# How do you knwo its wild caught?



## tokyo (Jan 19, 2010)

When buying fish that are said to be wild caught how do you know they actually are?

I am not too worried about being lied to buy reputable dealers, but I am sort of nervous to buy from someone on an "Auction" or "Personal Ad" type of site who claims to have wild caught fish.

The fish I am trying to buy(WC Alto calvus pairs) can't be found through any of the dealers I know of, so I have been looking at auction and ad sites and am just not sure if I'm comfortable trusting the people.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

There is no way to ascertain that any fish is wild caught unless you do the collecting yourself. Why are you trying to purchase WC pairs of calvus? Adult, tank-bred pairs will do nicely for a breeding project. Actually a lot of Alto populations are becoming endangered due to over-harvesting, many of the lake side collectors have stopped bringing them in, this is why you are seeing so few offered by reputable retailers. That being said, the larger the fish are the more likely they are to be wild caught, but once again, there is nothing wrong with using F1 fish for breeding stock.


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## tokyo (Jan 19, 2010)

I did not realize that they were being over harvested. Maybe I will just do one choice pair of wild caught and have the rest be F1.


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## tokyo (Jan 19, 2010)

I'm still leaning towards getting at least a 2 or 3 WC pairs. I feel like it would ad to the fun of it, and the sense of accomplishment, having to work over an extended period of time to find them. Plus I like the idea of being able to sell F1 juveniles.

Is it common or even heard of for people to sell tank raised fish as wild caught on these websites? Is there anything I should look out for when buying that could indicate that maybe they're not selling real WC?


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

tokyo said:


> I'm still leaning towards getting at least a 2 or 3 WC pairs. I feel like it would ad to the fun of it, and the sense of accomplishment, having to work over an extended period of time to find them. Plus I like the idea of being able to sell F1 juveniles.
> 
> Is it common or even heard of for people to sell tank raised fish as wild caught on these websites? Is there anything I should look out for when buying that could indicate that maybe they're not selling real WC?


Its impossible to tell if the fish are WC. Ask for the largest proven pair you can. It shouldn't take long to secure 3 pairs of WC calvus. They'll be expensive at least $50 probably closer to $100.


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## tokyo (Jan 19, 2010)

Yeah, I've seen a few different WC pairs for sale already. The only reason I say it will take some work is because I'm trying to get two or three different collection points. I've mostly only seen Congo "black" and "inkfin" for sale.

Thanks for the help.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

White and yellow calvus are pretty common as well, just keep your eye out for them.


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## tokyo (Jan 19, 2010)

Ok, thanks, I will. It will probably be another month or two before I'm ready for them anyways.

Are there any collection points that are especially rare? I want to do one pair/trio each for congo, chaitika and Nkamba Bay(these are the yellows right?), but I have also seen a couple that I haven't recognized, and I don't want pass up a strain just because I haven't heard of it. I think one of them started "Luc", can't remember what it was though.


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## CoolCichlid (Feb 12, 2010)

What does "wild caught" means? I think every fish came from the wild...


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## tokyo (Jan 19, 2010)

Not all fish come from the wild. Most are bred in captivity.

IMO having "wild caught" fish is not a big deal for ornamental purposes, but its good for breeding purposes because there is a very good chance that they will produce high quality fry.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

That they produce higher quality fry is a misconception so the WC tag is most important for marketing purposes.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Darkside said:


> That they produce higher quality fry is a misconception so the WC tag is most important for marketing purposes.


I agree not necessarily higher quality fry. But buyers will pay more for F1 in an attempt to get *pure *fry.


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## tokyo (Jan 19, 2010)

I didn't mean to say that they produce higher quality fry. Just that you can expect them to produce high quality fry pretty consistently. Where as if you buy tank raised without knowing the source you may end up putting a ton of work into breeding a pair that ends up producing low quality fry. But if you know the source of the tank raised fish and know that they are good quality then the only difference is the label. Well the label and the fact that you can charge more for F1 fry.

I in no way think there is anything wrong with breeding tank raised pairs, or even that F1 fry are better than tank raised fry, that would be absurd. There are too many variables to label all tank raised fry as being better or worse than F1 fry.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

tokyo said:


> Just that you can expect them to produce high quality fry pretty consistently.


 So called wild-caught "pairs" may be nothing more than some random forced mating... unfortunately, it's (IME) a genetic roll-of-the-dice. You can get great fry, or intra-specific hybrids... and everything in between.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

so.... this is an interesting topic. I would personally always go for f1 vs wild caught, though I've got quite a few wild fish here...


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

It really depends on the fish as to whether I'd prefer wildcaught or F1. In some cases I would be ambivalent. There are a number of cases where the wild fish are more attractive than their tank raised counterparts.


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