# Is it ethical to use Cichlid fry as a food source?



## lien0569 (Apr 13, 2013)

A friend of mine breeds convicts for what seems to be the sole purpose of using the fry as food for his other fish, such as alligator gar. He also puts them (and the parents) in his main tank in hopes the other fish will eat them. This to me sounds nothing like "natural selection", as he likes to put it. Is this practice common and accepted among aquarists? I have to admit, it sounds cruel to me. Cichlid fry are not "food" in my mind.


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## Azedenkae (Apr 19, 2012)

With all these, it is completely subjective. This in particular, you'll find heaps of people with different opinions.

I will say tho, it's not natural selection. One's just adding fish to a tank with more fish to see what happens. Basically it's artificial selection.

Back to ethics... well we're keeping fish out of their natural habitat anyways, subjecting them to whatever conditions we want - is that ethical?

We put two fish together to force them to breed together, taking their fries constantly to distribute - is that ethical?

We cull unwanted fry - many of this is not due to defects, but simply because they're not 'up to par' or the likes - is that ethical?

We continuously interfere with them, taking them in and out if the water or flash them with camera flashes or disturb them constantly - is that ethical?

We keep single wet pets, not allowing it a chance of finding a mate - is that ethical?

We feed one fish to another, be it guppies, cichlids, catfish or whatever - is that ethical?

Well it really does depend on each person.

In my personal opinion, the moment we put a fish into a tank we'll have to admit that we can do whatever we want with them, and since then anything else afterwards is neither 'worse' or 'better', whatever it is. Imo one can do whatever one wants with one's fish, regardless of what it is.

And that others will do what they want with their fish. Simple as that.


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## rgr4475 (Mar 19, 2008)

To me it's no different if he went in to his LFS and bought guppies or feeder goldfish for his gar. No, IMO it's not unethical. Not "natural section" either. That happens in the wild.


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## lien0569 (Apr 13, 2013)

hmm . . . I see your points about what is ethical. i would say after thinking it over its not Un-ethical what he's doing, and probably more a matter of personal choice as to what your comfortable with. I guess when you start to view fish as pets, as I do with my fish, it becomes more difficult making these decisions.

Thanks for the feedback! I was really bummed he was doing this but now I see it in a different light . . .


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

lien0569 said:


> it sounds cruel to me.


Fish is the main ingredient in the vast majority of commercial fish foods. If you have a "problem" with fish eating fish......then I think you are going to have a real problem feeding your fish or providing them with adequate nutrition. :lol:

Some fish live a short life; some fish live a longer life. The breeding strategy of most fishes is to produce many, many offspring (sometimes even thousands). Not all can grow up and live a long life because there is a limit of tank space in captivity. If every fry was grown to maturity it would become a quality of life issue pretty darn quick!


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

I draw a line between using smaller fish as food, and putting small fish with larger ones not to feed them, but to see the larger fish kill them. It's like the difference between killing cattle for food, and killing them in a bullfighting ring. Ethics are in the intent, not the act.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

i agree with every word "azedenkae" said. i have felt the exact same way as that for yrs but never able to word it as perfectly as u did. u summed the hobby up perfectly. that is why i disagree with al those who say u cant do this and u cant do that. we took the natural out of it as soon as we put them in a glass box


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## yamadog (Oct 7, 2012)

When I first got into Cichlids, I had a heavily stocked, highly mixed tank of Cichlids from every part of the world. I had two pairs of convicts that each claimed seprate ends of the tank. Then they started making babies......Each pair had a batch of fry about every third week. I'd guess 150 at a time. I was sad the very first time the fry became food for all the other cihlids in the tank. Then I thought about what I would have to do if all these fish survived. In my area, you can almost always find 'free fish' on craigslist. Very often, those fish are convict cihlids. While I really enjoyed their parental behavior, if all those fry made it, they would end up getting flushed down the toilet every couple of weeks. I feel its a lot more ethical to feed your fish highly nutritious live food than it is to just throw them away. My opinion. Jason


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## v1nylshaker (Apr 12, 2013)

Does it matter if it's ethical or unethical?


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## dstuer (Mar 27, 2013)

Because I eat cichlid maybe once per week, commenting on ethical or unethical would be a bit hypocritical of me.
It is much safer though, to feed your fish fry, from your own tanks, as opposed to buying feeders that could be disease or parasite carriers.
Most of the cichlids we keep are however, omnivores, and feeding most cichlids fish as a staple is not nutritionally sound.


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## bwestgsx06 (Sep 21, 2011)

Is that a Mayan?


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

bwestgsx06 said:


> Is that a Mayan?


Fish pictured in dsuter's post is Oreochromis nilitocus (nile "tilapia"), or an Oreochromis cross that is predominantly O. niloticus. They are commonly available at the grocery store or supermarket.


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## dstuer (Mar 27, 2013)

Yes a Nile/hybrid. There is an aquaculture facility near me that raises Tilapines and yellow perch, using herbs, and greens as filtration, they bring both fish and plants to the local farmers market.
Although I admit I have eaten many of my own ( JDs, snook, etc). If something has been injured severely, or what seems like an incurable malady such as swim bladder problem, and I catch it right away, into the pot it goes if its large enough.
Non-diseased small fish are chopped and fed to the others, or to shrimp. Diseased or fish that have fungus go into the compost pile.


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