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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