centre piece fish

[Homedog98]

Yup. Rams, keyholes, angels, and apistos... The four Community cichlids.

 

[beepboop]

A swordtail will get to be 5 inches and they are a vibrant red. A nice big gold or blue gourami would look nice as well.

 

[severum mama]

Yup. Rams, keyholes, angels, and apistos... The four Community cichlids.

There are many more than that.

I'd suggest NOT buying balloon rams (you may also see them labeled "angel rams", even sillier than most common names). Balloon fish are created by selectively breeding short-bodied (deformed) fish to one another to exacerbate the deformity. Balloon fish often live shorter lifespans, have swimming issues, and are easily outcompeted for food by normal bodied fish. Regular GBRs (that you will find at a pet store) are fragile enough as it is without introducing deformity on top of that. If you want to try rams, look for a breeder... although I would worry about feeding them once your diamond tetras get some size on them.

 

[WendiDell]

There are many more than that.

I'd suggest NOT buying balloon rams (you may also see them labeled "angel rams", even sillier than most common names). Balloon fish are created by selectively breeding short-bodied (deformed) fish to one another to exacerbate the deformity. Balloon fish often live shorter lifespans, have swimming issues, and are easily outcompeted for food by normal bodied fish. Regular GBRs (that you will find at a pet store) are fragile enough as it is without introducing deformity on top of that. If you want to try rams, look for a breeder... although I would worry about feeding them once your diamond tetras get some size on them.

That's horrific, is that even legal? It most certainly isn't ethical.
It's worse than tattooing and that isn't legal, although people still do it all the time.
Exotic fish need to be bred to be stronger not weaker and deformed. As responsible aquarists we need to not buy any fish that are bred like that. If there is no demand, they won't need to supply.

 

[tornadonick]

There are many more than that.

I'd suggest NOT buying balloon rams (you may also see them labeled "angel rams", even sillier than most common names). Balloon fish are created by selectively breeding short-bodied (deformed) fish to one another to exacerbate the deformity. Balloon fish often live shorter lifespans, have swimming issues, and are easily outcompeted for food by normal bodied fish. Regular GBRs (that you will find at a pet store) are fragile enough as it is without introducing deformity on top of that. If you want to try rams, look for a breeder... although I would worry about feeding them once your diamond tetras get some size on them.

it is sad but my balloon molly is the crasiest toughest molly you will ever see. And it is the same way with dogs, I love bull dogs but...

 

[MABJ]

I know it wouldn't be a huge centerpiece but I honestly love male bettas and think they're the most beautiful and peaceful fish!

 

[Josh]

That's horrific, is that even legal? It most certainly isn't ethical.
It's worse than tattooing and that isn't legal, although people still do it all the time.
Exotic fish need to be bred to be stronger not weaker and deformed. As responsible aquarists we need to not buy any fish that are bred like that. If there is no demand, they won't need to supply.

I know some people who would say line breeding at all is unethical as well as selective breeding at all for certain aesthetic characteristics. Comes down to where you draw the line. There is no magical ethics line that says what is wrong and what isn't.

Personally I feel dying and tattoo'ing are quite a bit worse than selective breeding. Nothings happening here that wouldn't have a possibility of happening in the wild. But I somehow doubt there are naturally occurring fish tattoos.

Are you ok with selective breeding for certain traits with dogs? How about Blood Parrots? Horses? There are a LOT of animals that are selectively bred for certain attributes that aren't very favorable to the animal.

Meh, just my two cents.

 

[Forester]

Horrible that they do that.

 

[WendiDell]

I know some people who would say line breeding at all is unethical as well as selective breeding at all for certain aesthetic characteristics. Comes down to where you draw the line. There is no magical ethics line that says what is wrong and what isn't.

Personally I feel dying and tattooing are quite a bit worse than selective breeding. Nothings happening here that wouldn't have a possibility of happening in the wild. But I somehow doubt there are naturally occurring fish tattoos.

Are you OK with selective breeding for certain traits with dogs? How about Blood Parrots? Horses? There are a LOT of animals that are selectively bred for certain attributes that aren't very favorable to the animal.


Meh, just my two cents.

I feel that if the selective breeding is to improve the health and well being of an animal, or to prevent the extinction of a species, it's a worthy endeavor.
It's not the same thing as exacerbating a deformity for purely aesthetic reasons. That is what I find as deplorable as tattooing.
You can try and justify this type of selective breeding by claiming that these deformities may naturally occur in nature. But in nature those with that kind of deformity couldn't survive.
I also think that selective breeding in dogs has caused to many unnecessary health issues. Also an unfortunate side effect of breeding for aesthetics is the loss of a the breeds better traits, such as intelligence. And created some unpleasant traits, such as hyperactivity and emotional instabilities.
No matter what type of animal, breeding purely for the sake of appearance, is wrong. It really is an easy line to see, improving the animals life, good. Making a generally unhealthy deformity a dominant trait, not good.
Just my 2 sense worth.

