I personally have no moral issue with buying wild caught fish as long as they are responsibly harvested. I guess it really depends on the species, its environment and its scarcity. For example, I saw a display at the Shedd Aquarium about neon tetras which were obtained through a development program which balanced the economic needs of the local people and the ability of the tetra to maintain its population.
Recently I purchased 6 wild caught eastern red spotted newts. This species has not been available as captive bred for some time. They are plentiful in my state but legally protected in others. The dealer I got them kept back all of the females for serious hobbyists who wanted to restart breeding of the species. As a novice, I was allowed to buy some surplus males. That seemed responsible enough to me.
Pragmatically, I suppose tank bred fish are less likely to have parasites and may be easier to acclimate to an aquarium existence. Someone with more experience can speak about this issue.
Recently I purchased 6 wild caught eastern red spotted newts. This species has not been available as captive bred for some time. They are plentiful in my state but legally protected in others. The dealer I got them kept back all of the females for serious hobbyists who wanted to restart breeding of the species. As a novice, I was allowed to buy some surplus males. That seemed responsible enough to me.
Pragmatically, I suppose tank bred fish are less likely to have parasites and may be easier to acclimate to an aquarium existence. Someone with more experience can speak about this issue.
), and I would go with wild caught just to keep the gene pool healthy when trying to get my fish to spawn.