Lies About Cyanide

[Humblefish]

The Flame - is not that fish collected at Hawaii? Never heard about cyanide fishing there?

According to my wholesaler, these were collected in the Marshall Islands.

Apparently that's a common location to collect Flame Angels: https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/444/?pcatid=444

 

[dz6t]

I am wondering how divers catch a medium size tang using a net?

 

[cancun]

I'm not saying cyanide isn't used to catch fish in some parts of the world. And where it is used, it does need to be stopped. But anti-aquarium activists, most notably Renee Umberger and her organization For the Fishes, have waged a campaign to paint "99% of aquarium fish caught with cyanide". You can easily see how pervasive they have been when doing a quick search about cyanide and aquarium fish. Ranging from news sites, National Geographic, to Wikipedia. However, if you notice the references, there is no sound data given.

A couple of years ago For the Fishes presented at a scientific conference a study to support these numbers. They said they hadn't had time to get it peer reviewed prior to the conference, but were going to have it peer reviewed. It turns out that the results don't actually add up.

https://www.reef2rainforest.com/201...s-that-debunk-cyanide-test-for-aquarium-fish/

Bravo Renee Umberger! You are very effective at presenting the aquarium hobby in a negative light. Too bad it is based on lies and presented by someone morally bankrupt.

I had another word for it instead of infuriating!!! OMG! Kills me that these people....Renee Umberger knows nothing about the ornamental fish trade, how they are collected, etc.....and to say 99% are collected using cyanide is totally laughable. I hope those of us.... Hobbiest, fish stores, collectors, wholesalers, etc can ban together on this.....!

 

[squampton]

One Flame lasted 8 days, the other 10 days. Same M.O.: Acting/eating fine one day, and then just staying in a corner the very next day. I saw one of the Flames having convulsions/seizures just before death. Postmortem turned up no evidence of parasites, worms, bacteria on both fish; insides looked perfectly fine except for the liver. I'll dig up the pics I took of the livers that I stored on a thumb drive.

I had a bi color angel die in the same fashion 9 days after bringing it home. Was eating no problem, acted normal for 8 of the 9 days, on day 9 wouldn't eat but was still swimming although acting odd, by midday it was convulsing then dead.

I had a Valentini Puffer die suddenly 11 days in, acted fine, eating, checked before bed and it was in its usual spot and looked fine, next morning dead.

 

[Humblefish]

I had a bi color angel die in the same fashion 9 days after bringing it home. Was eating no problem, acted normal for 8 of the 9 days, on day 9 wouldn't eat but was still swimming although acting odd, by midday it was convulsing then dead.

I had a Valentini Puffer die suddenly 11 days in, acted fine, eating, checked before bed and it was in its usual spot and looked fine, next morning dead.

Were either of these fish being treated with any medications?

 

[cancun]

I do not know how long a collector typically holds onto a fish before shipping them, but some wholesalers I have used have shipped me fish they received the very same day. I was kinda shocked that my sales rep actually admitted that to me.

Based on my necropsies, liver damage/degradation has occurred between 3-10 days after I received the fish from the wholesaler. I haven't seen any liver damage on a deceased fish I have had for more than 10 days. And for the record, it's not just fish from the Philippines & Indonesia with damaged livers. I recently lost two Flame Angels from the Marshall Islands who both had liver damage when I performed the necropsy. I'm not saying for certain that the liver damage was caused by cyanide poisoning, but I'm trying to wrap my mind around what else it could be when other Flame Angels go through my QT protocol (medications) just fine.

Wow....that is a shame....I too have had flame Angels die the same way....but it has been years ago...I always knew about the cyanide use in the Philippines, but it surprises me that other more reputable locations like the Marshall islands could possibly be using cyanide....

 

[cancun]

I had a bi color angel die in the same fashion 9 days after bringing it home. Was eating no problem, acted normal for 8 of the 9 days, on day 9 wouldn't eat but was still swimming although acting odd, by midday it was convulsing then dead.

I had a Valentini Puffer die suddenly 11 days in, acted fine, eating, checked before bed and it was in its usual spot and looked fine, next morning dead.

Wow....that is terrible.....what location did they come from?

 

[lion king]

activists... nuff said

I've been a hobbyist for more than 30 years now, and I'm sure the activist exaggerate; but this industry needs major cleaning up. I am disgusted on so many fronts but will limit my response concerning cyanide. I had a discussion with a board member of MACNA recently, quoting him "some of us believe that cyanide is becoming a major player again". Besides the fish that just mysteriously dropped dead for no reason, I got 2 fish from the same source that went blind. I also believe that copper exposure can cause blindness, so who knows. Back in the day we considered blindness was caused from cyanide; but every fish wasn't exposed to copper treatment over and over, as they are today. As much as I love my fish If something doesn't start to change, I'll stand with the activist and help shut it all down.

My blind pink tail trigger I've been stick feeding for over a year and half. He turns white when he's mad, he used to do that when he was king the tank before he went blind. I lost the harlequin tusk.

 

[Ret_Talbot]

I would suggest people read the actual National Geographic article that is here: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/06/wildlife-watch-cyanide-test-marine-aquarium-fish/

There is a lot more coming as this story continues to unravel, but suffice it to say that cyanide use remains a serious problem in the aquarium trade. Arguing about whether it's 90% of fishes or 14% of fishes is a serious distraction from actually addressing a problem that has persisted for more than five decades.

The fact that the results of the 2012 paper are being called into question by the new paper is not good for the trade, but this is the way science gets done.

Best,

Ret

 

[dz6t]

I still don’t understand how a person can chase an adult blue tang with a net in the ocean. I cant even catch one with a net in my reef tank.

 

[ZoWhat]

Plz forgive my jerkiness.....

In my opinion.... Yes my opinion, not to be taken as fact but my opinion:

No way is anyone going into a 3rd world country and telling the guys who own collecting companies how to run their 3rd world business. You're dealing with 3rd world Goverments here.... Divers that are mostly 12-14yr old boys who are feeding their families by skindiving using this method

Most "Activists" only raise holy chaos bc they want $$$$$$$$ and a book signing tour with free hotels and reeeeeally nice free dinners. So puke....its ALWAYS ABOUT THE $. Being a high paid Activist sure beats wearing an orange vest and stocking shelves at Home Depot. Lol!!!!

The only way to cast your VOTE is to NOT buy fish from that 3rd world country

Not to pick a fight bc I won't engage you....but what happens behind-the-scene...I really don't want to know..... Its like everytime I stop by Burger King for me a Whopper, I'm killing a cow.....I'm indifferent about it, I just want lunch