Any Vegetarians out there...but who feed their tanks?

[Vincerama2]

I was just on another club forum where someone was asking for live rotifers to feed their tanks. I was wondering if vegetarians are actually feeding their tanks with brine shrimp, rotifers, etc. Dead OR alive. Heck, for that matter most flake foods have animal products in it!

And what about dog/cat food? I know many veggies who own cats/dogs. I wonder if the ethics of such food is really a problem for them?

Just pipe in, I'd like to hear opinions. Even as a non-vegetarian, I kinda balked at hatching BABY BRINE SHRIMP only to send them to their deaths. I understand, however, that that is exactly what happens in the wild...but really is it really different from me eating chicken? On the other hand, is it even worse for us to keep corals/fish and NOT feed them what they require? We can't force meat eating fish/corals to eat phytoplankton and algae flakes only...

Just wondering. Thought it might make for some lively discussion. (Not arguments, but intelligent discussion).

V

[Gawain1974]

Why wouldn't they? A fish has gotta eat. I have no problem hatching brine to feed to my tank. Heck, I eat sushi in front of my fish, and they don't care.

[pnosko]

I assume you're a vegetarian for ethical reasons. If so, that is a conscious decision you have made, and I take my hat off to you.

But I think you should either 1) not make that decision for other species or 2) not put yourself in the position of a caretaker of those species.

[clavery]

Originally posted by Gawain1974

Heck, I eat sushi in front of my fish, and they don't care.

Yeah, I always feel a little guilty when we eat fish or sushi for dinner. Not enough to stop eating it, but I think my fish look at my funny afterwards!!!!

[LukFox]

I eat sushi in front of my fish, and then afterwards the fish get whatever is left! It's definitly their favorite food, and it's mine too .

[AIMFish]

Originally posted by Vincerama2
Even as a non-vegetarian, I kinda balked at hatching BABY BRINE SHRIMP only to send them to their deaths. I understand, however, that that is exactly what happens in the wild...

Someone hatches brine shrimp in the wild and feeds them to reef fish?!!

[Hutton]

i new a family in grade school who fed there dog only vegitables...
is it me or is that not healthy for the dog? look at how much meat wolves eat!

[scbauer]

Originally posted by pnosko
I assume you're a vegetarian for ethical reasons. If so, that is a conscious decision you have made, and I take my hat off to you.

But I think you should either 1) not make that decision for other species or 2) not put yourself in the position of a caretaker of those species.

I'm guessing you missed this?

Originally posted by Vincerama2
Just pipe in, I'd like to hear opinions. Even as a non-vegetarian, I kinda balked at hatching BABY BRINE SHRIMP only to send them to their deaths. I understand, however, that that is exactly what happens in the wild...but really is it really different from me eating chicken? On the other hand, is it even worse for us to keep corals/fish and NOT feed them what they require? We can't force meat eating fish/corals to eat phytoplankton and algae flakes only...

Just wondering. Thought it might make for some lively discussion. (Not arguments, but intelligent discussion).

V

[FunkieReefJunkie]

It's all a part of the food chain. Don't mess with mother nature's natural inclination, then your critters will be happy and so will you.

I'm going to go eat some beef now... sorry couldn't help myself.

[pnosko]

Originally posted by scbauer
I'm guessing you missed this?

Well, it's not clear, exactly. "Even as a non-vegetarian, I kinda balked" is past tense, and from the context I assumed (with inherent risks) he was now, but not in the past. But I could be wrong. In any case, I stand by my options.

[Gawain1974]

Originally posted by pnosko
But I think you should either 1) not make that decision for other species or 2) not put yourself in the position of a caretaker of those species.

Well-said, Pete. Sometimes we lose a fish despite our best efforts to provide for its needs. Depriving an animal of what it eats naturally would seem to cause unnecessary stress. Thankfully, I don't keep anything that preys upon baby seals.

[LukFox]

Originally posted by Hutton
i new a family in grade school who fed there dog only vegitables...
is it me or is that not healthy for the dog? look at how much meat wolves eat!

