Live fish feeding

There is no need to feed live fish to other fish when there is so many other alternatives.

Perhaps my mind is in work mode and i am missing an obvious point. But I can't help to wonder why?

- We eat live food (ie: oysters)
- We kill animals in awful conditions to feed

Predatory fish are what they are and in nature they would feed from live foods: it's nature. Why this rule?

Miamiheat wrote:

Perhaps my mind is in work mode and i am missing an obvious point. But I can't help to wonder why?

- We eat live food (ie: oysters)
- We kill animals in awful conditions to feed

Predatory fish are what they are and in nature they would feed from live foods: it's nature. Why this rule?

I guess it's all about where you draw your ethical boundaries. Humans eat the likes of oysters etc and most of us would happily feed fish live invertebrates without grieving too much for them. But if you follow that argument to its logical conclusion, then eating anything alive would be reasonable behaviour and I don't think any of us would agree with that. Also, our mistreatment of one group of animals does not justify ill treatment of another. Humans murder each other in many parts of the world at a frightful rate and for awful reasons; that still doesn't justify murder in any way.

The fact is that in the majority of cases, feeding a predatory fish another living fish is unhealthy, dietarily unnecessary and, in my experience, not usually done for the benefit of the fish but rather for the entertainment of the owner.

I feel I should clarify that I was raised in the country, my father was a butcher, I worked in a meat factory and I enjoy keeping pets but I don't think they're "like family". On the flipside, I love wildlife in every form and I always pick up spiders and put them outside rather than squashing them. My point is, I think there's a happy medium between being cruel for cruelty's sake and being overly sentimental.

I grew up in Africa surrounded by domestic pets and spending a lot of time outdoors. grandfather/father were a big hunters (including elephants) and fishermen (ie Goliath tiger fish). I did a lot of fishing and a lot of it without a conscience and i regret it all the time now that i am more aware of where the world stands. i can understand your arguments perfectly and i guess what i questioned really is the rule on forum but that is because i wouldn't be thinking of feeding a fish to another as entertainment. But i honestly would have no problem doing it while trying to replicate the fish diet and perhaps help the fish thrive by allowing it to perform its natural behaviour.

Hi. In nature the pray has a chance to escape. In a glass box it has none. This Is just the way I look at it.

You only have to look at comments on youtube, here the comments indicate it is solely done for the pleasure of those doing it, I am against it completely.

Kev.

Kmd wrote:

Hi. In nature the pray has a chance to escape. In a glass box it has none. This Is just the way I look at it.

what about the beef/lamb/pork and chicken you eat ?

Guys I am stirring things up but really each one to their own opinion.
If its the video posted on Arowanas the truth is i cant recall them feeding fish. I do recall them feeding some type of live worms. Nonetheless the video is fantastic and the fish stunning.
The handling and explotation of fish just to satisfy OUR hobby is the biggest killer of fish, probably more so than feeding your predator fish some real live food.

Now i know most people conveniently ignore that fact and that's fine => it's the double standard I am trying to illustrate here.

Kmd wrote:

Hi. In nature the pray has a chance to escape. In a glass box it has none. This Is just the way I look at it.

I agree with you there , i dont know of any coldwater goldfish either in the Amazon river.

Kmd wrote:

Hi. In nature the pray has a chance to escape. In a glass box it has none. This Is just the way I look at it.

This is the reason I don't feed live either. Also more often than not feeder fish are just bitten in half and left alive struggling for ages.

Plus I wouldn't want to bring anything into my tanks

I think I started this as well by posting a video from youtube of some cool monster fish. It was just a coincidence that the owner of the tank had goldfish in there as well. I wasn't condoning the use of feeders.

Miamiheat wrote:

Kmd wrote:

Hi. In nature the pray has a chance to escape. In a glass box it has none. This Is just the way I look at it.

what about the beef/lamb/pork and chicken you eat ?

I always give a steak a sporting chance to escape... before I cover it in peppercorn sauce and eat it

LemonJelly wrote:

Miamiheat wrote:

Kmd wrote:

Hi. In nature the pray has a chance to escape. In a glass box it has none. This Is just the way I look at it.

what about the beef/lamb/pork and chicken you eat ?

I always give a steak a sporting chance to escape... before I cover it in peppercorn sauce and eat it

lol

LemonJelly wrote:

Miamiheat wrote:

Kmd wrote:

Hi. In nature the pray has a chance to escape. In a glass box it has none. This Is just the way I look at it.

what about the beef/lamb/pork and chicken you eat ?

I always give a steak a sporting chance to escape... before I cover it in peppercorn sauce and eat it

hilarious i laughed for a while there

I know of a couple of betta breeders from a different forum that keep some snakeheads and regularly feed them runts that they would cull anyway. But for entertainment purposes im completely against it

Eric

Miamiheat wrote:

Guys I am stirring things up but really each one to their own opinion.
If its the video posted on Arowanas the truth is i cant recall them feeding fish. I do recall them feeding some type of live worms. Nonetheless the video is fantastic and the fish stunning.
The handling and explotation of fish just to satisfy OUR hobby is the biggest killer of fish, probably more so than feeding your predator fish some real live food.

Now i know most people conveniently ignore that fact and that's fine => it's the double standard I am trying to illustrate here.

Yes I completely agree about this hobby. But a lot of it is from new people in the hobby been given wrong information, buy shops. I no I was completely lied to when I started, and I lost three fish that didn't need to die. I was lucky to have found a shop that helped me, and the other fish lived. It's through good forums like this, and good thrusted shops that less fish will die.