LoachLover
Snails Beware
I apologize for discussing dogs instead of fish, but inbreeding in dogs is more documented than with fish. There are many people who are breeding working dogs that refuse to participate or register their dogs with the AKC. Many of the working, sporting, and herding breeds like Siberian Huskies, Labrador Retrievers, and Australian Shepherds look completely different in an AKC show, than the ones you see in their actual working environments. You see the rolly polly looking Labrador Retrievers at a show, and compare them to the "field" Labradors that hunters use, and it's sickening what the AKC has done to the breed. You see similar things with Australian Shepherds that are sometimes as large as 60 lbs. in the shows, instead of the more traditional 40 lbs.
To me, you may be able to develop some interesting looking fish through selective breeding, but at what cost? If you continue down that road too far, you eventually will have such unstable fish that you won't be able to keep the alive long enough to breed, and they'll all die off anyway. If you're going to do selective breeding, it should be to strengthen the species, not weaken it for the sake of a unique look.
To me, you may be able to develop some interesting looking fish through selective breeding, but at what cost? If you continue down that road too far, you eventually will have such unstable fish that you won't be able to keep the alive long enough to breed, and they'll all die off anyway. If you're going to do selective breeding, it should be to strengthen the species, not weaken it for the sake of a unique look.