Culling?

[guppymonkey]

I have been trying to do a guppy breeding project for about three months now. My eventual goal is to get albino guppies because I think they might be cool looking and have never seen them before. But I only have a few tanks which means I can't have hundreds of guppies in tanks all over the place like professional breeders do. Do you think its wrong to cull the fish? Killing the worst looking fish and only saving a few babies that have the best look to them?

 

[A.K.A Zak]

i would do the same thing, guppies only live for about 3 months so it's like putting them out of their missery of uglyness, lol. if you do that take out the really slow ones too because those ones have some #### wrong wit' them, good luck.

 

[aquarius]

what do you mean guppies live for three months? i kept feeder guppies for three years and during that time only 2 died out of a few dozen

 

[aquarius]

and i do think it's wrong to kill fish for no reason. you could at least give them to your lfs

 

[A.K.A Zak]

the reason why your guppies lived for 3 years is probley just because those are their off sping, guppie disapear by filter or deat and other guppies eat them when dead, guppies give birth throught their hole lifes and won't stopp tell dead. some guppies can live about 5 months, and i'm talkin' bout feeders.

 

[MAM]

don't kill them. they may not be what YOU want, but theres someone out there who would probably buy them, even if as just feeders. if your lfs won't take them, offer them to friends and neighbors (or you could get an oscar and use them as live food........ )

 

[aquarius]

well since i didn't separate the fry, most of them got eaten anyway. and i do know that quite a few guppies lived for the entire time i had them

 

[guppymonkey]

the reason why your guppies lived for 3 years is probley just because those are their off sping, guppie disapear by filter or deat and other guppies eat them when dead, guppies give birth throught their hole lifes and won't stopp tell dead. some guppies can live about 5 months, and i'm talkin' bout feeders.

This is wrong. Guppies live for three years, maybe a little longer if they are in very good health. Guppies are not annual fish like Killiefish, whose environment disappears due to evaporation and so they die.

I tried finding places to take some of my guppies and no store in my area would take them. They all said they got their fish from suppliers, which I am assuming is an exclusive contract. I don't know anyone in my area that wants them except as feeder fish and I would rather euthanize them than have then devoured. At least I can do it less painfully.

 

[aquarius]

well look at it this way, if you use them as live food, at least they'll be serving some purpose, otherwise you'll be killing them for nothing

 

[Sondan]

I have to agree with aquarius. I would rather have my body be used to grow some pretty bed of roses as compared to just being stuck in some piece of ground that no one cares about. Secondly it is natures way.... I mean just killing them to kill them to me is much worse then using them to help something else live is it I kind of rank it this way:
1. Local Pet stores
2. Pet food
3. Killing
I would recommend finding someone who has an Oscar or something that can USE the fish instead of just wasting them. But this is just my opinion.
Signed,
Sondan

 

[BettaBoyz]

i'd say don't cull, bring them to a good LPS and tell them these are healthy, home-bred fish with very good genes. unless they offer to pay for them don't even ask, these fish are better of being sold to people then being killed.

and Zak, all livebearers lead shorter lives, but Guppies can live three years with good health! it's not just their fry, if you keep a Snakeskin male and a half-Black female you'll be able to tell fry from parent, and the parents will live long.

 

[guppymonkey]

I don't like the idea of feeding fish to other fish. Its pretty much just used so that owners can get a kick out of watching their fish devour another fish. And it has to be painful for the prey fish. I would much rather kill my fish quickly and hopefully less painfully.

I tried giving fish away to the pet store and they refused to take them. All of the pet stores in my area refused them. Even though guppies are one of the most popular fish species.

 

[Sondan]

Well Guppy what do you suggest we feed our bigger fish? I mean it is better to kill a fish and throw him in the trash then let another fish eat him? As far as I know and have seen when a fish is eaten it is killed pretty quickly. Except for chopping them up I don't see a much quicker way of death?
Signed,
Sondan

 

[guppymonkey]

Well Guppy what do you suggest we feed our bigger fish? I mean it is better to kill a fish and throw him in the trash then let another fish eat him? As far as I know and have seen when a fish is eaten it is killed pretty quickly. Except for chopping them up I don't see a much quicker way of death?
Signed,
Sondan

There are many different types of foods to feed to larger fish. They have pellets for large cichlids and other carnivore fish. I wouldn't recommend feeder fish anyways because they are kept in terrible conditions and are usually disease carriers and lacking in nutrition. Unless you are breeding fish for feeders its more of a risk than its worth.

My personal feelings are that I am responsible for my fish. Like any pet their well being (or lack there of) is all up to me. I would rather that my fish die immediately by being put in ice cold water than to be eaten. Some would say that its a waste but I personally would rather flush the fish than have it devoured. Not that it matters I don't even know anyone that has need of feeder fish.

 

[Opcn]

a few thusant fry dyeing is nothing compaired to the million in nature but they are alot compaired to the few that are wasted to euthenasia (more proficient at math and science than euthenamerica) . have you ever been chased by a dog? If you had you would know that your body goes numb with shock, The same happens with all creatured that have brains and it is a very quick death much quicker than any for of euthenasia other than smashing the head with a rock (even then you need to take the fish out of the water) And it is not imoral because it is the way of nature. (And yes I am aware that at this point I am not exactly everyones favorite moral compass)

Opcn

P.S. guppies are usualy quite imbred so you may whant to just go out and buy an albino trio (or get one online) and get some that way.