Captive bred. I'm sure that many of you have heard this term before. This refers to fish that have been bred in captivity and tank raised. The other method of bringing fish to our hobby is through capture in the wild.

Wild fish are often more difficult to keep than those that are captive bred and tank raised. The reason for this is the fish have adapted to their environments. They have adapted to the temperature, water quality and other conditions. When you purchase one of these, it is very hard to get them adjusted to the conditions in your aquarium. If you experience rapid changes in your water quality, you are more likely to suffer a fatality.

Captive bred and tank raised fish are extremely important for many reasons. They have adjusted to the typical conditions in home aquariums, and are quick to adjust when they get to your aquarium. They are more forgiving, which is important, because most fish or corals are very expensive.

By breeding fish in captivity, you are not minipulating the fish populations, or driving them to extinction. It preserves jobs, as you can always breed fish, but there are only a limited number of fish species in the wild. We cannot enjoy a species if it is extinct. By purchasing captive bred and tank raised fish, we are able to enjoy the species as they will always be readily available. Fish can be bred to demand, rather than catching all that are available in the wild.

So, when deciding on what fish you want for your aquarium, be sure to consider captive bred fish. Not only are you preserving the species, you are getting the same high quality fish. Captive bred fish are usually cheaper, which is a big plus when you are purchasing them.

Agreed, Mazza. I buy tank bred or not at all.... that is, as long as I know ahead of time. :)

Captive-bred fish adjust so much quicker to your aquarium and are able to handle a wide variety of conditions. I've got a tank-bred rummynose tetra in my 8.3 pH water. Who would have thought that would ever work? He's as happy as he can be, though.

I would also have to agree, but what about those fish that are almost impossable to breed like most Loaches?

I guess they might been bred somewhere else. Capturing fish that small from the wild is very hard to adjust to the home aquarium.

loaches are fairly commenly bred like the hill stream. ones like coolies are accidentaly cpawned, and clowns are rarely aquarium bred, but you can bet some come from fish farms in asia and the area.

I must say that I sit on the fence on this one as I do have some wild caught fish and some tank bred fish. My wild caught are easily adjusted to a tank as they are American Flag Fish, which are hard to find in stores or breeders around here in Oklahoma. I also have some wild caught Endlers.

Most of my tank bred fish are extinct in the wild and I belong to SPMP's to help preserve these little fish. Even some of my killies are extinct in the wild.

I have found lots of the wild caught fish can and will adapt to tank life, but one of the bigger problems that you have with the wild caught is parasites which if not noticed will cause the fish to die. Agreed there is also lots of them can't adjust to tank life as conditions aren't able to be duplicated for them. Just like so many of the SW fish. Many are hard to keep as you can't duplicate those conditions.

Yah I guess they probably are breed somewhere that you just never hear about most of the time.