Why are wild caught better colored?

[azfishfool]

This may have been covered but after I saw the wild salvini in someone elses thread it got me thinkin why is wild brighter? Is it the food selection, water color, hiding spots, water chemistry? figured someone might know, and if these same variables were created in the home aquarium would the results be the same?

 

[Kilbane]

Most LFS fish=inbreeding=diluted colors.

 

[princess]

ok i have seen wild caught clownfish and captive bred....captive bred look alot better! more colour. i've never seen wild fish other than saltwater, there's no need for it, if i had a choice to get either captive or wild, i would always choose captive even if the colours wern't as good.

even in the wild you can have two of the same fish with different colouration. i know in some fish males are alot more colourful than females and vice versa

also fish like the betta...they were dark drab colours until the process of selecting genes for colour.

 

[StIcKy~RiCe]

Captive Bred also easier to accept food then wild caught. Most people would prefer wild caught.

 

[cassharper]

I personally don't follow. There are some that or more colorful, but have you seen the wild versions of most live bearers or even discus? In captivity people have bred to get the color traits they want, and have come up with some brilliant unrealistic colors. A lot of fish don't want to be colorful in the wild (where that they mean you are either dinner, or the other fish sees you so you don't get dinner).

I guess it all just depends on the fishes status in the wild and how it's breeding has been handled in captivity.

 

[cichlaguapote]

I personally don't follow. There are some that or more colorful, but have you seen the wild versions of most live bearers or even discus? In captivity people have bred to get the color traits they want, and have come up with some brilliant unrealistic colors. A lot of fish don't want to be colorful in the wild (where that they mean you are either dinner, or the other fish sees you so you don't get dinner).

I guess it all just depends on the fishes status in the wild and how it's breeding has been handled in captivity.

Basically yes..

I won't get into saltwater(perhaps someone else will?) but for freshwater.. this applys esp. with cichlids but there are exceptions to this like bettas which obviously have been bred for color..

A "wild" fish is usually a more pure fish, with new blood lines that aren't in the country/hobby yet. This is especially important for breeders, but also for none breeders who just want good stock. A wild cichlid alot of times will have better color than a captive bred fish.

As alot of fish are bred out of who knows what stock. Like walking into a LFS most of time to buy a Midas or Red Devil usually ends up your buying a hybrid of both fish because the fish farm's gene pool is just that.. half midas, half red devil.. Not to mention inbreeding that happens in captive bred breeding with some which dilutes colors, and even leads to things like uneven stripes in frontosa. As far as discus some people would rather have a wild not as colorful discus than a hormoned out uber colorful discus. I've spoke to many discus people who if they had to do it again would go with wild discus. Not sure why. Even larger cichlids like Dovii, and Umbie's your wild fish will usually have better colors than a fish that is F3 or even F4.

Basically I don't know that you could recreate the same thing you get from a wild cichlid in captivity. You would need to have a very large, very pure unrelated gene pool to even start.

 

[TimTheBadass]

I agree with most of the above comments, however F1's are a good option, just look at Jeff Rapps cichlids.

 

[cichlaguapote]

I agree with most of the above comments, however F1's are a good option, just look at Jeff Rapps cichlids.

yep F1's are a good option... Almost = in my mind to F0..

 

[azfishfool]

Yea see i wasnt sure if it was blood lines or what exactly caused it but most wild caught fish seem to have either different patterns or colors just wasnt exactly sure what caused the big difference

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

I usually prefer f1's since they are not as "watered down" in terms of inbreeding or even species purity (not hybrids).