ADDRESSING MISCONCEPTIONS

For us in Metro Manila, the live fish most often given as food are the Green Molly, also known as the “kataba,” and the guppy or feeder goldfish. The claim that katabas and guppies come from dirty water is a misconception. If the water was dirty, then they would have died right there in their home waters. It may be dirty as far as humans are concerned, but not too dirty as far as fish are concerned. When I was a kid, I went to my grandmother’s bangus farm in Bulacan, and the ponds were teeming with katabas. This was the same water where the bangus were farmed. But no one ever assumed that the bangus come from dirty water. Another misconception that I have heard is to buy feeder goldfish rather than katabas because the former are “much cleaner.” Since feeder goldfish are farmed, it is assumed that these are disease and parasite free―yet this is not necessarily so. While it is true they are farmed, feeder goldfish are often raised in overstocked ponds, underfed, and caught in huge nets by the hundreds at a time. They are not given the careful treatment that the Orandas, Ranchus, and other varieties of fancy goldfish enjoy. I can’t ascertain that their condition is much better because when you buy feeder goldfish, by the time you reach home, half of them are dead or most of them are half dead. I also observed that earth pond-raised feeder goldfish are susceptible to anchor worms, fish lice, and gill flukes. So you might as well check if the feeder goldfish you will buy harbor these parasites.