JDogg
Aquarium Advice Addict
ok although i am not at this very moment ready to breed any fish, (i am however trying to get my ACFs to breed ) 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 ) 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?
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 ) 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?