gingerbeer Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 (edited) Poll... please give reasons below for your answer Edited December 31, 2014 by gingerbeer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lictoga Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 Americans can produce 100s of fry every few weeks, your mad not to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 In general I agree with culling of weak, deformed or otherwise unhealthy fish. However I disagree with culling fish for having the colour of their fins not to their keepers taste. At the end of the day we should choose the best coloured fish to breed as it happens in nature too but I do not think a healthy fish should be culled for weaker colour given that you don't use him as a breeder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 Each to their own. It is crucial for breeding quality fish and if you are a reputable seller this is how you keep your clients coming back. On the other side of the spectrum there is the argument that the fish should still be given a chance to live and just not bred. Depends on your situation. ... Some people choose not to eat meat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zrydes Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 I will only kill a fish if it is the best option for the fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th3f0rg0t3n Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 natures selection but this time breeder plays god, every home breeder should keep a token mangrove jack just for this purpose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danfishy84 Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 Culling is necessary for deformed or unhealthy fish, you only risk illness in the rest otherwise. But I don't believe killing outright for lack of colour/markings etc, is the way to go, I say feed the circle of life, and put them in with some barra. If I had a couple of nice quality looking fish that threw a bad strain, is anyone going to put there hands up and take them (no matter the QTY) off my hands F.O.C with guarantee to never breed them and reduce quality for the hobby? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenswimmers Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 (edited) Mother nature isn't looking after them now ...we are so we have to play natural selection advocate as well....we can enhance characteristics with our own "natural selection" and I think its best to always look at improving quality if breeding.. Edited December 31, 2014 by goldenswimmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgw Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 If good quality cost $10 and average cost $5, the majority will buy the average. Average cross with average generally won't produce quality. Therefore, keeping the average (then possibly selling them accidentally to someone with intentions of breeding) will only cause a decline in quality. Cull anything but the best IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 ^^ this is so true. put up some ****ty looking $1 electric yellows on gumtree and see how quickly they will go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raycam01_au Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 i used to cull for the hell of it, eeeeni meeeeeni miiiiinnnnnni mooooooooooooooooooooooooooo splat on the floor or to bigger fish, bred lots culled ****loads upon ****loads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Tschumy Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 I cull any obvious deformities. It was hard at first, but just something that responsible breeders have to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hareysfish Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 I agree with some need to be either culled or put in a mutant tank ( my mums tank or turtle food ), but what gives me the ****s is people sending fish interstate ( other wise , site unseen) that aren't even what there supposed to be, you'd think that they would get the best ( at least what there supposed to be anyway) to keep them coming back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Junkie Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 Just leave a whole spawn of Americans in the same tank They will cull themselves same as nature FJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netdave Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 Culling of obvious deformities is important Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daydream Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 Problem being most fish/shrimp have large spawns and in the aquaria you have a high survival rate .In nature this rate would be much smaller and only the strong would survive and breed.Just because you can breed and raise 1000 fry does note mean you should.If you raise and sell everything you breed in large numbers the quality will reduce quite quick as others will breed and sell and so on and so on .With the quality getting worse with each generation.This has happened to many of our American cichlids as well as red and yellow cherry shrimp as the larger and quicker the spawning cycle the quicker the deteriation of quality.Once poor quality is sold its then breed and so on and so on.Also a lot people breed not for quality but for money and the larger the spawn the more you make to hell with the quality I wont get rich.News flash people you don't get rich in this hobby but you can do ok.Have seen many a hobiest come into the hobby with the idea of hitting it rich to leave as quickly as they came.Now only a few that have stayed breeding for 20 or so years and none of them are rich but have great quality fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lictoga Posted December 31, 2014 Report Share Posted December 31, 2014 Yep, sometimes I'll only raise 10 fish to size, sometimes none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellows Posted January 1, 2015 Report Share Posted January 1, 2015 Quality over Quanity aren't there enough people selling or trying to sell hybrids now the best we can do is ensure we keep the quality going as we can't just go down to the creek and catch more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve6610 Posted January 1, 2015 Report Share Posted January 1, 2015 i cull anything that is deformed, i also cull anything that i think is a hybrid, i have a great culling machine, we call her misty, i'm a bit divided on culling for colour, what somebody thinks is average another person will love, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishtraderlau Posted January 2, 2015 Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 My opinion: I'll only cull a fish of mine if it needs doing, if I don't have another fish that would have it for a meal. I agree that it is essential to remove fish from breeding colonies that aren't good enough, but more often than not, those individuals go well in a community or display tank. To produce consistent and quality fish, the opposite sexes of the fish need to be sourced from different blood lines (unless I reckon for F1's or F2's), and keeping them happy and well fed helps as well. There are a lot of fish around these days showing a lot of signs of inbreeding, with deformed spines, or jaws, and I'm afraid they are only good for Jaguar cichlid (or other such voracious eater) food. Andrew - Fishtraderlau in Blackwater... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbeer Posted January 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2015 There is in my opinion certainly a need to be willing to cull, however, sometimes the cause of deformities is worth pursuing as it may be one of the parents, or the water, or the feeding routines. There is a lot of things it can be. To help identify which of these I have found it useful to talk to members here, folks at auctions, and the folks at the fish clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obeice Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 natures selection but this time breeder plays god, every home breeder should keep a token mangrove jack just for this purpose Or p-bass haha!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigPete86 Posted January 7, 2015 Report Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) Culling is a necessity if you're breeding fish, the softer ppl who can't cull should then not breed or have 1000+ tanks to keep their poor quality fish out of circulation. Doesn't matter if you sell as "display" fish, buyers WILL breed with them & on sell more crap fish, then we have no nice quality fish left in Aus. No more imports, no more new blood to refresh inbred species, all of a sudden we've got bland looking grey/brown fish with bent spines, messed up fins, balloon bodies...unless, we the breeders are responsible with what we sell. Non cullers just research what convicts used to look like in the 80s-early 90s or try to find a perfect Ellioti in Aus. You want that to happen to all international fish in Australia? I cull in the same way that nature would, don't fit in, become food. Bad or misshapen bars, colours or patterns, you standout & become a target in nature so therefore become food, not a breeder. Deformed fins or body, definitely food. BTW noob breeders out there: IF YOU'RE GETTING MORE THAN A COUPLE DEFORMITIES PER BROOD, GET SOME NEW BLOOD, IF THEY'RE GROWING INTO DEFORMITY, CLEAN TANKS & GET NITRATES BELOW 40ppm (just a point I've never seen brought up before & seemed to fit with this rant, I know not possible with all sp.). Look, killing fish you've bred sucks no matter which way you look at it but it is necessary to keep the hobby going. You're not doing anything that Mother Nature wouldn't do herself & if you don't have a large hungry finned friend then find someone close who does & feed your culls to them. My mates' ray almost jumping out of his tank when he sees me with a bucket certainly takes the edge off culling my fry Edited January 7, 2015 by BigPete86 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
