Deformed Clowns on Diver's Den

[CoralsAddiction]

Breeding clowns is a hard task. Making a profit as a clownfish breeder is even harder. With breeding comes ethical responsibility to (a) produce clowns that mimic their wild counterparts and (b) to offer high quality clowns to consumers who pay their hard earned dollars for your product.

The first part of ethical responsibility is harder than ever due to constant introduction of designer clowns that do not happen naturally in the wild. However, that doesn't absolve a breeder of duty to produce clowns with minimal deformities. As someone who has bred clowns I can tell you firsthand that mimicking Mother Nature is no walk in the park. Nevertheless, culling is an essential part of breeding to get rid of offsprings that exhibit extreme deformities.

Second, if a breeder is to produce clowns with "rare" patterns that demand charging a premium price then it is imperative to offer fishes that not only look "cool" but also lack severe deformities. The truth is many hobbyists entering the saltwater world cannot spot even some of the most obvious deformities in clowns. They spend over $100 on a pair of designer clowns only to find out later that what they bought is a lemon. Now they are stuck in a situation where they have to rehome the fishes or deal with an eyesore in their tank. Neither choice is ideal.

Lastly, when a major commercial platform such as Diver's Den gives you an opportunity to showcase your product, why not send them high quality clownfishes? It's your time to shine. Send them the best. Let DD offer the best rather than sell your products as "blemished".

 

[Big E]

That's pathetic.............blame goes all round to breeders who don't cull and DD for putting them up for sale.

I've never been a big fan of designer clowns but over the years my desire to own any of them has dropped to zero due to how common deformities are now a days.

 

[tonysi]

I thought that the slack jaw/ pug dog look was in...:spin2:

 

[Jazeel55]

I would buy them just to give them the extra love they deserve


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[rvareef]

I would buy them just to give them the extra love they deserve


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+1 that last one looks like it could be called grandpa

 

[davocean]

Good post, so many people don't know the difference, and unfortunately some know but just don't care.

I like the comment about buying them just to give them love, many people just want the clowns and never plan to breed, and that's fine, as long as people know that breeding them is not really ideal.

 

[pfan151]

If people keep paying for the deformities than the breeder have no incentive to improve. Sadly the ones in the pics in this thread are far from worst I’ve seen on DD.

 

[D-Nak]

I'm surprised that DD even tries to sell them. It ruins their reputation of selling quality fish. I would think the LADD buyers would refuse to buy such low quality clowns. I can only guess that the breeders are selling hundreds of fish to them with minimal quality control on both ends. It doesn't give them an excuse to sell them though.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

I've come to accept that 99% of Picasso clowns I see on the market WILL have at least one deformity. Period. One of the pairs I currently own, probably not for too much longer due to space limitations, is Picasso. They aren't perfect. Their dorsal and pelvic fins are short, their face isn't perfect like my wild caught pair. However, they are not even close to being as deformed the ones offered on DD. The clowns on DD should have been culled early on in the breeding process. Their deformities are too severe and extreme to make it this far down in retail chain.
Here's the pair I own

 

[D-Nak]

There's a post on FB in one of the clownfish groups where someone is asking about whether or not to cull a fish with a severely pinched face but nice markings. Most people who responded expressed interest in acquiring it. So there's that. :facepalm:

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Good Lord!
A little bit of patience in search of clowns can yield high benefits.
Davocean ^is very fond of Picasso clowns and I know he had passed up quite a few pairs till he found his pair(s).

 

[davocean]

Good Lord!
A little bit of patience in search of clowns can yield high benefits.
Davocean ^is very fond of Picasso clowns and I know he had passed up quite a few pairs till he found his pair(s).

True that and thanks to your help I did score that pretty much perfect pair, which just today had their very first spawn!!!!

Now my previous picasso's I got from Doni, the female was as good as it gets, the male had a very very slight underbite, but that was enough right there for me to pass on breeding them though I had many requests, just not gonna be part of compromising the breed.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

True that and thanks to your help I did score that pretty much perfect pair, which just today had their very first spawn!!!!

Woohoo!

 

[davocean]

 

[Ron Popeil]

where did you get your pair daveocean?

 

[davocean]

where did you get your pair daveocean?

Eric/coralsaddiction found someone selling this pair randomly on ebay or something, some guy in new jersey, think he was downsizing his collection.

I had been searching a long time, I was dead set on getting a breedable defect free pair of picasso's, as it goes w/ the title of this post getting very hard to find these days.

 

[pfan151]

Has there ever been any proof that these deformed clowns are anymore likely to go on to produce deformed clowns than a wild collected clown? Just curious because I always thought the deformities were mostly due to their food/water quality during rearing. If that is the case then it shouldn’t be a condition that is passed on to offspring if they are raised in better conditions.

 

[elegance coral]

Has there ever been any proof that these deformed clowns are anymore likely to go on to produce deformed clowns than a wild collected clown? Just curious because I always thought the deformities were mostly due to their food/water quality during rearing. If that is the case then it shouldn't be a condition that is passed on to offspring if they are raised in better conditions.

I think that if Rod, of Rod's Onyx, could produce good looking fish from that hideous, Frankenstein, looking pair, he had, then any mutated pair can produce good looking fish.

 

[THEUNION1]

“Make Clown Fish Great Again”