OK, I set the Horse free !!!!

[FISHme]

It's done .

[MarkS]

Please tell me that you are talking about the mammal that we ride on.

I cannot believe that you would release a seahorse after your last post. If you did, I sure hope it is one that you cought yourself and not one that you bought. And more to the point, I hope you released it in the same area.

Man, some people never learn. <SIGH>

[FISHme]

It's a good thing !!!!! It went back to the place of capture

[AquaSeahorse]

Good job! I was hoping that you would set that little girl free! I hope you acclimated her back to her waterway, and Im sure shes doing great now!

[FISHme]

Yes

[scubadude]

Way to go ;) I know this whole ordeal Is probably confusing as hell to you FISHME....first you release a fish in the ocean....you get flamed for it....then you catch a seahorse...then you get flamed because ppl want you to release it back.....I understand COMPLETELY how you feel....I think there are some ppl here that DO NOT but thats ok too....as long as the end result comes out good

[AquaSeahorse]

If you did release her than I commend you on doing the right thing! A lot of people would not have, and the horse would have wasted away....

[Aragorn]

Nice job FishME. You did the right thing my friend. How do you feel?

[FISHme]

I felt REALLY GOOD on my way home after I let it go

[Aragorn]

Good for you.

[FISHme]

Now on to my next adventure.
I think I will catch a sea cow baby and put it into my spare 20 gal
JUST KIDDING, I KNOW SOMEONE WOULD TAKE ME SERIOUS !!!!!!

[ravenmore]

Sorry Fishme, not sure you did the right thing (although as always, your intentions were good). As Eric pointed out in your last post about the tangs, there are pathogens in our tanks that could hitch a ride with the critter you released. Remember he said there are places where a lot of corals were wiped out because of a single non-native fungus and bacteria?

-Mike

[Green Mariner]

all I have to say is foolish, very, very foolish, pay close attn. to Dr. Ron's post!!

http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin...hlight=release

[scubadude]

Im gonna step in here and back up fishME once again.....Yes i think there was a chance of releasing some toxins from his tank into the ocean....But good god (Dont worry Ninong its just a figure of speech using GOD :P ) ppl. If you have followed all of the things fishME has been through then He has made up his mind then changed his mind many times these past few days....this is good, that isnt good....DONT DO that....do this....the poor guys head is spinning ....He is ready to follow everything he understands as being the RIGHT decision!!! the majority of the ppl on that thread said TAKE IT BACK...TAKE IT BACK.....including one person who flamed him into a 5 repeatitive post! AND to top it off....the person that flamed him who had a 5 repetitive post had in his signature that he had been a Seahorse keeper for 8 yrs. FISHME Is anything but Foolish....THIS board is here for ppl to come and get knowledge.....the ppl that are giving him knowledge are just as guilty IMO! Dont worry im just as guilty there I admit it!

[Reinhold]

FISHme:

I applaud your sincere effort to do the ethical and moral thing related to our shared hobby. The fact that you think and ponder actions which many people don't is laudable, no matter the perceived rightness or wrongness of the result.

One piece of advice: I'd keep these types of issues to yourself. Don't post your actions, because you're going to get hammered no matter what you do, often by people eating tuna fish sandwiches while they blast you for risking a fish's life.

The self-righteousness displayed by many of the posters to Reefland knows no limits.

[SPasse]

Hi All,

I have been following these non-native release threads on this board and Reef Central.

I can understand that this may be confusing to hobbyists in general and I have “distilled” the consensus about how to handle this issue.

So as I understand it, here are the do’s and don’ts:

1 Do not take native species out of their natural environment. The exception to this would be legally permitted collecting.

2 Do not release any captive animal or plant into the environment. This even applies to “native” species as contact with our aquarium environment has associated pathogen/contamination issues. A recently collected specimen can be contaminated by our systems so even returning it to “where you collected it from” is a bad idea. Think about the “spores” etc. that are in your bag water!

3 If you have a “pet” that you can not care for, contact a public zoo/aquarium and see if they are interested in adopting it.

4 If all else fails, euthanasia is the best option. Killing one animal as opposed to potentially devastating an entire ecosystem, should be an “easy” decision.

5 Maybe, we should even be chlorinating our discarded change water, especially those of us that live near coastal environments. I think I will run this up the flagpole with Dr. Ron.

Regards,

Scott Passe

[ravenmore]

Reinhold - We're not being self rightous. Take this quote by Eric Borneman from the previous post about the tangs

The mucus coating of fish is a haven for bacteria. Right now, a single non-native bacteria and a single non-native fungus has eliminated from many areas (and severely impacted in almost every other area throughout the entire Caribbean) the Caribbean sea fans and has affected or killed thousands of stony corals by way of Aspergillosis and White Plague, respectively.

So, in otherwords, a single microscopic organism hiding on the sea horse(or in the bag water) could potentially wreak havoc on the ecosystem it was re-introduced to.

Our hobby is dramatically affecting these ecosystems throughout the world and is frankly coming under some undesirable scrutiny because of it. We need to behave more responsibly, if not for moral obligation (or self rightousness) then for lessening potential legal regulation of our hobby.

-Mike

[albee1947]

FishMe, There is nothing here you could have done to please people. Some are going to flame you for keeping it ,some will flame you for releasing it. What should have been done was to crush it's little head. That would have solved all the problems, except for those who would have flamed you for destroying an animal. I am not serius about killing the animal, I am against it totally, But you have no way of winning here. Stop replying to this thread and go on. What ever you would have done was OK.... To someone...

[ravenmore]

Albee - you're missing the point.

Problem 1. : The animal probably shouldn't have been collected in the first place. Not entirely sure about this, and frankly I'd be tempted to do the same if I lived close to "tropical beach". It might quite possibly be against the law, though.

Problem 2. : This is the main issue. The animal shouldn't have been re-released. The sea horse could have potential pathogens that could adversly affect the ecosystem it came from and was re-released into. (an example: what if some caluerpa taxifolia spores were in the bag water?) Actually killing the animal might be preferable to damaging the environment it came from.

Again, I believe fishme's intentions were good, but flawed.

[albee1947]

Sorry for the second post. It is strange how most of the people here , either left Aqualink or Reefs because of all the flames. This place is just the same as those, becomming griefland. This will follow to reefcentral and all the other boards, unless those whollier than thou attitudes stay off the boards. it must be wonderful to be perfect. I am sure that someone will answer this with, " Thank You I know I am."