Unpopular? Yeah, I know...but, being a grouchy old man...I don't care!
I detest these things. The absolute worst of them are the pathetic specimens like parrots, short-bodies, "over-kokked" flowerhorns...really, anything that has been so genetically mutilated that it can't even function as a fish anymore. When you purposely develop an animal that can't perform the basic functions of life without difficulty, then I do think you've gone too far. When you take fish that should live ten or more years, and mix them up to create something that dies in a couple or three years, you've gone too far. And then when the fish dies, and the distraught owner is weeping and wailing and wringing his/her hands, asking "Why???"...the typical answer is "Well, they don't live very long, because they're all screwed up". We are supposed to be animal lovers....so, why are we screwing them up???
Obviously, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so I won't speak to the visual appeal of hybrids of this sort; I find them literally repulsive, but obviously there are others who feel differently.
Do hybrids occur in nature? Yes, and like most experimental designs, they fail miserably and disappear. They can't compete; natural selection is quick and brutal. The few that survive and breed do so because their mixed parentage affords them some type of advantage over their competitors. But man-made hybrids don't face natural selection; instead, they are coddled and nurtured in an effort to string out their existence, despite their lack of competitive advantage. It's unnatural selection, or perhaps might better be termed survival of the weirdest.
To me, the appeal of aquariums is the chance to watch nature, or at least a reasonable approximation of it. Watching some weird-ass fish bumbling around in an empty aquarium because it'll hurt itself on any decor? Yeah...sounds great...
Species should be kept distinct; the constant "let's cross this one with that one; might be cool!" mentality is already making it difficult to even find true pure specimens. It's all well and good to say "Oh, but we would never allow these crosses to get back into the hobby!" What a load of crap! For every devoted and ethical hobbyist that will carefully keep these mutts from diluting pure lines, there are likely a dozen or more who will sell and/or give them away at the drop of a hat.
If you have a thousand one-gallon cans of paint, in every colour of the rainbow...but you then start mixing this one with that one, and then adding some of this other one, just to mix them up and see what happens....you end up with 1000gallons of grey paint. And...at that point, there ain't no going back.
The flaming will soon follow; I know this is just my opinion...but, look at the thread title; that's what was requested.
I detest these things. The absolute worst of them are the pathetic specimens like parrots, short-bodies, "over-kokked" flowerhorns...really, anything that has been so genetically mutilated that it can't even function as a fish anymore. When you purposely develop an animal that can't perform the basic functions of life without difficulty, then I do think you've gone too far. When you take fish that should live ten or more years, and mix them up to create something that dies in a couple or three years, you've gone too far. And then when the fish dies, and the distraught owner is weeping and wailing and wringing his/her hands, asking "Why???"...the typical answer is "Well, they don't live very long, because they're all screwed up". We are supposed to be animal lovers....so, why are we screwing them up???
Obviously, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so I won't speak to the visual appeal of hybrids of this sort; I find them literally repulsive, but obviously there are others who feel differently.
Do hybrids occur in nature? Yes, and like most experimental designs, they fail miserably and disappear. They can't compete; natural selection is quick and brutal. The few that survive and breed do so because their mixed parentage affords them some type of advantage over their competitors. But man-made hybrids don't face natural selection; instead, they are coddled and nurtured in an effort to string out their existence, despite their lack of competitive advantage. It's unnatural selection, or perhaps might better be termed survival of the weirdest.
To me, the appeal of aquariums is the chance to watch nature, or at least a reasonable approximation of it. Watching some weird-ass fish bumbling around in an empty aquarium because it'll hurt itself on any decor? Yeah...sounds great...
Species should be kept distinct; the constant "let's cross this one with that one; might be cool!" mentality is already making it difficult to even find true pure specimens. It's all well and good to say "Oh, but we would never allow these crosses to get back into the hobby!" What a load of crap! For every devoted and ethical hobbyist that will carefully keep these mutts from diluting pure lines, there are likely a dozen or more who will sell and/or give them away at the drop of a hat.
If you have a thousand one-gallon cans of paint, in every colour of the rainbow...but you then start mixing this one with that one, and then adding some of this other one, just to mix them up and see what happens....you end up with 1000gallons of grey paint. And...at that point, there ain't no going back.
The flaming will soon follow; I know this is just my opinion...but, look at the thread title; that's what was requested.
