Hi!
In the Old World forum, a side discussion has been started on the effects of letting parents raise their fry, and how it effects their fry. I would like to start a discussion on this, but relating to all fish that will raise their own young.
So, have any of you done any experiments on this, have you noticed differences, what are your opinions, and do you think we, as breeders, have a duty to the hobby? I'm just interested to see what peoples opinions are.
I almost always parent raise. With Angelfish, typically what I do is I'll let them try a few times, and if they fail I'll pull one spawn and then let them try a bunch more times. This continues until one parent starts to raise the young. Then the parent that won't raise is removed after the spawn and the parent raiser is left to rear the fry. I've found that after the first generation, generally speaking the F1's of the original pair will parent raise within the first two or three tries. I've also found, in my Angelfish, that the fish are hardier, with less defects (and therefore no culling needed). Which, since I keep (but don't breed) my culls is good for me. The spawn yields are generally smaller, but more then compensated for by the stronger, healthier fish.
I believe that it is our duty to the hobby to provide the highest quality fish. As for the questions of "wild" behavior, all the fish I've breed have been domestic Angels or Discus, so its a fairly moot point with them. For the most part, they are so far removed from the wild that the behaviors have been lost. However, I believe that we should protect the wild behaviors. I've noticed behavior in my wild Discus that I have not, to date, seen in my captives.
Lets see what people think....
Amanda.
In the Old World forum, a side discussion has been started on the effects of letting parents raise their fry, and how it effects their fry. I would like to start a discussion on this, but relating to all fish that will raise their own young.
So, have any of you done any experiments on this, have you noticed differences, what are your opinions, and do you think we, as breeders, have a duty to the hobby? I'm just interested to see what peoples opinions are.
I almost always parent raise. With Angelfish, typically what I do is I'll let them try a few times, and if they fail I'll pull one spawn and then let them try a bunch more times. This continues until one parent starts to raise the young. Then the parent that won't raise is removed after the spawn and the parent raiser is left to rear the fry. I've found that after the first generation, generally speaking the F1's of the original pair will parent raise within the first two or three tries. I've also found, in my Angelfish, that the fish are hardier, with less defects (and therefore no culling needed). Which, since I keep (but don't breed) my culls is good for me. The spawn yields are generally smaller, but more then compensated for by the stronger, healthier fish.
I believe that it is our duty to the hobby to provide the highest quality fish. As for the questions of "wild" behavior, all the fish I've breed have been domestic Angels or Discus, so its a fairly moot point with them. For the most part, they are so far removed from the wild that the behaviors have been lost. However, I believe that we should protect the wild behaviors. I've noticed behavior in my wild Discus that I have not, to date, seen in my captives.
Lets see what people think....
Amanda.