The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Man-made fishes have been around for a long time and are here to stay. If we do not cover man-created strains and forms, and debate the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, we leave the field to emotional grandstanding, or worse, legal regulations without qualified input.
First SURRENDER Event a Sweet Success
The “Minnesota experiment” shows that such surrender events are something every responsible aquarium society should offer once or twice a year. Since the Habitattitude program is a national initiative (www.habitattitude.net), support from the Great Lakes Sea Grant network or other programs may be available.
Pond Season 2015 Starts in Europe
Rising temperatures in central Europe are promising an early start for the pond season – a look at the diverse offerings in the pond fish market this year!
AMAZONAS Video: Betta macrostoma
Stunning footage of the most coveted mouthbrooding betta in the aquarium hobby.
Counting fish based on “reef dandruff"
In essence, this may allow biologists to study the population of fishes in a body of water without having to sacrifice any animals.
Frank says:
Hey Matt, Is it advisable to keep Lemon and Sapphire Damselfish together in a 100 Gal reef, or do I need to choose? Thank you.Matt Pedersen says:
Trey, I believe you're making a false equivalency between the "Parrot Cichlid" and this fish. The Parrot Cichlid is a hybrid between at least two rather disparate cichlid species, which features numerous physical deformations, although nothing nearly as severe as something like a Bubble Eye or Celestial Eye Goldfish. Meanwhile, this "Zombie" Black Albino started as pure Darwin Black Ocellaris; the original foundation stock simply had a hidden recessive gene. This is a single gene mutation, which can easily be understood and controlled by any breeder who understands high-school level genetics. Nevermind that forms of albinism are rather routine mutation found in the wild on occasion, and even in our human species.Jeff W. says:
I don’t have a problem with the production of new color strains through selective breeding. I prefer to own the wild types, but that’s just me. But I agree that the propagation of fish with known health concerns is irresponsible and casts a shadow over the hobby. We already don’t know what other health problems some of these mutants may have involving systems that are not externally evident (e.g., immunological issues, skeletal malformations), or if their life spans might be adversely affected. This is similar to knowingly breeding deaf Dalmatians for profit.Trey Tabb says:
I suppose it's a nifty experiment to make fish like these, but to mass produce half-blind fish is just cruel & stupid beyond measure. Congratulations; you've created the Red Parrot Cichlid of the Clownfish world.Matt Pedersen says:
Bob, those sentiments are very appreciated, thank you my friend!Corals says:
My apologies...I should have read all the messages in entirety before leaving my comment. I didn't realize Orlando voluntarily chose not to renew his membership and wrote about it. I assumed Jeff shared Orlando's personal info to the readers..Sorry, Jeff!