 

[jenatron]

I agree 100% Wendi.

 

[Trout11B]

It's not the same thing as exacerbating a deformity for purely aesthetic reasons. That is what I find as deplorable as tattooing.

Are you talking about people getting a tattoo, or is there such a thing as fish tattooing? I know it sounds like a silly question, but I'm curious to know.

Sorry to keep the off topicness going in this thread. Personally I'd either get a pair of rams or an angel or two. I don't know if two angels would work if they paired,I'd think they would but I don't know. I just like the look of them.

 

[WendiDell]

I agree 100% Wendi.

Thank you jenatron,
Maybe it was how I was raised. But, I don't have a problem seeing the line between right and wrong.
I was raised in a house were lying was survival, Denial was the household word to live by. The children were play things to be seen and not heard.
So yes, maybe I do have a heightened sense of right and wrong
If what you do harms another living creature, and isn't in self defense, it's wrong.
If what your doing is for the betterment of others. it's not wrong.
I do not in any way believe in animal testing. But if you plant a bomb in the building where they do the testing and it kills the scientists and technicians, that's very wrong.
But if you sneak in late at night, empty the cages and find safe homes for all the test subjects, that's not wrong. It's not legal, but it's not wrong.
There are a lot of things in this world that are legal, but they are definitely wrong. And the opposite is also true. There are things that are illegal, and not wrong
The law has little to do with right or wrong.

 

[jenatron]

Wendi it turns out we're like two peas in a pod. Those words could have come out of my mouth!
And Trout11B, I think she was referring to fish tattooing.

 

[WendiDell]

Are you talking about people getting a tattoo, or is there such a thing as fish tattooing? I know it sounds like a silly question, but I'm curious to know.

No we not talking about people getting tattoo's. I like tattoo's on people. Some of them are incredibly artistic.
But yes there are some people that think it's cool to tattoo their fish. They also inject die under the fishes scales to give them more intense coloring.



Sorry to keep the off topic-ness going in this thread. Personally I'd either get a pair of rams or an angel or two. I don't know if two angels would work if they paired,I'd think they would but I don't know. I just like the look of them.

I love Angels too. I'm in the process of setting up an Angel tank, with 2 Platinum Veil Angels and 2 Black&Blue Pinoy Angels. With a few Zebra Danio and some Gold Veil tail Widow Tetras. And if there is enough room I'm getting a few Long Fin Leopard Danio.

In China where these fish are from, they are considered good luck for their owner. But this is a clear picture of many tattoo'd fish. In this situation, it's a cultural difference. It's still a horrible thing to do.

 

[Homedog98]

:'( that's horrible!

 

[RamCichlidLover]

Three things, 1 that is a beautiful German Blue Ram.
Next is about your phrase " Bad things happen over night and good things take time". is so true. I like it a lot. I hope you don't mind if I use it.
Last, I also love Cichlids and Rams. But aren't Rams a type of Cichlid?

thanks and yes they are a south american cichlid

 

[jenatron]

:'( that's horrible!

It gets worse. The ones I've seen over here have peace signs and hearts. Makes me want to punch somebody.

 

[WendiDell]

Wendi it turns out we're like two peas in a pod. Those words could have come out of my mouth!
And Trout11B, I think she was referring to fish tattooing.

At first she thought we were talking about tattoos on people. She had never heard of fish being tattooed. So I posted a picture of several tattooed fish. I hate it but the more aware people are about the abuse, the easier it is to stop the abuse.
There aren't many laws to protect the well being of fish, unless they happen to be endangered. Otherwise people can do anything they want to them.
But it really wasn't that long ago that dog fights were legal, so there is hope.

 

[mfdrookie516]

This thread has gone horribly off topic. Back to the subject at hand (and lets try to keep it that way)...

 

[WendiDell]

It gets worse. The ones I've seen over here have peace signs and hearts. Makes me want to punch somebody.

Ya, I've seen those too. The ones with the Chinese letters were the first ones I found real quick online. I didn't want to look at a bunch of them.
Awareness is the first step toward change.
I agree with the anger but not the action. Punching somebody won't help the tattooed fish. Most likely it will just hurt your knuckles.