Sure it does: Indeed, you unequivocally imply as much by stating that "maintaining a pure strain has always been my priority..." That, in fact, has been my position and my message all along, and if I have been a little heavy-handed with my earlier replies it is only because you decided to keep your sense of responsibility a secret for so long...
Rather senseless to be arguing over things we agree upon, isn't it?
LOL ! Common sense is not so common after all, at least for some.
If one really love and care for his fishes,why would he/she staint their purity?If your cerebrum spins fast enough,you will be the last to deny that responsible hobbyists' husbandry practices is neither a "secret" nor a subject to others' evaluation/directive. I am relieve you have cooled down a great deal.But still, you sounded a little autocratic and seemed to have tendencies to stuff words down others' throat..
Jeff, what's the difference between a farm bred dwarf and wild form dwarf ? Of course you may go ahead and verify their "citizenship".
[/quote]from balloon rams to Parrot cichlids to the "mighty" FLOWER HORN, they are all pretty "unique" and beautiful in their own way... but if one does choose to keep these fish, there is something that they have to understand about how these fish actually came about. The flower horn seems to be a crossbreed made up of many cichlisoma, such as the red devil and others and the parrots are what seem to be a crossbreed of the convict and others. There is certainly nothing wrong with keeping these fish in the hobby, ONLY that I believe that this promotes the hobby into it's "darkest" of hours, not because these fish may "stain" the purity if bred with others, in such as the case with the parrots (that I have come to understand as being able to breed and have fertile young), but the fact that there are what I would call, "sick individuals" who breed these fish and mutilate them in a number of ways just to make them more pleasing to others and to "jack up the prices." In the Japanese market, there are opportunists who have taken this specific fish and have bred it into a number of shapes, colors, and shades because they are said to be a "good luck" fish and sell them at insane prices. Along with that, they keep their " mixes/breeds" secret because they want to keep this market lucrative! It truely is a sad developement. Ethical or not, it's only my opinion. The fish are the ones harmed in the end.
sorry this is aside from what you were talking about but it's similar and just something that came to mind while reading your posts.
Don't be such a paranoia.Why would and how many backyard breeders is going to do that?
Fish keeping is more than a hobby.It's part of a commercial sector ie aquaculture.If the products of these sick individuals are supported by the hobbyists, who is sicker?Of course ,fins snipping is unthinkable and absolutely despicable not to mention color dyeing and gm fishes.When I started this thread, I thought these dwarf was man made ie a product of GM.
I have not kept these fishes apart from dwarf ram.When I first caught a glimpse of the parrot,my impression was "weird fish".Then again there are many species which look like deform specimen.If one has knowledge or at least seen pic of many fishes and other lifeforms, he/she would probably not think them weird or dismiss and degrade them as low classed specimens and instead over a period of time, with an open mind,would learn to appreciate nature's beauty,vastness and diversity.
Speaking of diversity, the possibility of a new color morph, a 24k dwarf ram does not seem remote.
Back to fish keeping.
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