--- "Hoover, Jan J ERDC-EL-MS"
<Jan.J.Hoover-in-erdc.usace.army.mil> wrote:
> I am going to risk an off-topic post here because it
> concerns the aquarium
> hobby in general.
>
> Last night, while-in-one of the major pet retailers,
> I noticed that only
> males were available for most of the fancy guppy
> strains and for the dwarf
> gouramies. When I asked an employee about females,
> I was shown a single tank
> of cobra-like female guppies. If a customer wanted
> to breed guppies they
> would have to mix strains (and by the genes of their
> F1s).
>
> Why are only males being sold ?
> A. Simple retailing strategy- most consumers only
> want a colorful fish and
> have no interest in breeding
> B. Advanced retailing strategy - unavailability of
> females means repeated
> sales of an "unbreedable" fish
> C. Sense of property - breeders do not want
> hobbyists tampering with their
> creations (and possibly underselling them)
>
> Try as I may - none of these seem to be realistic -
> but I have heard
> hobbyists say similar things about the
> unavailability of female cichlids of
> some species.
>
> Does anyone know ?
> Do small independent fish stores offer females of
> the same varieties/species
> not offered in the larger chain outlets?
> Don't most customers want to have male and female
> combinations when they buy
> fish for their tanks ?
>
> - Jan Hoover
> Vicksburg, MS
>
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John Cox of Cumberland Killifish
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/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association (NANFA). Comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of NANFA. For more information about NANFA,
/ visit http://www.nanfa.org Please make sure all posts to nanfa-l are
/ consistent with the guidelines as per
/ http://www.nanfa.org/guidelines.shtml To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get
/ help, visit the NANFA email list home page and archive at
/ http://www.nanfa.org/email.shtml