Cruel To Be Kind?

[fluffycabbage]

I have a single adult female platy, since rehoming all the others a couple of weeks ago. Apparently she was pregnant coz there are new fry in the tank this morning! So, as i dont want to keep any of them, and im really not a fan of giving fish to any lfs (they do, lets face it, have an uncertain future), and there arent any predators in the main tank atm apart from the mum (shes not bothered by them, and the silver molly who doesnt seem bothered with chasing them) do I put them in the hospital tank with the 2 black mollies and the swordtail, who i know will eat them in one bite so to speak...
Is it a case of cruel to be kind? I want to do it now while i have my head ruling rather than my heart!

 

[JMcQueen]

Personally, and it is only my personal view, I'd sooner give them to a LFS and let them take their chances on survival rather than being definately eaten by a molly or swordtail. If only 20% survive into adult fish at least its better than killing them all

 

[fluffycabbage]

Personally, and it is only my personal view, I'd sooner give them to a LFS and let them take their chances on survival rather than being definately eaten by a molly or swordtail. If only 20% survive into adult fish at least its better than killing them all

Yeah i see your point, but lets say half go to homes where theyre gonna be poisoned through lack of knowledge of cycling, or disease, etc. Is it not better to prevent that in the first place? Dnot get me wrong, i care for the little guys - i saved 60 fry only last month, but when your lfs has no interest in making sure theyre going to knowledgable homes, then what hope is there?!

 

[JMcQueen]

I dont think you can ever get total piece of mind though. I'd like to consider myself a responsible fish owner (even though I currently dont have any fish, still cycling new tank) but I've had fish die before for different reasons and have had to 'euthenize' a fish once which wasnt pleasent.

Extending to a human scenario, is it better to die as a teenager having experienced a portion of life or to have died at birth knowing essentially nothing?

Its down to personal ethics and morals I guess. Nobody else can make the decision for you.

 

[fluffycabbage]

I dont think you can ever get total piece of mind though. I'd like to consider myself a responsible fish owner (even though I currently dont have any fish, still cycling new tank) but I've had fish die before for different reasons and have had to 'euthenize' a fish once which wasnt pleasent.

Extending to a human scenario, is it better to die as a teenager having experienced a portion of life or to have died at birth knowing essentially nothing?

Its down to personal ethics and morals I guess. Nobody else can make the decision for you.

Yeah fair point. See im actually thinking of the fish later in life, and am trying to protect them from anything horrible. Ive had to kill a poorly fish too, wasnt nice, for the fish or me. And its only coz i was a beginner that it got so poorly. another one i watched die, which was just awful Lack of knowledge is brutal.
I dont think its down to morals at all - if i had my way i'd save everything But realistically you just cant. So where so you draw the line?

 

[fluttermoth]

It's very emotive and difficult subject. Whatever you do will be wrong from some point of view...

Having said that, I do think it's better to cull fry that you don't feel you can re-home or that you don't have space to raise properly.

Feeding them to another fish may be seen as a bit brutal, but I don't think it's cruel as such. It is at least quick and, let's face it, is the ultimate fate of nearly all fry in the wild.

I've fed plenty of my mum's guppy fry to my Oscars over the years.

 

[fluffycabbage]

Thanks. The main tank is being changed tomorrow, so thats the ideal time to catch them all i guess. I missed 8 from the last lot of fry, and theyre about 3 weeks old now

 

[OldMan47]

In your position, I would simply feed the tank that contains both adults and fry. If I did that, I would expect a very small number of the new fry to survive the predation that naturally happens. the rare fry that survives such conditions will not overpopulate your tank, but will instead be a new person that you need to deal with in your plans. I seriously doubt that you will see more than 1 or 2 such individuals that need your consideration.