the price of arrogance...

[nvert]

last night when i was upgrading the hang on refugium my filamented flasher wrasse got spooked and jumped tank. i did not realize this until two hours later. needless to say i was devestated not for loosing a beautiful but being the cause of death for such a beautiful creature that was most likely ripped from his happy ocean home to become an ornament. i cried for being selfishly excessive in keeping such beautiful animals that were free to live their lives in the ocean. don't get me wrong, i love this hobby and to be able to take care of these critters, but last night i really started thinking how arrogant we all can be. my feelings are still mixed up....

[mrok12]

The best thing to do is to support captive breeding facilities. Order fish that have been tank raised that otherwise may not have survived in the ocean. Scubadude orders through ORA so he may be able to get some nice captive bred fish for you. Just support captive breeding. It is actually because of the hobby that captive bred clownfish are available. When there is a greater demand that I bet you will see many more captive bred animals availble. Take sps corals for instance......many at home captive propogated species are available. I get all my corals from tonga and these are aquacultured from wild colonies...they survive mush better and it is better for the reef.



MROK12

[Elmo18]

Tank raised and Captive raised are the way to go!! Sometimes they are a bit more expensive but hardier than wild specimens. I'm sorry for your loss.

- Elmo

[nvert]

tank raised ARE the way to go...i agree completley. but what do you do when you see a beautiful fish at your lfs, like a flasher wrasse, that is not captive bred? I felt confident that i was are able to give it a good if not better home than some of the more unawares people that buy fish. but to no avail, i was proven wrong, although it was an accident...and i will be more attentive to my fish when i'm working in the tank.

my roomate says it was only a fish and to get over it...beleive me, it is a lot MORE than just that. it was a life that was happy (so i think) to be free on a reef, taken for my pleasure, only to die on my carpet. it's the arrogance that still has me confused...

[Bughead]

I hate it when someone says " It's just a fish". I grieved so much when I lost my powder blue "Tangy-Too" that I purchased a little ceramic replica and wrote a little memorial. The way I see it is all living things are Soul, a spark of God. Otherwise it wouldn't be alive. And does God differintiate between a fish soul, a cat or dog soul? OK, I'll stop before I get too soap-boxy.

I'm all for captive and tank raised too. I also try to purchase small or juvenile specimens that have a lesser chance of survival in the ocean. Or, better put, has not yet survived the tribulations of the ocean to adulthood to where it has become capable of reproducing its kind. I hate seeing a big beautiful full grown Emperor angel at an LFS. I know its chances of survival are not good and its chance at relative happiness is nil. Plus, it will never be able to add to its species. But I love these fish, so I got a juvenile. "The Czar" eats from my hand and swims up to "kiss" me whenever I put my face close to the tank. I hope he will grow up to be a contented fish who doesn't miss the football field size territory of his part of the ocean.

You are the kind of person this hobby needs. You provide the best environment and care for your animals as possible and do so with a loving heart. And you know there's no such thing as "just a fish".

[nvert]

man, bughead you have reassured one who has thought nothing more today than about the consequences of our actions. thank you for acknowledging that 'it is really more than just a fish'. it's how we play through our roles as caretaker that's numero uno. on the upside, i have a clam that's arriving today that i hope i can do better meeting its needs. i've about memorized every word in knopp's book as well as read over every post here as well as reefcentral concerning their upkeep. when all conditions are good, it all comes down to a little luck. thanks again.

[Tank]

Come on people.... It's just a fish!!!! Just Playing. Lost a Gold stripe clown like that a few days ago. My other clown chased him out, kinda depressing.

[SueT]

I'm with ya here. These beautiful creatures are more than "just a fish". Flasher wrasses are one of the most beautiful of the wrasse family. You could not help that you accidentally scared the fish, these fish are very flight-y. The fact it jumped is not your fault. These wrasses are so crazy about jumping as my yellow coris wrasse jumped and I have a full canopy. Figure that one out.

I agree that captive is the way to go, but some of the fish we as hobbiests want to keep are not going to be available in our lifetimes.

We keep these fish as happy as we can in the short time they are on this earth and you did what you could. I'm very sorry that those that work the hardest end up having stuff like this happen to them. Keep your chin up.

my 180:
http://berlinmethod.com/suet/
my 120:
http://suetruett.homestead.com/home.html

[nvert]

thanks everybody. happy reefing to you all!

brad