Black neon tetra?

[ChoclateBetta]

3 inches what species do you have and Zebra danios are schooling.

[Clint]

I am not totally sure what kind of pleco it is. Rubber lip seems to be the closest in appearance, as far as I can tell. I bought it from an independent fish store and was told he wouldn't get much bigger than that. He may be closer to 4" than 3 now that I think about it. In any case, he is over two years old, so is it safe to say he is full grown?

[ChoclateBetta]

http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Rubberlip_Pleco Still young and may be stunted.

[Clint]

Looks to be a rubber lip pleco still, and apparently they grow to 4.7" average, so he should be ok for size, I think. Thanks for the link. Sorry to see they are not captive bred, though. I wouldn't have purchased him had I known he was probably wild caught.

[ChoclateBetta]

Wild caught is okay as long as they do well in captivity 3 inches sounds stunted to me or just small individual.

[Clint]

Hmm, I think he is more like 4" which is about right for rubber lipped pleco. He has the tank to himself (except for some snails) and has good water quality.

I guess I could be OK with wild caught if they were caught in a regulated area in a controlled manner to prevent over-fishing and other problems, although would still feel bad about snatching him from a nice stream and stuffing him in my aquarium. What's done is done. At least not as bad as saltwater harvesting. In any case, thanks for the info.

[ChoclateBetta]

Sometimes wild caught is safer like if you catch a wild guppy in a nonative area less problems, if that area is going to be destroyed so they will die, it is endangered and you have permission to catch and breed, Cardinal tetras they breed fast in wild and catching them by , locals gives them income, they can catch the fish that breed fast, and in captivity they can live up ten times longer.

[thekoimaiden]

While wild-caught can be an okay thing, this isn't always the case. More than a few species have become endangered due to the over-collection in the wild. This happened to celestial pearl danio until someone figured out how to breed them. It is currently happening to the beautiful redline barb (Puntius denisonii) although efforts are being made to breed them. Over-collection in the wild coupled with habitat degradation is causing their numbers to plummet. Another incident were wild-caught fish are bad is with the blue-eyed panaque, a rare loricariid catfish. They are found in an area of South America controlled by drug lords; if any wild fish is exported from that area, the proceeds go to these drug cartels (read more). So the lesson to this little rant is some wild caught fish like cardinal tetra are good, but others are bad. Research before you buy.

[ChoclateBetta]

It seems more species are saved by the aquarium trade than hurt. Look at WCMM. I agree it depends on species and area.

[Clint]

I'm not sure an example of a fish that was captured almost to extinction in the wild is really encouraging. There may be many more individuals alive, but the native populations - and particularly the ecosystem - is where the permanent damage is. It looks like a new population was recently found, though: New population of endangered White clouds discovered | News | Practical Fishkeeping Exact location is being withheld to protect from collectors.

Sorry to have derailed this thread...I didn't really mean to. y End post.