# Culling methods



## Maddybelle (Sep 29, 2012)

I know this is an unpleasant topic, but I'm curious about other people's culling practices. Personally, this is my first spawn, so I'm still figuring all this out. I'm still in the process of culling the weak, tiny, and deformed babies from my orange x cello HM spawn. I'm doing stage 2 of my culling process tomorrow, at 10 weeks. Stage 1 consisted of rounding up as many tiny/deformed fry as I could catch, and taking them down to my LFS to feed to the oscars at 6 weeks. Since then, I've had a few that needed to be culled for humane reasons: these have been fed to, get this, my hamster. I've heard of folks using frogs to cull fry, but mine seems totally uninterested. So, I figured I'de give the hammy a try, he eats anything. This is so much easier than driving down to the LFS, and its very quick.

How about y'all? How do you cull? And when? What do you consider the most humane way of culling deformed or weak fry?


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

If they are small and not yet "formed" themselves as little bettas, usually fed to other fish. Once they are bigger though I just use clove oil. A small amount, in a very open space x.x


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

I feed my culls to larger fish and once they are too big to be eaten-I decapitate or drop them in ice water and freeze-since the ice water put them in shock as soon as they hit the water and dead within seconds. Personally, I didn't like the clove oil overdose method because they seemed to struggle too long for my taste. 
When I was raising my orphan baby opossum, she helped me cull that year.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

I've not had a spawn yet, so I cant attest to that. But when I was going through my columnaris and dropsy outbreak I ran out of clove oil so I started using vinegar, I'd just cup whoever it was that was pineconing and add a bunch of vinegar and walk away for like 10 minutes. when I came back they were dead. I hate seeing them suffer, and I know that vinegar isnt the humanest method, but thats all I had and it was faster than letting them die on their own.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Clove oil is my favorite. They literally go to sleep. Freezing as been proven to cause pain.


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## Maddybelle (Sep 29, 2012)

I prefer clove oil for adult fish. I recently had to put down my 7in fancy goldfish. I added clove oil gradually, so he went to sleep first. I ended up using 2 tablespoons in a large tupperware container. It was really peaceful, he just slipped away. Won't be using it in plastic anymore, though. Had to throw the containers away they were so permeated with clove.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

While I do agree fish feel pain, they lack the wiring in the bran to perceive pain the way mammal do. Fish are instinct driven-fight or flight-eat or be eaten. Regardless, I don't like for them to suffer and want the method I use to be fast.


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## morius (Dec 9, 2012)

I wanted to ask this in a new thread, but this topic seems good for it:

When you guys breed bettas, what percentage of the fry usually dies (of natural causes)? And during which stages (like, at which stage should they hopefully stop dying)?


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Morius, it really all depends on how you take care of them. The pros might be able to raise 95% of their spawn while beginners who haven't done their research may raise 5%. I would say that most of the fry die in the first stage of life probably, but I've never counted.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

First two weeks with mine, under 15 died from just being weak. After that 4 died... Three unknown (too weak of immune system is my guess) and one was snagged by a larger sibling and died at her mouth -_-; So I have 229 left. xD


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Maddybelle, I would've just saved those dishes in case I needed them again, no point in having to buy special dishes if you already have them!

With our guppies, my ACF's are the preferred culling method, but we have to do it within a certain size, or the frogs won't bother. When my needlenose gar broke his back, and when my pineapple betta had a horrible infection and couldn't breathe, I had to freeze, and I HATED it! I wasn't sure how long to leave them in, and I could only imagine how they felt, being so cold.


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## Basement Bettas (May 12, 2012)

I have a 10"-11" Oscar so he can handle VERY large fish. But I actually have a friend that rehomes them as a way to be remembered when she cold calls on businesses. Even the deformed ones often get special needs homes. Only real runts and sick go to Trash.. the oscar.

http://youtu.be/D-hwjfM4Eeg


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

The Oscar 's name is Trash? Lol
When I get to Texas I can take in some special needs fish.


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## Basement Bettas (May 12, 2012)

dramaqueen said:


> The Oscar 's name is Trash? Lol
> When I get to Texas I can take in some special needs fish.


Yeah.. when bettas are culled they go in the Trash kinda thing. I get some curved spines and I have a very sweet small one now with only one eye. Going to try to get it a home as not competing well with the sibs. These are brother and sister.. 

http://youtu.be/5EQxciX3PBI

Some one will adore it and make sure that blind side does not have to worry about other fish. Smaller than these it is about 8-9 weeks now.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

If my fiance wasn't such a butthead, I would totally take him in! lol


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Here's my preferred guppy population control
Frankie









Freddie









their names aren't as cool as Trash, but they're still somewhat effective. And thankfully, they're both males, so I won't have to try to control THEIR population!


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## Bluewind (Oct 24, 2012)

I am concidering doing my 1st batch, so all of this is very interesting to me. I know I will have a higher death rate because I wont be able to feed live foods and it will be my 1st time, but that fine for me as I wouldn't be selling them to pet stores anyway, just locals. And a few to give away to friends and family. I might keep a female or 2 for myself though as I'm pretty sure I can sell the males easier. Take some of the business away from that nasty WalMart who sells people half-dead, injured, amonia burned Bettas in itty-bitty cups with 2-3 inches of water (no breeders in my area so no one currently has a choice!). :evil:

So how do yall tell when a fry is deformed? I mean discription wise as I can't watch videos on my phone.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

It's pretty easy. At 1-2 weeks bent spines are obvious as are swimming problems. 3-4 makes it easier to tell with the eyes and body shape, and after that finnage if you are doing a serious head on cull.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

I think finnage would be the most difficult to pick out. That's just me though, because I'm still learning finnage types.

I think the easiest thing to do, would be picking out a fish that you like, that you know has good conformation (has a great body, fins, etc) and pretty much take away every one of your offspring that isn't shaped like that fish. It sounds weird, but it might help. Either way, it'll help you to visualize your goal.


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## Basement Bettas (May 12, 2012)

Skyewillow said:


> I think finnage would be the most difficult to pick out. That's just me though, because I'm still learning finnage types.
> 
> I think the easiest thing to do, would be picking out a fish that you like, that you know has good conformation (has a great body, fins, etc) and pretty much take away every one of your offspring that isn't shaped like that fish. It sounds weird, but it might help. Either way, it'll help you to visualize your goal.


Eye for finnage when young comes with staring at your fish for days and years on end. My regular lines I can spot the no way/cull pretty early. But I still get them to 8 weeks. If I out cross I wait them out.. as sometimes hard to tell. Round edges and sloping anals don't get better with growth so do get culled early. But the rest I wait for branching and spread..


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Feed to something else....I have rats and though I don't breed my rats have gobbled up some feeder fish I get them once in a while and love it.

Fast blow to the head is the quickest and most painless way or severing the spinal column by removing the head. Anything beyond that seems too slow and painful to me. 

I know some mouse breeders when they had to cull would bash a baby's head on a table by holding the tail and swinging hard, I think smaller fish that would be hard to accomplish though. It seems mean but if it doesn't kill them off the bat it sure as hell puts them out cold and happens so fast they don't realize it happened. 0 pain is the way to go.


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