# Inbreeding



## Countryguy (Jul 26, 2007)

Is it really bad to do this?


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

It really depends on the species of fish, and even so, ill effects "usually" don't show up until the later generations. In most cases, no, it's not horribly bad.


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## Sowilu (Jul 16, 2007)

My convicts breed like crazy and they came from the same clutch. The babies did not look so bad though but maybe in the long run they would have been mest up.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Depends on how many generations. Inbreeding concentrates traits and magnifies recessives. It can get you better color or cause birth defects like bent spines. Many breeders will either keep two strains to cross with each other after a few generations or breed in a wild-type fish every so often. A lot of strains of fish in hobby are all related to a single collection (or even pair) of fish in the wild. And many strains of guppies are already quite inbred. If you have the opportunity to get fish of the same kind (species and collection location) from different sources (even breeders in the same city, not 2 pet store who use the same distributer) IMO you should. Starting with more genetic diversity will IMO give you healthier fish down the line. On the other hand, if your objective is to magnify an existing trait, like a long tail or color, you should start with fish from a single source and breed them to close kin, and cull the deformed fish (or at least don't breed them).


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## Ice Prince (Jun 15, 2007)

many people that breed bettas breed brother and sister to get the colors and fin types they want. as emc7 said many people inbreed guppies like they do bettas. IMO people that breed siblings together should cull all fish that have deformities so they dont get bred with other fish and end up having more fish that are deformed.


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