Question for the "Master" breeders

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JDogg

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
Messages
2,294
Location
Rapid City, SD
ok although i am not at this very moment ready to breed any fish, (i am however trying to get my ACFs to breed :evil: ) i have a question...

when you pick out breeding stock how important is it to you to try and get unrelated mates?

i have breed Convicts in my classroom (they are VERY easy if you have not heard :lol: ) i picked up the pair on sale at petco. they were most likely i would think brother and sister, this made them an interesting addition to my classroom. they happened to have a batch of fry just as i was starting my genetics unit (sometimes fish do make life easier) so i did a whole observational lab around the outcome of the offspring. we discover (i'm sure that some of you already knew this) that in convicts, pink is a recessive gene, and that both my parent fish (who were both striped) were heterozygous...

anyway i am getting away from my point... that if i go into a LFS or a chain pet store and pick up a pair, they will probably be siblings...

if i was a serious breeder i would want to make the fry i am creating as genetically sound and diverse as possible...so i think unless i was selecting for some desired recessive trait, i would want to keep inbreeding to a minimum...

so the questions...
1. to what length, if any, do you go to get unrelated stock?
2. how do you acquire your breeding stock? LFS, other breeders?
3. when matching up potential mates do you actively try to select for traits or do you just let nature take its course (survival of the fittest or survival of the "most appealing to you")?
4. how much of a concern is inbreeding to you?
 
Depends on what you plan to do with the fry, sell them as pets, to stores, to breeders, show them. When I start showing you bet I'll be going to great lengths to pick the best traits from multiple suppliers, but with my AA (pet quality) fish I could care less about inbreeding. I haven't seen it affect the fish yet.
 
I don't know that I qualify as a master breeder but I wouldn't concern myself with it. The effects of inbreeding usually turn up as deformities and the fry will seldom grow to maturity. If and when that should occur I would simply split the pair.
 
i guess maybe i think of preserving genetic diversity too much... :?
that is maybe more of a conservationist point of view, i guess unless you are breeding to preserve a species that is endangered in the wild, maintaining genetic diversity is not much of a concern....

to use dogs as an analogy: I have to say i have always been more of a "mutt" kind of guy though, for the most part "pure breed" breeds do not appeal to me :)
 
u said "masterbreeder", lol, j/k. yeah pure always seem to be spoiled even before they are found homes!
 
JDogg said:
1. to what length, if any, do you go to get unrelated stock?

I go quite far...most breeders do not.

2. how do you acquire your breeding stock? LFS, other breeders?

Both methods.

3. when matching up potential mates do you actively try to select for traits or do you just let nature take its course (survival of the fittest or survival of the "most appealing to you")?

Depends on the fish, but I often select for traits, although the ones I select for mostly are wild-type traits, not captive-produced ones.

4. how much of a concern is inbreeding to you?

Very much a concern.
 
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