Why cull shrimp?

[Unkillable Cat]

An honest questing I'm not looking into the morals etc.

I know a lot of breeders cull poorly coloured stock, is this due to bad genes or just a less than ideal colour?

I was thinking about it this morning, in my family almost everyone has black hair, however my uncle and myself have red hair, but still produce dark haired children. I know from breeding guppies that recessive genes will often spring up, only to last one or two generations. Do you get the same with shrimp, or will "culls" only produce more of the same?

[jbrady33]

Unless I'm mistaken, the culls are the dark haired people in your family (the normal color people, or dull colored shrimp). If you and your uncle were separated from the group and given red haired women, then repeat with the offspring in an attempt to create an all red haired family.

[Soothing Shrimp]

Depends what type of shrimp and what pattern or color going for. Often I cull at the first generation and each after.

[Unkillable Cat]

Originally Posted by jbrady33

Unless I'm mistaken, the culls are the dark haired people in your family (the normal color people, or dull colored shrimp). If you and your uncle were separated from the group and given red haired women, then repeat with the offspring in an attempt to create an all red haired family.

Ahh never thought of it from that angle. Makes far more sense approaching it that way.

[acitydweller]

Culling is a practice in the hobby to eliminate unwanted traits from breeding. This assumes that incest is an allowable and common practice.

[Bananariot]

It could be any trait, it's just to clean up the genes so that the ones that aren't disireable don't show up in later generations. Also when we use the term cull, we sometimes don't mean to kill them off, we just remove them from our breeding population.

[Unkillable Cat]

Originally Posted by Bananariot

It could be any trait, it's just to clean up the genes so that the ones that aren't disireable don't show up in later generations. Also when we use the term cull, we sometimes don't mean to kill them off, we just remove them from our breeding population.

That's what I do at the moment, and just sell the less colourful shrimp as lower grade.

Growing up in a semi rural area I always assumed culling to be killing, it's good to know they are not being popped off for not looking perfect. I know I will probably be seen as a bit soft for this but I see it as a bit harsh to kill mine off when I can just as easily re-home them.

[acitydweller]

i keep a tank of wild ones which gladly invite more inhabitants all the time. Also you likely will find friends in the hobby who also will rehome them so in practice, prefer keeping life than killing as do you.

[jbrady33]

Culls will always have a home in the RAOK section too Myself for example - I have two tanks and wanted shrimp in both. Don't want a breeding program and don't intend to cull anything or enforce any specific trait - just wanted a handful of rejects from people who are trying to do these things.

They end up with perfect Painted Fire Reds and CRS that are almost all white - I get nice 'just plain red' and CRS with bands of white and red, exactly what I wanted for 'pets'




Culls could also be used as feeders for fish, but I don't think anyone offering "culls from my breeding program for the cost of shipping" would ever have to wait long in the ROAK room!

[mach_six]

Originally Posted by Unkillable Cat

That's what I do at the moment, and just sell the less colourful shrimp as lower grade.

Growing up in a semi rural area I always assumed culling to be killing, it's good to know they are not being popped off for not looking perfect. I know I will probably be seen as a bit soft for this but I see it as a bit harsh to kill mine off when I can just as easily re-home them.

Hobbyists may not but I am sure commercial and specialty breeders do kill them off.

[dmattbfan5]

I too was unfamiliar with the purpose of culling until I started breeding PFR's. I had one female with a flaw in her carapice. On either side of her head, she had a muddled spot that looked almost transparent compared to her rich red body. I mistakenly didn't cull her, and i found the same flaw in about 20 shrimp down the road. I had about 20 berried females in the tank, and thats not to say that she didnt produce any high quality offspring (there would be no way to know), but it took me a very long time to grow out those offspring to find their flaws and remove that gene. Just my two pence.

[Optix]

culling IMO means fish food in another tank

[shinycard255]

Originally Posted by Optix

culling IMO means fish food in another tank

That's what I do with my culls

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[HypnoticAquatic]

Originally Posted by Optix

culling IMO means fish food in another tank

but u have to yell this is sparta when you do it!

in reality some cull some dont it just depends on what that person is wanting out of there live stock. some want the best some just want happy and healthy fauna.

[Knotyoureality]

Culling isn't always about promoting/removing specific genetic traits either.

Shrimp, fish or otherwise, there's also culling to re-balance gender ratios, remove aging or debilitated specimens and to decrease overall numbers to improve resource availability for the remaining population.