I have a designer that will host anything in the tank that’s soft and wiggly... she murdered my Duncan’s loving them to death, then moved to the hammer. I left a patch of hair algae on the wall and now she loves it to death too. Haha. My plain ocellaris wedges himself in the rockwork and derps out.... I’m going to get them a BTA in the tank soon so maybe i can add softer corals back in. No clown got to choose their pattern or personality. We just enjoy them for what they are....even if they kill your favorite corals...
Similar, although dogs don’t broadcast spawn like tangs, also I prefer CITIES papers over pedigree documents.
Similar, although dogs don’t broadcast spawn like tangs, also I prefer CITIES papers over pedigree documents.
Separate parallel discussion on hatchery raised fish for restocking “wild“ populations-that is a subject absolutely drives me crazy, way more than any discomfort I might have with designer clownfish.
(Source: Salmon Without Rivers- Lichatowich)
I have a gnawing discomfort that designed fish will be introduced (by hobbiests) into the wild where their presence could wreak havoc on wild populations (diseases & niche displacement).
None of that is the animals fault. Applied genetics isn’t a strong suit when success is only measured in breeding numbers and breed popularity amongst consumers.
sorry, we were talking about Clowns and got sidetracked on people.
Yup- lots of people have paper pups and that isn’t a sin. I was grandstanding for public awareness of issues more impactful to wild animals (Lionfish in the Caribbean, non-native snakes in FLA, and carp introduced everywhere including Mars if the find a thawed pond?), to name a few.
Varieties.How do you pronounce it?
It’s always truly amazing to see advancements in this hobby. I recently came across an article about how the industry is pushing the boundaries with captive bred fish. In terms of fish breeding most of us are familiar with breeding clowns, dragonets, banggai cardinals, gobies etc. But the one true milestone is breeding tangs.
If the past is any indication it will only be a matter of time before these advancements are passed onto hobbyist. We will unlock the proper schedule to successfully breed tangs in our own homes. Before we know it, we will start to see crossbred species with never before seen color combinations that will no doubt command a huge demand by hobbyists. In turn, that will encourage many folks to transform their basement or guest rooms into a tang breeding centers. It begs the question, just because we can, should we?
Clown fish are a great example of this phenomenon. Early hobbyists were only given the choice between the traditional orange and white ocellaris or percula. Now a days, breeders and hobbyists alike are able to achieve certain looks by selectively breeding out particular traits so that we can have that beautiful designer fish. However, there’s a flipside to this coin by selectively breeding in certain positive traits you also breed in those “not so good” traits. Fish life expectancy drops, they’re more prone to disease, they don’t act like traditional clowns and of course the obvious ones like genetic defects. As that happened the philosophical question becomes how far is too far? Have we already crossed that line?
1. With all that said, do you pronounce it “Designer clown” or “Inbred clown”? Why do say so?
Follow up question:
2. Should captive bred tangs follow the same selective breeding process or should we leave it to the professionals?
Thanks again to @Sisterlimonpot for the QOTD!
Some of them just look strange. And they’ve gotten to the point where people are looking for the perfect pattern. Voting inbred
