I HATE to Cull Fish!! What would you do?

[big train]

I cull fish reguarly and not because of deformities either i grow out cichlid fry in ponds during the summer months.I always look for the smallest and weakest of the brood and the deformed but i have only had a few come september i cull them out and feed them back to their parents.I do this because i only want the better specimums in the trade and i figure that in the wild these weaker fish would be the first to be predatorised anyway.

 

[balton777]

I know it's quite common but I still hate doing it.

 

[croc 2-3]

In my humble opinion just don't breed it. If it is growing & defending itself like other cichlids then find someone who might take it. If it does slow down its' tankmates will cull it for you.

 

[balton777]

In my humble opinion just don't breed it. If it is growing & defending itself like other cichlids then find someone who might take it. If it does slow down its' tankmates will cull it for you.

Too late

 

[HarpoGarza]

I've luckily only been faced with this decision once. I bought a pair of JD's when I was first getting back into the hobby and it became obvious within 6 months that one of them wasn't growing at all. I don't growing slower, this fish was the exact same size as it was the day I brought it home. Soon I had to move him to his own tank for safety concerns. After a while I determined that he was totally healthy and that he must somehow be a dwarf or something. I ended up giving him to my nephew for Christmas one year and he kept him for over 5 years. When he died "Little Jack" was 6 years old and all of 2 1/2". If I had noticed any sort of deformity or something that would prevent him from eating or swimming I would've culled him without a second thought. But that wasn't the case. He was an awesome little dude who just never grew.