HUKIT
Aquarium Advice Addict
Once included, they can be taught to understand the issues, and once they understand, they will empathize. If purists like you and I continue to be snobs, we will continue to drive away these folks and further endanger pure lines.
Then I would love to hear what your being nice argument has done for the cichlid world as a whole, people are going to do what they want whether I'm nice to them or not. It's not like they are going change their minds about creating hybrids for money or pleasure based on my tone, thats a silly argument.
First of all, the edition I have of Ad Koning's Book of Cichlids and All the Other Fish of Lake Malawi has pictures of adult hybrid Maylandia greshakei/M. zebra, which I remember off the top of my head, and probly others if I went through it. All natural hybrids are not removed immediately from the wild, some do survive, reproduce and alter the next generation. You want another example? I spent my undergrad years studying mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus)/ white tail deer (O. virginianus) hybrids in the southern Platte River basin of Wyoming.
I will agree as the Rift lakes is a whole seperate entity when it comes to hybridization, but on a aquarium forum discussing deer is way off topic...what's next the mule? That one didn't do you any credit.
As for the whole "Frankenfish" argument", you make my entire argument. That kind of self-righteous indignation, the air of superiority and condescension that springs from your statement, is why we have trouble getting through to people, why they turn a deaf ear. They don't hear the consequences of their actions, they hear a bunch of static, they hear they are being put down, they hear they are being belittled and considered as less than human, as inferior beings, they hear that they don't count. That attitude, being perceived as cichlid snobs, is more damaging than I ever realized Ya catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
Same as above comments, but again I'd love to hear how the flies with honey argument is helping though? Plus questioning my opinions and methods with academic logic trying to trigger a emotional response is rather insulting to say the least.
These abominations are already in the public's hands and we are not going to keep them out or remove them from there! What are you doing to change that ignorant public?
Publicly educating people on the damage this can and is causing to our hobby, maybe going about it in a different matter but the message is clearly the same. I am a member of ACA and GGCA and I'm extremeley involved in both clubs with efforts to preserve this great passion we call our hobby, so I'd pose the same question to you, what are YOU doing?
Believe it or not, HUKIT, I'm on yer side. I've just seen the light...
There simply is no light to be seen. So what if the ACA sanctions hybrids or not how will that improve the cause? It won't because someone will see a flowerhorn and say oh that is pretty, then here we go again. There is a reason why such organizations have discrimated against hybrids for such a long time, because the impact they are causing. Persevering through educational programs like most efforts to protect wildlife is the key, not simply saying well its happening whether we like it or not so lets embrace it.
I'd love to argue this all day but as I've said before this makes for a heavily one sided debate as there are near zero benefits for hybids and dozens against them. So discussing the tone of education is also pointless, there are many different techniques for educating people as I have mine and you have yours.
Last edited: