[Nathan43]

This craigslist listing is exactly why people have a problem with hybrids. Observe the quote "Just to make sure they are not used as feeders"
Wow
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/for/719321335.html

 

[dogofwar]

What's wrong? He's selling them as what they are...

Now if he was selling them as "Texas Cichlids" I'd have a problem.

 

[heylady]

I don't get it either. :-? Seems like a pretty straight forward posting and it isn't like he's hiding that they're hybrids.....

 

[Sick-Lid-4-Life]

There is nothing wrong with hybrids, as long as they're sold as hybrids which is exactly what this guy is doing.

Just because a fish is a hybrid doesn't mean it should be used as a feeder or destroyed, if that's what you're implying.

 

[Nathan43]

Time after time I see people posting on here that when Hybrids are not terminated and go to another person (especially for cheap - a novice's magic word), there is a greater chance of them getting bred or in turn given to another place for either unexpected aggression, too large of size, etc. They then go to another person and so on. That was the point I was making with the fact he/she is going out of their way to ensure they are not feeders. I am actually one who enjoys hybrids, but things like this often lead to a bad conclusion. But then again, maybe I am just hating on a this person for no reason.

 

[westwood8183]

I see nothing wrong with that ad...

 

[FLYFISH509]

Your right, there's nothing wrong with the ad! The problem is the people who buy them and what they do with them and so on and so on. If everyone did the right thing than there would be no issue, hybryd all you want but unfortunately there are a few who either don't know what's right by lack of knowledge, ignorance, or desperate to make a buck in these trying times.

 

[bulldogg7]

"Just to make sure they are not used as feeders"

I got a kick out of that, so what if they were feeders? It's about the only way he's gonna get rid of 15 of them, what happened to the other dozen or so?

 

[SinisterKisses]

I can understand the point that Nathan is making. I think what he's getting at is that yes, this seller is very opening selling them as hybrids, but once they're passed on to the buyers, there is no guaranteeing that when the buyer wants to get rid of the fish, that they will in turn sell it or give it away as a hybrid, and so on down the line. Somewhere down the chain, I'm sure someone will start thinking it's a pure fish and the problems arise from there. The seller is also deliberately trying to ensure that all these baby hybrids survive by stating not to use them as feeders, which means there are that many more hybrids being passed around to cause problems.

 

[chrispyweld]

But anyone who cares will know by looking at them that they are hybrids. Those that don't care will just have cool fish.

I might go down and pick one up.

 

[dwarfpike]

But anyone who cares will know by looking at them that they are hybrids.

That isn't always true. There are a lot of crosses even the experts can't tell the differance sometimes.

 

[Nathan43]

When I signed up here and saw the hybrid hate messages, I never understood the problem, but once I started selling fish online, and a guy who has been keeping fish for years bought a flowerhorn from me (never heard of them at the time) and after explaining the aggression and behaivor to him, he put in a bunch of discus with it. Do not underestimate other people. Right now these hybrids are not a problem, but what if they mated with another convict or texas. The strain would get that much closer to the actual fish...

 

[chrispyweld]

I would like to say that I don't own any hybrids and don't really plan on it but I'm guessing we won't agree on this so I will stop before we get into a uh huh/ nu uh debate.

But I do respect your opinions and I think it takes people on both sides of most arguments to keep this world on an even keel.

 

[dogofwar]

It's absurd to say that people shouldn't sell hybrids because the people to whom they're sold could re-sell them as something other than what they are (hybrids).

Should I not sell someone an F1 peacock because they could go on to re-sell it as a wild fish of a different geographical varient?

Happens all the time. By accident and on purpose. Especially with females.

 

[Nathan43]

I wasn't pointing at the fact that he/she shouldn't be selling them, it was more of me understanding the hybrid outbreak problem and how these things come about. Like I said, I was wrong for hating on the seller.

 

[RyanR]

I can respect the initial opinion, but....many fish bought in the hobby as a given species have been bred in captivity for so long that they're arguably not really the same kind of animals as their "wild" brethren anyway.... and depending on the definition of "species" that you like, many fish that have been in and bred in the hobby are technically already a different species.

Some hybrids are kinda lame, but if it works, it works. While rare in animals, hybrids do happen all over in nature.

If you're trying to be "pure" about everything, you're already hosed, unless you are buying wild caught fish... and as many fish are already endangered, catching wild fish for pets is really and truly unethical to me, much more so than hybrid fish.... as is terminating/killing hybrids, in fear that they may "contaminate" the hobby gene pool. Seems wrong. I don't support intentionally breeding hybrids, but if it happens by accident... and some fry survive... why not?

Remember, dumping a bucketful of captive bred fish into a wild population arguably "contaminates" the wild gene pool.

I still don't like parrots, though.

-Ryan

 

[gage]

i see nothing wrong with this at all, it is wrong of him to not want the little fish used as feeders :-?

 

[Sick-Lid-4-Life]

I wouldn't want my babies used as feeders

 

[Aquamojo]

Right now these hybrids are not a problem, but what if they mated with another convict or texas. The strain would get that much closer to the actual fish...

Much closer to the actual fish.

Ya gotta love it. Isn't that like saying almost good enough? :-? Hybrids are a scourge on the hobby that unfortunately isn't going to go away.

 

[Sick-Lid-4-Life]

What people either fail to realize or just simply want to ignore is that fish hybridize in the wild as well.