deformed fish

[andruboz]

last week I picked up another nicaraguense from my lfs hoping to get another female and i think i missed again. i took a smaller one with a slightly odd head because it was the only one not showing male color patterns.

tonite i took a close look and this little guy is really deformed.
one pectoral fin is mounted high on the body and the pectoral is low on the body. its swimming fine and eating. took some abuse from a little bifasciatum when introduced but now gets along. i dont think mutant fish make great prospects for trading in at my lfs.

what is everybody's opinion on deformed but apparently healthy fish? should i let it live but not reproduce? or?

[dave76]

got a pic?

[dbcb314]

i say you flush him and try to get another female.

[andruboz]

i would flush in a heartbeat if i was sure it was a disease and not a birth defect. but there is that 'will to live' issue. where the little guy was dealt a crappy hand but continues to make the best of it...

if i keep him much longer, you can see he'll become a beloved freak. suitable for life with my blood parrots and other mutants of the universe.


in the pic- his fins aren't like that just because he's in a rowing motion. they are actually attached that screwed up.

[Haggisman]

I say keep it or give it to someone who will care for it, its not its fault its deformed.I certainly would not flush it, if you have to euthanise it then please do it humanely.

[Tiger15]

One man's deformity is another man's novelty. I visited a LFS in New York China Town that carries hundreds of Flowerhorn, Blood Parrot and Arrowanas. One show piece Flowerhorn with a deformed flattened face that looks like having a car crash was named " Elephant Face" and selling for $400. Another foot long Silver Arrowana with a crooked S-shaped body was named "Lighning Dragon" and selling for $300.

Save the fish and raise it to adulthood. Who knows. With the right deformity, you can make a profit by auctioning it out.