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Fish sold as pairs


billango
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So I have stumbled into an interest in fish breeding and was thinking of buying some fish that I'd specifically want to breed. I've done some looking on aquabid and such and have seen fish sold as "pairs". I've seen the same label at aquarium co-op as well. I was wondering if this means that the fish are a proven breeding pair, or if that just means it is one male and one female and they haven't necessarily bred together before. 

If it does mean they are a proven breeding pair, how does a breeder identify that it is these two fish specifically that are breeding if they are within a group of fish? Do breeders separate a male and a female in isolation and see if they breed and if they do, can then label them as a pair? Also are fish selective in which other fish they breed with, so if you did have to isolate a male and a female, maybe the female wouldn't like the male and you'd have to try another male?  Thanks in advance!

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It is done both ways. In some cases, the seller will know that the fish are a breeding pair because they have witnessed them spawn and have successful batches of fry. A true breeding pair will usually cost more, and may be harder to find because a seller may not want to sell a good breeding pair if they are a breeder that relies on the sales of that type of fish (not wanting to flood the market with competition). However, in many cases, sellers will just pair up males and females and sell them as a "pair". You will see this in guppies, where they sell them as a trio. The main thing to look for is if they are advertised as a pair, or a breeding pair (or even a breeding group).

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That’s a good question.  The answer not so much.  It really depends on the seller, but most often a pair is just a male and female. A trio typically is one male, 2 females.  Usually Getting fish to pair up and spawn is relatively straight forward, though some species are more difficult 

@Zenzo beat me to the rest of it

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Depending on the species, it may not matter much, or at all.  Or it could be very important.  You would have to know the species well enough to know if you need to ask if they are a “proven pair” which for most means they have bred together and produced viable offspring.  Some will put a proven female (meaning she has successfully produced offspring, not just produced eggs) with a proven male (again, produced viable offspring) and call them a proven pair, which may be enough, depending on the species, so ask before you pay premium prices for a proven pair depending on what you want/expect.

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My proven discus pairs sold for $300/pair back when I bred, because they were proven, and their offspring were consistent and bred true.

A "pair" is just 1 male & 1 female, most of the time. Sometimes they are juveniles and won't be. Most of the time, the mistake is honest.

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