sirdarksol

There is a difference between cross-breeding two different types of dog and cross-breeding, a severum and a red devil cichlid.
It's closer to try to cross-breed a fox and a dog (there are stories of such, and all of them include nearly unviable offspring, much like if different livebearers cross-breed)

The point of the animals deserving a chance at life is a true one, but it's also a Catch22. By buying animals that have been bred like this, you're encouraging the process of playing with these kinds of things and pushing for more and more such creations. On the other hand, if you don't buy them, those that are already created will eventually be put down. It's much the same as with rescuing bettas from Walmart. You can save a betta, but you're also encouraging Walmart to continually stock them. There's not really a right answer, only wrong ones and more wrong ones. In the case of the Walmart thing, not taking any action is the worst answer, while contacting the store and expressing your displeasure with the way the bettas are kept is likely the best (whether you choose to rescue one or more of the bettas or not). With this one, I can't even begin to tell you what the "worst" or "best" answer is, only my own opinion on it.

jerilovesfrogs

yeah, i hear ya. i know what you mean about "supporting" walmart by buying fish from there. but it's not just there anyway.....it's a most pet places you go. there is a store down the road from me and they have bettas floating in blue liquid....which is medicated water. so many places do so many things wrong, in terms of fish care and advice. it is very frustrating.

i'm typically not the type of person who likes to "fool with mother nature"......but in the case of the bp fish......i just loooove them! can't help who or what ya love i guess. haha. it's purly an infatuation of how they look, as i know nothing about how fish are bred.

JustinF

I have to say I like, both.

kloseo

i love my br parrots, i really dont have a problem with hybrids if they can breed on their own, but as a science teacher, i have shown my students hybrids such as the liger ( yes it really exists), the tigon,the beefalo, the cama ( a cross between a camal and a llama) these breedings are impossible on their own and require human intervension in the form of artificial insemination... this is wrong

JRDroid

I believe that, at least early on, human intervention was required for breeding and the parent species would not spawn with each other naturally.

TedsTank

Hybrids are fine and they have developed some beautiful fish.

Remember there are also those who keep and maintain original species, which is way more important, and can and has been used to restore wild populations.

So, yes and no on hybrids.

joshua 74

i believe a beautiful fish is a beautiful fish full stop.

Bowfin

Hybrids that occur naturally in nature are fine, but man made fish are YUK !!!

North American Native hybridize frequently, and i dont keep the hybrids. although some are quite interesting to look at.

kitty2234

Hi Fish Friends,

I also didn't answer the poll. I didn't like the choices and how the question is worded. I think the answer depends on the circumstances.

First - Is the fish almost endangered? Then, if it is; keep the breed pure.
Second - If there is tons of this fish, and it is willing to breed with another type; I am fine with that.
Third - I don't think that people should manipulate animals gentically.

Are some of them pretty? Yes. Are some likely to be ugly or misformed? Possibly.

kitty2234

ZimDalf

I agree.

CichlidConossuier

Hmmmmm old post. But thought I would throw my 2 cents in.
I have read all the posts in this thread.
And my favorite is Ken's.
Everyone is trying to either defend or oppose the idea of hybrid fish.
But Ken simply states "I love my blood parrots".
I have to agree.
My BP is easily one of my favorite specimens.

LyndaB

I will only have mutt dogs, so I guess that puts me on the side of the fence of people who appreciate mutt fish. I don't like genetically altered fish and won't buy them, however, I have no issues at all with cross-breeding.

My husband and I have 6 amazing blood parrots between us..... wouldn't give them up for the world.

sirdarksol

One point on this: Dogs are all the same species. Fish aren't all in the same species, or even in the same genus, or even the same family. Thus, comparing hybrid fish and mutt dogs doesn't really work. A more apt comparison would be mutt guppies, or, conversely, a dog/fox hybrid (which has been done, and has more of the health problems that one is likely to find in hybrids).

Sharkdude

I'm with sirdarksol on this one. I love my Synodontis Valentiana and the other Synodontis hybrids. Parrots are interesting and flowehorns are weird. I actually despise Glofish because of how they are made...its as bad as dying imo.

I also believe that they are so popular because people want pretty fish and don't want to work at it. Take my ram for example, it took almost a year for him to develop his coloration and trailers but he was gorgeous.

I could go on about the different fish I've kept in my short but eventful fishkeeping career my point is people will pay for instant gratification which is why hybrid, dyed, tattooed and genetically mutated fish exist.

Like I said earlier, some are okay but others not okay. No catfish/gupppy hybrids!

dright21

Up until my GF begged me to get my Blood Parrot I would have said NO HYBRIDS FOR ME, but after getting Lexi, I'm glad I changed my mind.

soltarianknight

Im mixed. so heres my takes
In the home aquarium i would have to say im ok with certain hybrids so long as the fish arnt hurt. IMO BP some BP are rather messed up but most people like them anyways. There are a TON of cichlid mixes from what i hear and Livebearers tend to produce usless fry when crossed. Then again you have betta fish, they have been crosed many times with a few diffrent betta species. The ones we see to day are splenden and imbellis crosses for the most part. We cross them to achive the "high gloss" or irredesence in the blue,green and light blue bettas.

In the food industry we cross fish species to make better production fish. I care for a tilapia farm at school. We have Hybrid egyption tilapia.These guys grow HUGE compared to others. Im talking 5-8 pound monsters. They are still able to breed and they produce healthy fry so im not bothered by them.

In the end, i avoid most hybrids at the store aswell as geneticly altered and physicaly altered fish like jellybeans and painted fish and glofish.

Sharkdude

IMHO Glofish are an abomination to the fishkeeping hobby. They serve as an icon for my biggest pet peeve. They are a decorative fish and not a pet fish to most people. People who buy these fish around here only get them because of their color and stick them in a 5 gallon tank with a black light on it because its cool or somthing. This is my person experience with these fish and in my opinion these fish are worse than Bettas in cups.

sirdarksol

Glofish are not technically pertinent to this discussion. They are not really hybrids (though their genetic structure is sort of hybridized.) This topic is about fish that have been spawned from a male and a female that are from separate species of fish.

Sharkdude

Sorry for getting a little off topic, I feel that they are hybrids while some may not.

sirdarksol

Off topic posts have been removed.

They are not. This isn't a matter of opinion, it's a matter of scientific differentiation between a genetically modified creature and a hybrid species.
Glofish have zebra danio DNA. So much so that, if a geneticist were to be given a few Glofish cells and asked to identify the fish, that geneticist would say that he/she was looking at zebra danio cells unless said geneticist thought to search for that tiny little fragment of DNA that generates the bright colors.
On the other hand, a geneticist would easily be able to differentiate between a guppy and a guppy-Endler's hybrid, as such a creature will have a mix of DNA from two separate species, a mix that would not occur in either species on its own.

So, to fully clarify, this thread is not about genetically modified species. It is about fish that are a cross between two separate species. This crossing could be through natural means (putting two fish in the same tank) or artificial means (artificial insemination/in vitro fertilization/etc...).

Sharkdude

Well put Sir. Thanks for clarification I needed that.

Wendy Lubianetsky

I think that the breeding of hybrids for profit was shameless. But they are here and purchased a flowerhorn from someone who told me it was something else. It took me a while to figure out what I had. But, now that I have it I am totally happy with the fish. He has a lot of personality and I have become quite attached to him. I wouldn't mind getting another hybrid next time out.