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culling

3K views 29 replies 13 participants last post by  Rohland 
#1 ·
culling is a controversial subject that must be addressed. the amount of amateur breeders is on the rise. have any of you given it a serious thought? many of you will be offended with what i have to say so read at your own discretion. im here to toss in my two cents; not to debate the ethical issues.

for those that dont know, culling is the act of selective killing. why would anyone commit such a heinous act? everyone will have their own reasons.

unfit and runts
nature's survival of the fittest will usually take these out early on. against great odds, some will miraculously make it to adolescents. i have had a few 1.5 month old that look smaller than their siblings when they were a week old. they were very little and show almost no developments.

deformities
with every batch, there is bound to be some deformities. bent spines is probably the most common and visible issue. some may argue that it could potentially have a good quality of life.

regulating stock size
if the batch is large, you may not want to spend the time and resource to care for the ones that are just average. who really wants a large number of fish that looks the same? other times, some may want to kill off their mature fish that are past their prime to make room for the youngs.

if you do decide to cull, please do it in a humane manner approved by AVMA Guidelines for Fish Euthanasia. i will not share which methods i have used.
i have taken a couple of pictures to illustrate what some of my culls look like.

the spine is severely crooked


the top half of the caudal fin does not span open



my final two cents on culling: if you or someone else will not find enjoyment in keeping a particular fish, why do it?
 
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#3 ·
Hmm, for ME, I'd only cull if the fry has no chance at having a comfortable life. I just don't have the heart to do it otherwise.
 
#5 ·
I can agree with you Andakin 100% even though we had our disagreement earlier on. The only thing I hate is when people want to breed or incist to breed when they are uncapable of keeping the babies. (Don't have necessary supplies, no enough research ect.) And they choose to spawn their bettas whose fry will probably die in the end.
 
#6 ·
I've never thought about it before because I always figured that if no one wanted my babies, I would find some way to make room for them. But I understand where you're coming from. If I do decide to breed twice, that's alot of babies, and I think now I may have to consider looking into it. Mainly because Merlin is from Thailand, and the new female might as well be. I would hope they're fry don't have deformities, yet I know there will be a few. Same with Pearl and Merlins fry. This def gives me something to think about. Good post Andakin.
 
#8 ·
This was a very well though out post Andakin. I'm not sure if I myself would be able to cull (not that I will be getting into breeding), but I can respect those who choose to.
 
#9 ·
this is exactly why i choose not to breed..........
 
#10 ·
I'm really against culling anything that isn't in pain. That is why I'm going to call a local family run pet store and see if they want to sell the babies, any fry that weren't suitable for breeding. This pet store takes awesome care of their animals.

I will see to it that every animal under my care gets the life/care that they deserve. ESPECIALLY if it is one that I bred.

I still have respect for those who do cull, but in a humane way only. Those who are getting knifes and chopping off their betta's heads (PM me and I'll send you the link, from another forum) do NOT deserve to breed bettas.
 
#11 ·
I totally agree with doggyhog
 
#13 · (Edited)
the amount of work that goes into water changes and feeding is never ending. after jarring 25, i realize how quickly i am running out of room. i am still left with another 25 really aggressive fish in the small 10 gallon grow out tank.




i need to do some serious culling, and soon. where do i go after eliminating the ones with visible deformities? as monstrous as it sounds, im looking for reasons to kill. my next round of culls will probably be the little ones.

many will accuse me of being an incompetent and that i should not breed if i cant care for all of them. thats easier said than done. dont judge if you havent had to face this issue. i dont mean to sound snobby but i know i can raise each and every single one. i choose not to because thats not my goal.
 
#14 ·
Eggs CAN be removed from the nest right after spawning if it's done carefully. Here is some info from Bettatalk about how to remove eggs after spawning. The eggs are removed right away, before they have a chance to develop into babies.
So here is how to remove the eggs, step by step:
first of all, once the spawning is done, use a flashlight to see where the eggs have been stored inside the nest. They may be all over, or clumped in one or two spots. They are easy to see since they look a bit yellowish. Look at them from UNDER.
now, remove the female.
while you are in there, this is the best time to also remove extra eggs - this way you only disturbed the male once.
take a clean plastic spoon
carefully dip the spoon near the nest by entering the water surface vertically (so to displace almost no water). Slowly maneuver the spoon under the nest. Level the spoon so it is horizontal and slide it slowly under the spot with most eggs. Scoop up bubbles and the eggs, keeping the spoon mainly horizontal but at a slight bit of an angle when exiting at the surface so to not displace much water at all (it will disrupt the nest less that way) but so the eggs you scooped up will still not fall back into the water.
if the nest is under a stirofoam cup, you will have to lift the cup up gently so to access the eggs and remove them. This will result in the nest sliding partly out, but that is OK. Remove the eggs, then lower the cup back into the water while trying to move it over the majority of the nest and getting as much of it back under the cup - the male will fix the rest.
 
#17 ·
You know, on another forum I'm a member of they have an adoption center. There are usually many people willing to take culls. You could try posting them up for adoption here, or even join that forum because I think it has more members than the betta section here. The website is ultimatebettas.com
 
#20 ·
Yes, I agree somewhat with this point. The major factor is that people should not continue to breed subpar fry, then the deficiencies would end with that one fry. Just as with every animal, responsible breeding is a must to keep the species or breed as good as it can be.
 
#19 ·
I agree with you andakin, I know you can care for them. If you thought my earlier comment was about you it wasnt. It was ment to be viewed as people who cannot provide basic needs and still want to spawn. I understand what your trying to accomplish and agree with it. Is that another spawning happening in your tank?
 
#21 ·
The egg removing idea is better because it takes a few minuets for the eggs to become fertilized.
 
#23 ·
Good thing I didn't do that with my CT pair because she wasn't releasing eggs at all. Just a note, I'm not gonna sell these ones, I'm gonna try inbreeding and then see what happens.
 
#25 ·
Hmm good point.
 
#27 ·
Yes, good point. But wouldn't that mean more that you have to cull? I just posted that info about limiting the number of wraps and removing eggs because I found the info on bettatalk and I want people to know that there are other alternatives. Culling is up to the individual breeder.
 
#28 ·
DQ is right, and I really don't want to have to cull.
 
#29 ·
I agree and disagree to some extent. If you do not know enough about any animal don't breed them but again you can't expect to know what nature is going to hand you! I do know one thing though I bought a blood fin tetra from a pet store that was shaped like an L, yes a letter L and he lived for about 4 years. If that animal is not in pain and is eating and surviving with no problem so be it. I myself though will not kill anything just because of size or shape ect. We would not do humans that way and all my fish are just like my children. I commend you for letting people know of the things that can go wrong though and leave breeding to the more experienced person. ;-)
 
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