") Most trips I only get 1/2 of the species I think I might, but that just gives me a reason to go back and try again. For anyone with a 4-year old's mind in a 50+ year old body, it's good to have some plausible reason for getting wet and splashing around in the crick. 

 

However, from a purely financial point of view, if a fish is more than 2 hours away, I am pretty much convinced that in the long run, buying the darn things from somebody else would probably be a lot cheaper. :) 

 

I like to think of it like this: I really have two hobbies. One is keeping fish; the other is outdoor hiking, in knee-high muck or on slippery rocks, while making sporadic lunges at little underwater things with a metal stick that attracts lightning during storms. 


Doug Dame

Floridian now back in Florida
 


#9 mattknepley

mattknepley
  • NANFA Member
  • Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 18 June 2016 - 06:24 AM

" For anyone with a 4-year old's mind in a 50+ year old body, it's good to have some plausible reason for getting wet and splashing around in the crick. "

Amen, brother!
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#10 Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe
  • Board of Directors
  • North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 18 June 2016 - 08:28 AM

The wisdom of the fine gentleman from the great state of Florida.


Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

#11 gerald

gerald
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  • Wake Forest, North Carolina

Posted 18 June 2016 - 03:32 PM

Some states don't allow wild-caught fish to be kept, so some people have no choice other than to buy.  Or you may live in a place where the local natives just aren't good aquarium candidates; either they need cold water, or get too big, etc.  But even if you end up buying the fish you keep, go out anyway and observe the fish in your local streams and lakes.  You'll learn a lot just watching how they interact with their surroundings, which will be helpful in understanding the needs and behaviors of all fish, natives and tropicals.  


Gerald Pottern
-----------------------
Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel





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