BonsaiNut
Premium Member
Price aside, I'm usually the first person to admit how much I dislike designer clowns, but those gold nugget maroon clowns on LADD right now are pretty darn cool! I suspect I like them because the pattern is actually symmetrical, unlike the paint splatter look of so many designer clowns.
I would never buy these - ever - because of the body flaws. When I looked at them I wouldn't see the pattern; all I would see would be the pug nose, the bad lower jaw, and the lumpy head.
Quality over pattern - ALWAYS. At least for me. Perhaps it is because I keep show quality koi
That is what we were talking about earlier. Raising clowns is easy. Raising PERFECT clowns is very VERY hard. These body deformities are often not the result of genetics because they usually will not breed true. They are the result of breeding conditions and environment. Some breeders believe that pug nose and broken jaws are the result of pelagic larvae bumping into walls in a breeding setup - while they would never do so in the wild. Professional breeders spend a mint on extra large circular larval setting tanks with circular water flow and venturis on the wall sides - to try to keep the larvae in the middle of the tank and away from the walls. It reduces the incidence of these deformities, but does not eliminate them. Many garage breeders do not have the space (or the money or knowledge) for these setups - and other even more complicated "tricks of the trade". They will grow out spawns with 90% or higher deformities - hump back, pop eyes, bad fins, crooked spine (from above), crooked spine (from the side), overbite, underbite. Because they have spent so much time and effort to even get a few fish to adulthood, they will often pass on these deformed fish instead of culling them. Hobbyists buy these deformed fish... and then try to breed them again. Because they have strange patterns, you can always seem to find SOMEONE who will buy them.
Compare the sad fish in this thread to THIS fish - which represents in my mind an almost "perfect" holotype. Look at the perfect body lines. The clean curves. The full and perfect fins with perfectly round edges. If this was a tank-raised fish I would say "AMAZING". But I'll almost guarantee you it's not.
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