Here's why you SHOULD buy that cute little RTC at your LFS

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Miguel;922830; said:
I find only one flaw with your reasoning.

If everybody, I mean everybody, would stop buying RTC's, sooner or later, the offer would diminish..

but that would, probably, be near impossible to achieve.

Which leads to the second option: Export Ban. And we will get there, eventually.

even if they do ban them from export (from S.America which i fully support),aren't they hormone injecting them in Singapore? So it prob wouldn't work, don't you think it would be better if the rtc's from Singapore were shipped to S.A and released back into the wild? Surely some rich fisheries boss could afford it!
 
jordanlewis100;923814; said:
even if they do ban them from export (from S.America which i fully support),aren't they hormone injecting them in Singapore? So it prob wouldn't work, don't you think it would be better if the rtc's from Singapore were shipped to S.A and released back into the wild? Surely some rich fisheries boss could afford it!


Couldn't agree more ( did not even know they were being "maltreated" in Sgpore.


The SA countries ( Brasil, for instance, is very environment conscious ) will, eventually ban them, I think....
 
GBG;922821; said:
Ok, I'm done. Go ahead and disagree, but be nice :)

GBG


I agree with most if not all you posted, and quite honestly I dont understand all the RTC hype. There are many fish that grow much larger than most people/tanks can accomodate. I think many people just like to argue. The internet is a great place to argue behind a screen name. You see a wild caught 4' RTC and right away a store bought 2" is not suitable for any tank under 2,000,000 gallons. What about Pacu's, Peacock bass, Oscars .............. The list goes on and on. BAN THEM ALL. And dont forget to ban Goldfish and Guppies The conditions they are kept in in most LFS's should be outlawed.........



JMO of course




bob
 
While Joe Clueless may represent 99% of fishkeepers, we should also realise ALL RTC/TSNs in the ornamental fish trade are only about 1% of all those produced. Sorry I have no firm figures on this but I do know most aquaculture places spawn these large cats for food. Hence the hybrid crosses. They are keen to sell some to the ornamental fish industry for the high prices we pay but this is not the reason they breed large cats. I know some ornamental fish farmers do spawn their own large catfish since its not hard but most are simply purchased from aquaculture farms.

If we farm cows until they are useful size and then kill and eat them, is it not the same as keeping a baby RTC until it is no longer cute and then euthanising? Is a year of happy living better than not being born at all? And those which dont go to the ornamental fish trade end up being fattened and eaten. They are all doomed!!! I guess it comes down to quality of life.

Luckily? in Australia RTCs are extremely hard to source and cost between AUD$600-1500 since they are all smuggled so we have to think twice before buying and are happy to provide spacious homes.
 
I think that they should not be banned, but I do think that you should have to apply for a special permit to keep them. If you can prove that you can comfortably house an adult rtc for life then you pay for a special permit that allows you to keep one. JMO, same for other large catfish, it could be a all in one permit for fish over a certain size!
 
fishdance;923993; said:
While Joe Clueless may represent 99% of fishkeepers, we should also realise ALL RTC/TSNs in the ornamental fish trade are only about 1% of all those produced. Sorry I have no firm figures on this but I do know most aquaculture places spawn these large cats for food. Hence the hybrid crosses. They are keen to sell some to the ornamental fish industry for the high prices we pay but this is not the reason they breed large cats. I know some ornamental fish farmers do spawn their own large catfish since its not hard but most are simply purchased from aquaculture farms.

If we farm cows until they are useful size and then kill and eat them, is it not the same as keeping a baby RTC until it is no longer cute and then euthanising? Is a year of happy living better than not being born at all? And those which dont go to the ornamental fish trade end up being fattened and eaten. They are all doomed!!! I guess it comes down to quality of life.

Luckily? in Australia RTCs are extremely hard to source and cost between AUD$600-1500 since they are all smuggled so we have to think twice before buying and are happy to provide spacious homes.

I'm just of the belief that you don't euthanize a "pet" that you know you will have to before you even buy it. I'm not going to buy a baby anaconda and as soon as it gets to be over 6' kill it. You just don't get it in the first place. Maybe thats to much of an old way of thinking, and I suppose it depends on if you see fish as animals with rights or possessions you can do what you please with...
 
davo;924026; said:
I'm just of the belief that you don't euthanize a "pet" that you know you will have to before you even buy it. I'm not going to buy a baby anaconda and as soon as it gets to be over 6' kill it. You just don't get it in the first place. Maybe thats to much of an old way of thinking, and I suppose it depends on if you see fish as animals with rights or possessions you can do what you please with...


Agreed. Fully. <But under the law in most of the countries, animal are things to be posessed.
 
Miguel;924037; said:
Agreed. Fully. <But under the law in most of the countries, animal are things to be posessed.

that's when you have to use your morals and beliefs.
 
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