Hybrids?
- Thread starter Dr. Deep
- Start date
I'm for hybrids. My favorite is flowerhorns. But anything that looks cool being cross I like. I have a male 8 inch texasXjag, female 7 inch Gus red spotXred Texas, a breeding pair of Cuban male kkp female with frys, a couple flowerhorns males and female from 5 to 12 inch. And a pair of male carpintis female kkp.
I'm for it. My favorite hybrid is my only hybrid hehe. It's a cross between a ripsaw catfish and tiger shovelnose catfish that I got from
Tom Maguire
. Actually thanks for posting this thread, it reminded me that I have to do a post about it.
Tom Maguire
. Actually thanks for posting this thread, it reminded me that I have to do a post about it.
Could you post some pics as that sounds very interestingI'm for it. My favorite hybrid is my only hybrid hehe. It's a cross between a ripsaw catfish and tiger shovelnose catfish that I got from
I don't like the trend but have to say it depends. If a serious hobbyist is working on something specific I am ok with it. There are admittedly some pretty cool flowerhorns out there. The troubling part is when fly by night people have random hybridizations then distribute the results. I have put off buying certain species because I`m not sure of what I`m getting. The gene pool is muddied (I`m thinking cichlids here). Because of where I live if I want anything out of the ordinary I have to order from someone I trust. When I buy a Carpintis or Trimac that is what I want, not some fishy mutt!
In any hybrid situation only (at most 10%) of a spawn will be the kind of individuals that should be kept. A large % will look like the mother, another % will look like the father, another % deformed. All of the latter 3 should be culled, and not passed off as something they are not, which is often the case, and it to me is filling LFSs and the hobby with substandard, non-identifiable mutts.
I would not take a hybrid (FH or not) if given to me free, so as stated above, most LFSs now lose my business, and others like me, because the only place I can get what I want, is a specialized, trusted breeder/importer.
My other problem with random hybridization, is because it is based on looks (color, fins, Kok) it does not take into account the ruining of certain health factors developed over millennia by natural selection.
Some species from cooler waters, are resistant to certain bacteria, and the same goes for arm water species.
Certain abilities to process certain foods are not taken into account, with random hybridization, leading to epidemic disease occurrences like what has happened with acute duck lips (Flower Horn disease( columnaris)) visually unheard of in many cichlids, until the development of the FH.
Human intervention for looks is often very short sited beyond the obvious, and its consequences can be very detrimental.
You have only to look at mass crop failures unless massive pesticides are required, when certain natural gene combinations are overlooked.
Same over antibiotic use needed to produce FHs.
As a former microbiologist I find the random combining of cichlids, a recipe for cichlid health degradation.
I would not take a hybrid (FH or not) if given to me free, so as stated above, most LFSs now lose my business, and others like me, because the only place I can get what I want, is a specialized, trusted breeder/importer.
My other problem with random hybridization, is because it is based on looks (color, fins, Kok) it does not take into account the ruining of certain health factors developed over millennia by natural selection.
Some species from cooler waters, are resistant to certain bacteria, and the same goes for arm water species.
Certain abilities to process certain foods are not taken into account, with random hybridization, leading to epidemic disease occurrences like what has happened with acute duck lips (Flower Horn disease( columnaris)) visually unheard of in many cichlids, until the development of the FH.
Human intervention for looks is often very short sited beyond the obvious, and its consequences can be very detrimental.
You have only to look at mass crop failures unless massive pesticides are required, when certain natural gene combinations are overlooked.
Same over antibiotic use needed to produce FHs.
As a former microbiologist I find the random combining of cichlids, a recipe for cichlid health degradation.
If people kept track of every hybrid even when sold, never released, and everybody knew exactly what they were getting.
To those who are against it, how would feel if the above situation happened? I feel that the above situations would solve most problems.
It's impossible realistically but let's just say it was possible.
To those who are against it, how would feel if the above situation happened? I feel that the above situations would solve most problems.
It's impossible realistically but let's just say it was possible.