Guilt in the reefing hobby

[rob s.]

my cat I adopted from a local kill shelter.
You may take offense to it but it is an irrefutable fact. Look up bottom trawling and by-kill. Fishing wrecks havoc on the ocean and every time you purchase a fish, you pay someone to do it for you.

it’s great that you participate in ocean cleanups but I think it’s naive of you to think that fishing does not destroy the ecology of the ocean.

does not keeping a reef tank do the same then??

 

[Zionas]

For example a bear in the wild can stand on its two hind legs, but a bear in a circus is being trained to do it on command. We don’t “force” our livestock to entertain us on command, and if we’re doing anything to deliberately create a certain kind of display or effect through our livestock choices, it’s through research and modeling it after their natural behaviors and letting them take over from there.

And then of course, at the end of the day, there are plenty of things we do for our pleasure that people have never bothered to give a half-decent explanation for lol. A lot of those things cause a lot more harm than our hobby. People farm corals to make expensive jewelry and other products that symbolize wealth and status, while we aim to keep corals alive and hopefully thriving because we want to enjoy the corals themselves. Which one’s more humane? I’d bet my money on our hobby any day of the week.

When it comes to these creatures, our hobby is perhaps the worst way to appreciate them....... except for all the others. That’s if I’m being totally cynical.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I feel guilty when I lose a fish or coral but especially if I know I was at fault. Fish are the worst for me!

 

[keephowlin]

I feel guilty when I lose a fish or coral but especially if I know I was at fault. Fish are the worst for me!

Yeah, that's the tough one for me. Like others, I pour a lot of money and time into my reef, not only in the hope of creating something beautiful to enjoy, but more so in the hope of creating a great life for my fish and critters. It's really important to me that they have a healthy system to thrive in. I've made plenty of mistakes in my four years of reefing, but when it kills a fish, it is a dagger to me. Fortunately, the fish have been the most forgiving. My mistakes have had a much harder toll on coral frags ... Thankfully I haven't been tasked with being the savior of coral species!

 

[MJ in Boise]

Nope. Better off in my tank. All my critters get treated like royalty.

 

[Udest]

One thing i can say i don't feel very guilty about it because as i was telling a dive master I was driving home one night is that if we did not collect samples or keep these organisms so much less would have been learned about them. Its not like we are bottom trawling the reefs or blast fishing them into oblivion , heck we even encourage those who do the collecting to have better practices so they can continue to do so. so in that case knowing that i do not feel guilty knowing that there's actually something being done to change things.

 

[JCTReefer]

does not keeping a reef tank do the same then??

I agree. It’s like saying stealing a piece of bubble gum is okay, but robbing a bank is not. At the end of the day it’s still stealing! At the end of the day it’s still taking from the environment. All these captive bread fish that people are so envoimenentally on their high horse about. What do they think they feed these fish. Ever looked at the ingredients on the back of fish food. Lol. Animals had to die to make a lot of that food. I bought my clownfish from Sustainable Aquatics. They were captive bread. I also purchased some of their hatchery diet fish food. What’s it made from? Krill meal, Fish meal, Squid meal, Fish oil, etc. And all this dry rock that people buy these days is so “environmentally friendly” but it’s still mined out of the earth. Again taking away from the environment. So when someone outright judges somebody for eating fish it makes me laugh. They are no better than the next person. Those lights you have hanging over your tank. Where do you think the materials came from. Almost every component of this hobby robs from the environment. Right from the earth. I’m not losing any sleep over it. Every time I go camping I always pick up trash that others have left behind. I hate seeing our forest trashed out. But at the same time I sure do like throwing a pole in the stream.
To each their own I suppose.

 

[halfmoon61]

No guilt, with the amount of algae I can grow I'm increasing oxygen levels.

 

[ReefLab]

does not keeping a reef tank do the same then??

Obviously you did not, and do not know what bottom trawling and by-kill is.
To directly answer your question, yes. But consider the magnitude.
do fish die because of the aquarium hobby? Absolutely. Tens, probably hundreds thousands.
compare that to fish people kill to eat -try the tens of billions annually.

again, you can be upset about it but the truth hurts I guess

 

[ReefLab]

I agree. It’s like saying stealing a piece of bubble gum is okay, but robbing a bank is not. At the end of the day it’s still stealing! At the end of the day it’s still taking from the environment. All these captive bread fish that people are so envoimenentally on their high horse about. What do they think they feed these fish. Ever looked at the ingredients on the back of fish food. Lol. Animals had to die to make a lot of that food. I bought my clownfish from Sustainable Aquatics. They were captive bread. I also purchased some of their hatchery diet fish food. What’s it made from? Krill meal, Fish meal, Squid meal, Fish oil, etc. And all this dry rock that people buy these days is so “environmentally friendly” but it’s still mined out of the earth. Again taking away from the environment. So when someone outright judges somebody for eating fish it makes me laugh. They are no better than the next person. Those lights you have hanging over your tank. Where do you think the materials came from. Almost every component of this hobby robs from the environment. Right from the earth. I’m not losing any sleep over it. Every time I go camping I always pick up trash that others have left behind. I hate seeing our forest trashed out. But at the same time I sure do like throwing a pole in the stream.
To each their own I suppose.

