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Heart Defects in Baby Plecos


Hobbit
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I made a short video to show what’s been going on with my baby plecos.

About half the babies I get from my pleco pair have this issue, and the ones that do only live a few weeks. The other half seem fine and grow up healthy and strong. I assume these defects are showing up as a result of inbreeding; I’m 99% sure my parent plecos are siblings. The parents both seem completely healthy, but that’s recessive genetics for you!

I recently gave my mom pleco to @Goosedub so he can breed her with some new males. Hopefully their babies do better!

 

Edited by Hobbit
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Fascinating observation, and not surprising that something like this can occur in fish! I agree that this congenital heart disease is probably due to inbreeding, though other factors could contribute and exacerbate such a defect.

Edited by OutBout
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On 8/17/2022 at 12:45 PM, Hobbit said:

I made a short video to show what’s been going on with my baby plecos.

About half the babies I get from my pleco pair have this issue, and the ones that do only live a few weeks. The other half seem fine and grow up healthy and strong. I assume these defects are showing up as a result of inbreeding; I’m 99% sure my parent plecos are siblings. The parents both seem completely healthy, but that’s recessive genetics for you!

I recently gave my mom pleco to @Goosedub so he can breed her with some new males. Hopefully their babies do better!

 

I’ll let you know how it goes!

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On 8/17/2022 at 12:45 PM, Hobbit said:

I made a short video to show what’s been going on with my baby plecos.

About half the babies I get from my pleco pair have this issue, and the ones that do only live a few weeks. The other half seem fine and grow up healthy and strong. I assume these defects are showing up as a result of inbreeding; I’m 99% sure my parent plecos are siblings. The parents both seem completely healthy, but that’s recessive genetics for you!

I recently gave my mom pleco to @Goosedub so he can breed her with some new males. Hopefully their babies do better!

 

Fascinating even though sad, and excellent documentation of the issue.  Thank you for spreading education.

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