You ask if it is "ethical". This isn't about ethic at all. It's not about humane at all. It's not about cruelty at all. This is nature. Everything that lives must receive nutrition at the expense of some other living thing be it a plant or an animal. That is simply the way things have gone since the beginning of life and will continue until (if ever) all living things perish from the face of the earth. If you are going to question the "ethics" or humane issues here you would have to first ask yourself, "Who do you think you are to keep these creatures trapped in a small glass enclosure away from their own natural surroundings and ecosystem?" I don't feel that way, but if you are going to pretend any of this is ethical in the first place you would have to ask yourself those things. In the begining there was a decree that man would have dominion over the fowl of the air, the creatures crawling on the land, and the creatures in the deep. I suppose that means we can decide if putting fish in an aquarium for our own pleasure is okay or not. I derive a great deal of peace watching fish swimming slowly in a large aquarium. Studies have even shown that fish in a large clean tank do bring a feeling of peace to people. If we are going to keep those peaceful creatures alive, then some other creature is going to have to be their food. Maybe you are questioning whether feeding them from a can of fish food is better. Well my friend, all of the food in that can was at one time another creature, probably a fish. So alive or dead and dehydrated, the fish in the aquarium are going to being eating another fish. If you are a follower of the theory of evolution, then surely you have to understand that the strongest creatue will live at the expense of the weaker animal. The stronger fish is going to evolve by doing so. I don't believe the theory of evolution, but I do agree that the strong survive. So there you have it. In a long convoluted way you can get around it to find an understanding that the smaller, weaker, and "defenseless" fish are going to be food one way or another whether it's in captivity or in the wild. It's okay. This is how life works.