It’s not all about the environment. What about the pain and fear the animals that you eat go through just because you think they taste good? There’s just no reason to eat any animal, including fish, other than for pleasure.
thank you for picking up trash, but is that the best you can do?

 

[JCTReefer]

It’s not all about the environment. What about the pain and fear the animals that you eat go through just because you think they taste good? There’s just no reason to eat any animal, including fish, other than for pleasure.
thank you for picking up trash, but is that the best you can do?

I’m a vegan. Not,LOL! I do have vegan friends though. And they certainly don't pass judgment. That's just wrong!

 

[ReefLab]

I’m a vegan.

 

[JCTReefer]

I also hugged a few trees on the way home.

 

[rob s.]

I agree. It’s like saying stealing a piece of bubble gum is okay, but robbing a bank is not. At the end of the day it’s still stealing! At the end of the day it’s still taking from the environment. All these captive bread fish that people are so envoimenentally on their high horse about. What do they think they feed these fish. Ever looked at the ingredients on the back of fish food. Lol. Animals had to die to make a lot of that food. I bought my clownfish from Sustainable Aquatics. They were captive bread. I also purchased some of their hatchery diet fish food. What’s it made from? Krill meal, Fish meal, Squid meal, Fish oil, etc. And all this dry rock that people buy these days is so “environmentally friendly” but it’s still mined out of the earth. Again taking away from the environment. So when someone outright judges somebody for eating fish it makes me laugh. They are no better than the next person. Those lights you have hanging over your tank. Where do you think the materials came from. Almost every component of this hobby robs from the environment. Right from the earth. I’m not losing any sleep over it. Every time I go camping I always pick up trash that others have left behind. I hate seeing our forest trashed out. But at the same time I sure do like throwing a pole in the stream.
To each their own I suppose.

Thanks for the back-up! unfortunately the mind set of so many now a days is as narrow as a needle even when they think they are open minded and "responsible". God forbid you don't agree with the "woke" crowd, be prepared for judgement!!

 

[Paul B]

This is getting weird. I have some vegan friends and they never voiced their opinion to me as I am eating tuna sushi like I had for dinner last night. I get over my feelings of eating fish or any other animal because I am Christian. Christ, Moses and every other Christian, Muslem or Jewish leader ate fish.
If they don't mind, neither do I.

I am sure the fish disagree. But the fish we keep we feed mysis, worms, clams, squid etc. Most fish won't live on lettuce.
Do those mysis, worms, pods, clams etc, have any less rights than our fish do?

Fish eat fish and always have. 99.99% of baby fish are eaten as soon as they are born and all of them will eat each other if they could. They would also eat us if they were large enough no matter what their religion was.

I believe this is the wrong hobby to be in if we never want to hurt any living creature.
Just my opinion of course.

 

[jasonrusso]

Listen you sanctimonious butt hole, We are omnivores! our bodies were designed by nature to eat both animal flesh and plants, that's why we have different kinds of teeth. As you sit upon your high horse, how do you get to and from work, do you drive and pollute the atmosphere. What do you wear on your body, clothing made from materials that pollute the earth with there manufacturing processes. Everything you do in this world has an adverse effect on our natural enviorment and that is a fact!! get your "woke" butt out of your head and open up your eyes to reality. As far as "is that all i do to help" i spend my day helping educate under privileged children so they have a better chance at succeeding in this word. I volunteer at local food banks. Since this covid started i spend every Friday handing out free food to needy families in my community.....what the heck do you do besides pass asinine judgement on people you don't even know while you look at you reef tank full of "poor animals" that YOU keep in chains!! *******!

Why does everything have to turn into a fight?

 

[jasonrusso]

I would feel guilty about keeping a fish in the wrong tank. I don't think anyone should have a shark in a tank, no home aquarium is big enough. I'd feel guilty about keeping a puffer in a 40 gallon tank, it's too small.

I don't feel guilty about keeping my lionfish in a 220 gallon, or firefish in my 34 gallon. I do the absolute best I can to feed them properly and maintain their environment.

There is only so much room in the ocean/reefs. Like @Paul B said, 99.99% die or get eaten. That's why fish lay 1000s of eggs. If one fish is caught, that makes more room for another fish that wouldn't have a spot. At least that's how I justify it.

 

[ReefLab]

We are omnivores which means that we don’t need to eat animals to live. It’s a choice that involves suffering and destruction. And, in fact, more pollution than all of the locomotive pollution In the world combined.

Thank you for what you do. That’s more than many people do and the time you take definitely shows your character.

You call it “passing asinine judgment” however I call it being a voice for the voiceless. An animal rights activist.

 

[halfmoon61]

Well, as Cajun born on the bayous we eat anything that doesn't eat us first.

 

[JessenD]

Guilt?
Its like a fisherman feeling guilty about casting a lure, or a hunter shooting a duck or deer. My fish eat better than I do. . . IT IS THEY THAT SHOULD FEEL GUILTY . . . LOL

@vetteguy53081 seriously I treat my fish better than my kids lol