Buying From Same Store

[fshinggrl]

So, if you are getting a pair (m/f) of cichlids, do you buy them from different stores so that you don't get a possible brother/sister?

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Most people will not bother, unless you are looking for some particulary fancy pairings/offspring. An unrelated pair should be more genetically diverse, but you would need a wild pair to have any real hope of getting a really diverse pair.

Bear in mine that a lot of the local shops will use the same suppliers anyway. So short of asking each shop who they all get stock from, you will probably end up with a related pair anyway!

So, in short, it is desirable, but not required.

 

[Rafael Dilone]

Well i get my fishes mostly from 1 primary store. But when i am looking into breeding i get the pairs from about 3 different stores. 3 LFS i know of in NYC breed fishes in their own shop and they are willing to sell me their fry or the juveniles they have. I always recommend people join their local aquarium society. You get so much exposure there meeting tons of breeders and even lfs owners. Here in nyc such places like New World, Pacific, Wins tropic all know each other and even visit one another. Once you have really establishes a relationship with your lfs you will find it that they will always try and give you the best possible service.

Most people will not bother, unless you are looking for some particulary fancy pairings/offspring. An unrelated pair should be more genetically diverse, but you would need a wild pair to have any real hope of getting a really diverse pair.

Bear in mine that a lot of the local shops will use the same suppliers anyway. So short of asking each shop who they all get stock from, you will probably end up with a related pair anyway!

So, in short, it is desirable, but not required.

Most of the good quality fish stores get them from the same place. But once you speak with them you will see that even within the same region they receive their fishes from separate breeders. Some fish farms have several breeders in the same location so you know that its not all the same related fish. But you really must talk it out with all the owners. It will take a lot of work but if you do get a related pair inbreeding is not so bad. You get more desired colors in their appearance. But inbreeding after a certain point is bad so i suggest introducing a new fish into the gene pool at some point.

 

[jonnyf84]

depends on the species, most cichlids seen in lfs' are trade fish, captive bred and are likely to be related in some way though unlikely to be immediate siblings, in this case breeding them would produce little increase in quality or diversity unless hybridizing 2 different species which is generally frowned upon. If you want the benefits of breeding buy from private breeders or cichlid specialists.