I think it would be unhealthy for the dog to only eat vegetables, but note along with meat, wolves also eat berries, bugs, grasses, and other tasty stuff .

[daistarya]

Im a vegetarian because I dont agree with the ways in which animals intended for human consumption are raised. By eating other foods and taking vitamins I can save at least a few animals from harm. (I do though need to eat chicken because Im allergic to iodine and it has just the right amount of it in trace quantities to keep my thyroid ok and not set off my allergy.) However, I do have cats and they eat meat products and I used to have a seahorse that ate live brine and frozen mysis. As an omnivore I can get along without most meat but I cant expect that from my pets especially those who are carnivores. They need to eat to live and I respect that. It doesnt bother me to feed them what they need to be healthy. I made a personal decision and I would never want to force my ways on others. The end.

[Flanders]

Im a vegeterian but I do need to eat some chicken, and some beef for my iron levels, seafood for muscle growth and veal for the taste. Also turkey for Thanksgiving.

[Gawain1974]

Ah, Flanders.....I've missed you.

[claysgirl]

I have been reading this website for a while now, but this is my first post.....here goes nothin'

My fiance has been a vegetarian his whole life and he finally converted me about 2 years ago. Although most of our pets do eat some veggies (one dog loves any raw/left-over veggie she can get but the other dog hates them!) they also eat meat. We choose not to eat meat because it's healthier for us, but we understand that there are some animals that have to eat meat to survive. All of our animals eat THEIR recommended diet not ours.

Flanders......you would be surprised at how many people actually think that way! That post cracked me up

Anyway, nice to "meet" everyone!

[Highlander]

I'm a vegetarian, for ethical, as well as health reasons.
People are omnivores, alhough principally herbivores, by design (not necessarily "intelligent" ) , look at our grinding molars, and long intestine for digestion of vegetable matter.
Some of our pets are not as flexible as to what they must consume to survive, so assuming I commited to caring for my fish, corals, and cats, I feed them what they need to stay healthy. Whether the food is live or dead seems immaterial, that's just a matter of timing, no ??

[beerguy]

I used to work with a vegetarian gal. She was the sales person and I was pre-sales engineering so we had to make a lot of customer calls together. One day we stopped for lunch at a deli and she ordered a tuna salad sandwich. We ate lunch and got back in the car.

I asked her how she considers herself a vegetarian if she's eating fish? Her reply was that she only felt comfortable eating things that she felt okay about killing (I doubt she's ever seen a full grown tuna). She had no problem killing a fish but couldn't bring herself to kill a cow, pig or chicken.

Keep in mind that this conversation happened in her BMW X5 with full leather upholstery and she was wearing a leather coat, leather shoes and carrying a leather purse. My next comment was "so you won't eat cows but you have no problem sitting on them?"

We didn't get along very well after that.

[sihaya]

Did someone ask for me? j/k ;-)

Alright guys, I'll give you the run-down (and as I like to mention whenever and wherever possible, I have a masters degree in Bioethics, so what I have to say here is of course invaluable to this thread)

Vegetarians are vegetarian for any number of reasons (most of which do not preclude raising brine shrimp and rotifers for food). Here are the main reasons:

1) Circumstantial... many vegetarians don't think eating meat is inherently immoral, they simply think the meat industry is immoral. They might think this for a lot of reasons (or maybe just one reason)... some of them are
a) environmental destruction
b) inhumane treatment of animals
c) indiscriminate use of hormones, antibiotics, etc...

2)Philosophical... many vegetarians simply believe it's wrong to take the life of a sentient being (not plants are not sentient) when you don't have to. There's also the Hindu reason for not eating meat (that we're all connected and that we all re-reincarnate, etc.) Some other people, like Tolstoy became vegetarian out of the belief that eating meat perpetuated a culture of violence and tainted the human soul.

3) Health... some people think it's healthier to be a vegetarian, that they'll live longer if they don't eat meat. But while it's true that veggies live longer on average, you can be a very un-healthy vegetarian if you don't watch what you eat.

