Culling a spawn day 48

[kikkan]

Culling a spawn


Hey guys!
My fry is now 48 days old.
And I think it's time to start culling.

The thing is that I'm not sure if it's the right thing to do before the last stage.
What I mean by "the last stage" is that time and time again you can see breeders having lodes of discus in the same tank to keep the fish competing for the food and make them grow faster.

I can see different advantages and disadvantages here by the more fish you have in the same aquarium, the bigger the change is for a disease to have a outbreak and more feedings on fish that you are not keeping anyway and again more water changes.

I have not had a single death (not even in the start) (accept 3 discus that jumped out of the aquarium when I forgot to put the top lid on) :)
I have not has a count of the fish for a while, but last count was 97 (minus the three ***** discus ) 94.

My question is : how many of you guys follow the "rule" of keeping lodes of fish packed to keep them eating like mad, and how many of you just cull them and keep feeding them as normal?

I would also be most grateful for any advice on how to cull my fish. (what to keep, and what to trash)
I only want the best fish!

This is what I know about culling from what I have read so far :

- Equal eye size.
- High body form and size.
- No deforms, missing fins, gill cover etc.
- Also something about stripes? please update me here.
- Small black fish and "poppeye fish"

That's about it I think...
Thanks guys!

Here is some pictures and a movie of the fry at day 48.

http://youtu.be/1xmRxoLtgjE


http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1058.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1057.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1055.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1054.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1053.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1050.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1059.jpg

mom and dad
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_0981.jpg

[ajvdiscus]

Hopefully someone wil lbe able to help you, i dont now anthing about culling either never done it.. But like the discus :)

[Keith Perkins]

I normally leave them packed in and don't cull anything before sixty days, and probably more like seventy five or eight day. It gives you plenty of time to make sure it's a cull, which it almost always is, and increases the competition for food as you've already said. I'm going to change the same amount of water if there's 95 or 75, so what's the hurry in culling is my thought.

Culling defects also include:

Only breathing from one gill

Broken bars are not a scoring defect in shows, but personally I wouldn't ever keep them for breeding stock. Personal choice. Wouldn't cull for that, just wouldn't keep them myself.

[BobDaniel]

Watch for fish with the mouth off to the side, fish with one large eye and one small eye, spiked dorsal fins, extremely elongated shape, holes in the gill plates, beakey parrot like faces... I don't think these fish are worth keeping for any length of time. I always kept a cull or two to dispatch and examine under the microscope to get an idea of the state of health in my fishroom.

The goal is quality. You want visitors to see excellent fish when they visit. The fish you sell are living billboards for your hatchery.

[kikkan]

Hi again guys.

I have now culled for the 6th time, and from what i can see, i will end up with about 35 of the 100.
I have sorted the good ones in a own aquarium and the "bad ones" from the last cull is in another.
From the "bad ones", i still see some potential because the nice bodyshape, but they are way smaller than the ones i piced out to keep.
Ill post some picture of the keepers and the "bad ones" so you guys can give me some ideas what to do.
They are now on day 74

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1126_zpsdee32a4b.jpg
Here are the "bad ones"

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1133_zps1a6554eb.jpg
bad ones




http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1128_zps6971f712.jpg
Theese are keepers

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1123_zps506520d3.jpg
Keepers

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z177/kikkan1/IMG_1132_zpsa9bef343.jpg
Keepers

[Poco]

Are you just separating them based on size? I do see some good shape ones in the "bad ones".

[kikkan]

i know that there is a few nice shaped in the bad ones, but the ting is that they are way to smaller than the average rate in the good ones.
Is that a reason do get rid of them, or do some just grow really slower than others?

[Eddie]

I wouldn't rid of all the smaller ones. Growth rate isn't always an indicator of a bad fish. Maybe the bigger ones are just growing exceptionally well.

[DLock3d]

Another thought is that the small ones could be females. You may end up culling all of your females and only ending up with males.

[lofty]

personally, i never cull for size, deformities only, eyes, fins, mouths, and gill covers, i will however separate the smaller fish and leave them grow out in their own tank.

[CliffsDiscus]

Is hormone treatment use so widely where you live?

Cliff

[CrazyAngels]

Is hormone treatment use so widely where you live?

Cliff

My same thoughts, never seen young discus that big and colored up without it..

[kikkan]

hehe, no, but im experimenting with my home made food and feeding a vary of different foods.
Ill take it as a complement :)

By the way, how is the growth rate for a age of 79 days?
They are from 2,3 to 3,5 inches.
Are they ok?