Dorsal fin defect? 3 week old fry... do I cull now?

[Sasha]

Fry have been free swimming for 3 weeks now. Most of them have full "dorsal fins" that start along the top of their back and arch nicely back towards their tail, as one would expect. A few, however, have either notched dorsal fins or a fin that is very short where it starts from behind their eyes and only stands up as tall as the other fish's fins about mid-way along the body.

Is this a defect? And if so, is it the proper time to cull, or is it advised that I wait to see if the fin corrects itself with growth?

If I will very likely have to cull these fish, I'd rather do it now while they are small. In addition, I think it makes sense to lessen the bio load on the tank to give the fully viable fish greater odds of optimal growth. Culling will be very difficult for me to do (emotionally), but I'm thinking it will easier now rather than later? Yet I also don't want to cull if, based on others' experience, this type of "abnormality" often self-corrects with age.

Thank you!

[Skip]

dorsal fin defects dont' change.. i have one like that.. and it never changed as he aged..

if you don't want to see it.. cull them

[Sasha]

dorsal fin defects dont' change.. i have one like that.. and it never changed as he aged..

if you don't want to see it.. cull them

Ugh. I was afraid that would be the answer. Anyone else out there with a different experience or a "+1" vote to (unfortunately) cull now?

[yim11]

It won't get better. Sorry.

[nc0gnet0]

Cull it, it won't fix itself....ever. The only time I keep these if I have a very small batch I am raising out and I want to keep my numbers up until they grow a bit, but they will never fix themselves and eventually need to be culled.

[vicdiscus]

I think you re too early result.. Wait for them to grow.. give them 2 more weeks at 4 or 6 weeks old fry, They will grow and change body. They are 3 weeks old fry are too early to result.

About 1"+ are better size you can tell them cull or not.

HTH
Duncan

[yim11]

Not in this case, this deformity is easily seen on fry under 1". Sooner these get thinned out, sooner the good ones get more food and clean water.


I think you re too early result.. Wait for them to grow.. give them 2 more weeks at 4 or 6 weeks old fry, They will grow and change body. They are 3 weeks old fry are too early to result.

About 1"+ are better size you can tell them cull or not.

HTH
Duncan

[vicdiscus]

Hey Yim. Abosulty I agreed with you.

Depend on what strain off springs are growing fast and slow.

If the Solid colors as blue diamond, Melon red, solid albino etc fry are growing slowly. you know what I meaning?

I do not know what the first post what is kind of discus are having babies.

You are right to say that "this deformity is easily seen on fry under 1". Sooner these get thinned out, sooner the good ones get more food and clean water. "

Or possible gentic carry is very poor???

[LizStreithorst]

Sorry, you're wrong. Everyone else is right. He needs to cull them now. Otherwise he's be wasting valuable resourses on worthless deformed fish. Besides, it's easier emotionally to cull when they're small.

[yim11]

Hey Yim. Abosulty I agreed with you.

Depend on what strain off springs are growing fast and slow.

If the Solid colors as blue diamond, Melon red, solid albino etc fry are growing slowly. you know what I meaning?

I do not know what the first post what is kind of discus are having babies.

You are right to say that "this deformity is easily seen on fry under 1". Sooner these get thinned out, sooner the good ones get more food and clean water. "

Or possible gentic carry is very poor???

In my experience, you can easily detect this even before you can tell what the strain of the fry is. It's easy to see on even very small fry. I have spoken to a few discus keepers/breeders with more than 20 years experience for each of them, the conclusion generally drawn is the problem is with the fish, not the conditions. So this would indicate a genetic issue, probably from line breeding if I had to make a guess.

Just curious Sasha, were the fry from a European Turq?

[Sasha]

Thank you all for your comments and guidance. I greatly appreciate it. The parents are a Blue Turquoise female and a Red Scribbelt male - both obtained from stock from Hans Discus USA.

[DiscusKev]

Just curious Sasha, were the fry from a European Turq?

May I ask, what difference does that make?

[Chad Adams]

I would cull ASAP.

Chad

[yim11]

May I ask, what difference does that make?

I've seen it more in these fish than Asian fish, wanted to see if that was the case here and seems it is.

[vicdiscus]

why not you can post pictures of your discus? We can see them? that would helpful for us.