4) Emotional... I've met people who are just simply revolted at the thought of eating an animal.

5) Practical... some people see that with the world's population being what it is, there's no way humans are going to be able to continue to eat as much meat as they are. They see that this lifestyle is unsustainable and that from a purely cost-benefit analysis, it makes more sense to be vegetarian.


So, as you can see, only the 4th reason might keep someone from raising rotifers and brine shrimp for food. These things are hardly "sentient." They don't feel pain or have much capacity to feel at all. And besides that, most vegetarians have at least some respect for the way nature works. Most of them aren't so dumb that they don't understand that some animals have to eat other animals to survive. It's just that humans aren't one of those animals.


And for all you sensative types out there, here's my disclaimer once again:
I DO NOT CONDEMN ANYONE FOR EATING MEAT NOR DO I CONSIDER MYSELF MORALLY SUPERIOR IN ANY WAY TO ANYONE AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON

[Gawain1974]

I was wondering if and when you were going to chime in, Sihaya.

[sihaya]

And you thought you could hold me back with a little French limerick! lol

[Vincerama2]

Ah, you are the "good vegetarian". I've known many people to be turned off by "preachy vegetarians". Like my friend who always says "That's disgusting" when I eat a hamburger, it's annoying and rude. He's a born-again-vegetarian and once had a contest with my brother to see who could eat EVERY burger in the McDonald's menu in ONE SITTING.

In anycase. My philosophy is that I want to live much like I MIGHT have if we were all free-range people. I eat a lot of meat though. However, I don't think I eat ONE COWS WORTH in a year (I may be wrong). I do agree that the MEAT INDUSTRY is pretty cruel and heartless and that it's fueled by OUR (ie; MY) demand for meat. BUT that never really stopped me from eating it. (Other than that, I'm a total tree hugger, I even tear out the plastic windows in envelopes so I can recycle them, and my food scraps go into my vermicomposter (worm composter)).

I believe that if we keep animals, it's just as cruel as the EVIL MEAT INDUSTRY if we don't take care of them. That means that my corals get meaty foods and I don't impost diets on them based on my finance, neither will I skimp on lighting and circulation to save money) So I have hatched BBS for my corals to eat, even though it sorta makes me cringe to see the little guys swimming around then GULP! Snagged by a Gorgonian! But that's what would happen to them "In The Wild", plus if I didn't hatch them...maybe they wouldn't have hatched anyway??

I'm glad to see that the general consensus (from this tiny sampling) is that you can't impose your beliefs unto the creatures under your care, or else you shouldn't be caring for them. That's one reason I never had pirhannas or fish that required "feeder guppies". Though I suppose it's a bit hypocritical of me to feel bad about guppies being eaten, but not brine shrimp, rotifers. And I have to admit that I don't even think twice about "nuking" an aiptasia with kalkwasser or siphoning out flatworms...(which is actually quite brutal, since I'm selectively caring for some creatures, and selectively killing others!)

Ugh, too much thinking...

V

[sihaya]

Dude, I'm much too self-loathing to be preachy... my very existance is an abomination. But you know, I've made peace with that...

[Vincerama2]

Originally posted by sihaya Dude, I'm much too self-loathing to be preachy... my very existance is an abomination. But you know, I've made peace with that...

I see you're going to be a lawyer ...




just saying ....





V

[CrystalAZ]

If you eat chicken you aren't a vegetarian. You just don't eat red meat. They need a name for that.

I am a vegetarian, but I do feed food made of meat to my dogs and I do feed mysis and such to my fish. As noted in this post, dogs, cats, and many of the fish we keep are primarily carnivores. Whereas people are omnivores and can live a healthy life without meat.

My reason for being vegetarian is that the thought of eating a dead animal just grosses me out. It has my whole life, and I finally realized I didn't have to eat meat... I've been veggie since 1996.

I am not preachy at all, and other people can eat whatever they want.

Crystal