Is buying previously owned inhabitants "green"?

[chrissreef]

I want to have as little impact on the ocean as I can by purchasing cultivated/captive bred animals... but this would mean no tangs, copperband, anthias etc. in my tank. Would purchasing fish/animals from owners taking down their tanks be considered "green" or fall into the bucket of a "responsible" reefkeeper?

Thanks!

[RumLad]

I think from the animals perspective, it would be considered an environmentally friendly thing to do.

[samtheman]

Well, it would be one more tank with tangs in it. If you didn't take the fish, would another take them? If so, isn't that one less tank with tangs in it?

[Wolverine]

Originally posted by chrissreef
I want to have as little impact on the ocean as I can by purchasing cultivated/captive bred animals... but this would mean no tangs, copperband, anthias etc. in my tank. Would purchasing fish/animals from owners taking down their tanks be considered "green" or fall into the bucket of a "responsible" reefkeeper?

I do think it's better than buying them from the store, for a variety of reasons, but I don't think it could truly be considered "green".
Let's say you get a harem of sunburst anthias from someone taking down a reef. Did you get them because that's what he happened to have when you went there? Or did you get them because you had been planning on getting some sunburst, and this came up?
If it's the former, then I think, from an environmental standpoint, it's basically neutral.
If it's the latter, then this is just the slightly less harmful approach to taking fish that were removed from the wild (think of it as just adding an extra middle-man in the chain of ownership of the anthias).

Dave

[seacraze]

We call it adopting and could be considered green depending on who is considering it

[samtheman]

So if I drive a used car, I won't be polluting?

[Rossini]

Originally posted by samtheman
So if I drive a used car, I won't be polluting?

I know why you call yourself sam the man now.

[seacraze]

Good point ... however to recycle is to recycle

Really in my view to rescue an animal, fish or otherwise from someone who no longer can care for it, doesn't want it etc... is a very noble thing to do. In the event the animal/fish should not of been obtained in the first place should not penalize the animal or fish from having a decent remaining life ....

Sorry for over-doing it

[Mizer67]

I agree with seacraze. Is it better to let the guy who has them freeze (or flush) them so as to keep our own tank politically / environmentally correct? Once pulled out of the reef, they are lost to nature. If I don't pay the supply chain I am not rewarding the behavior of removing said species from the reef and therefore I am not encouraging the removal. My .02

[steven_dean17]

Even grass turns brown in the winter. It's alot greener then buying them from the LFS.

[reefmaster805]

All I can say Is "FRAG, FRAG, FRAG", now that is GREEN..........