How Do You Know if a Fish is Really Wild Caught?

[asm129]

I see many sellers advertising fish that are wild caught (WC).
How do you know if they're really wild caught? Do you just have to trust the seller?
It seems like there's an incentive for a seller to say it's WC to get a higher price, but there's no real way of
knowing that it's true.

 

[bud]

W/c are not more than the others as a whole for the same size animal

 

[screaminleeman]

I reel them in or rake them up and know first hand! I have had loads of joy watching Crayfish and Bluegill grow from fry's to juviniles catching them from my farm pond and raising them in aquarium. I am unfortunately guilty of on a rare occasion haveing a bluegill juvinile with such incredible colors that I could not bear to use it a feeders and commit the cardinal sin of returning it to the farm pond.

I have always treated these "wild caught" fish for parasites whether they are to be used as feeders or returned to the farm pond as breeding stock!

 

[fishy12]

Its fins cld have been torn up but this cld also happen in tanks

 

[bob965]

I tell my customers certain fish are wild so I can charge them more. But they're not wild-caught, I just mean that they act wild, as in wild-and-crazy, so I'm not really lying.

 

[zerojquan85]

WC is really based on how much experience you have with the various types of fish.... but understand that some of the rare fish... can only be caught in the wild...

Example.. wolf fish, payara, exotic peacock bass, exotic plecos, datnoids, Gars.. These are just a few examples of fish in the trade where its actually hard to breeding in a local aquarium.. and catching them in the wild is might more profitable..

As times go on... the more fish you come across you'll realize that certain fish are wild caught.. while others are farm breed.. It really just takes experience..

 

[CTU2fan]

If you caught it yourself you know it's wild caught, otherwise you have to just trust the seller.

 

[DDFishPets]

Well, some of the fish either show colors, that they would only have as a wild vs farmed, or they're ultra-sensitive to certain things. Like Tropheus not being able to eat meat essentially or Wild Clown Fish not easily being able to stand aquariums under 10 gallons whereas their counterparts, can eat meat fine or live in a 1/2 gallon jar respectively.

 

[Snowflake311]

I have one. It's an unclassified rubbernose pleco. There are some fish that are almost always wild caught many fancy plecos are wild. Otts tend to be wild. Because some fish just do not breed well in aquariums or are rare. so these fish are harvested from the wild.

Of yeah almost all saltwater fish are wild. Only a few are now being bred in aquariums.

 

[k0y0te]

I tell my customers certain fish are wild so I can charge them more. But they're not wild-caught, I just mean that they act wild, as in wild-and-crazy, so I'm not really lying.

umm that consider false advertisement...lol.