So I've always wonder when we see a bunch of ciclids at petsmart or petco that are the same species but are also around the same size, did these fish came from the same parents? Alot of times, I've buy these fish in pairs or what have you, and they end up mating. Am I causing some unnatural abomination? Hope not.
Are batches of same size fish in petstores related?
- Thread starter Ranchu85
- Start date
Most likely they are related. Coming from the same supplier. If brother and sister spawn, its just keeping the same blood line. Not adding any new stuff.
However if you want to avoid this, try and buying from different shops. This way you'll reduce your chances of getting fish from the same parents.
However if you want to avoid this, try and buying from different shops. This way you'll reduce your chances of getting fish from the same parents.
There are not enough mass supplier in each area to really ensure that they are not related. I find breeders to help with this... A lot time they have wild caught or F1s.... This way you can be a little more sure that they are not related...
I can't remember where, but on the net relating to betta breeding it said that brother/sister works well until the 6th generation because you are reinforcing the "good stuff" and not adding another strain's "bad stuff". Don't know what happens at gen7. It said that fish genetics is not human genetics and the same rules do not apply. Food for thought.
Fish can generally inbreed without problems for a few generations, this is also one natural way that speciation occurs. The problem with inbreeding, not the ewww-it's his sister one, is that many organisms carry a certain number of detrimental or lethal genes that are recessive and more or less unique to a bloodline. So, naturally it's good to mix it up so these detrimental genes don't pop up. The same is true for some favorable traits, too, so it's a two way street. This is where the aesthetic traits like albinism, long fins, you name it, come up. They persist thanks to inbreeding.
One thing we do with fish all too often is use human cultural standards on them. Inbreeding happens all the time in nature and it's not nasty or illegal or anything like that.
One thing we do with fish all too often is use human cultural standards on them. Inbreeding happens all the time in nature and it's not nasty or illegal or anything like that.
Well, the fish could very well be related, but fish don't naturally breed with regard to whether they're related, so no. Most animals don't.
In purebred dogs, dogs that have the same lineage are sometimes bred together to preserve or bring out a trait. It's called line breeding. This goes for other domesticated animals also.
Animals breeding with relations isn't the same as humans. With humans it's often a social/cultural thing anyway, since in some cultures or regions, especially those where populations aren't very large, it's common for people that are related to marry.
If any species breeds with a relative there is a chance that a bad recessive trait can come out, which is why it's not good to indiscriminately breed related animals together. An unnatural abomination though? Hardly, lol. That depends on your own perspective. If you're bothered by fish that are related spawning then you'll have to buy from breeders that know their fishes lines to make sure you're not breeding related fish together.