Breeder Awards Points

[myjohnson]

I've also seen bonus points given for documentation of the breeding from start to finish.

+1! I would be down for this!

We need more people posting quality breeding and set up information.

[mnemenoi]

I would certainly think they would, even increasing in number as folks try harder shrimp and succeed

[Totenkampf]

okay i just read the doc that tim linked and its pretty good! one thing they mentioned was points for writing. i was going through the species profiles on HFB just yesterday and they could have a bunch more added to them. i realize HFB isnt a GHAC site but it seems to be home base. profiles wouldnt be many points and should only be counted if complete. i get tired of going to one site for pH recommendations and another for hardness! well written DIY blogs like the carbon snake blog or in depth species profiles could be introduced at a greater reward.

also, in my opinion, i would not want to see hybrids in the mix but thats just something that i do not personally agree with. of course, i might be persuaded otherwise since i know i have some hybrid plants in my aquaria

[clayt101]

We did / are doing one for SELAS. Nolapete set up everything, but then he quit the club, so it is up in the air now. Here is a link to how it was set up:

http://www.selas.us/portal/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=35

[Sea-agg09]

do shrimp count?

We'll have to write out our own scoring sheet. Just like the mbuna and guppies, easy shrimp like cherries would probably count for next to nothing. If you get king kongs popping babies faster than you can count, you just might break the bank...lol. It would actually be an interesting point of discussion, because even expensive shrimp can breed like crazy.

In the big scheme of things, if you are breeding crystals or rili or something else with a nice $$ attached to their name, you might not score big on our make-believe breeder game, but you will bring in some nice cash. That's a trade I'm willing to make.

[Totenkampf]

from the link tim posted, a particular breeder will get points on a one time basis for breeding a particular species or subspecies. i think this would be the fair way of doing it although the breeder would still bank on the auction

[SteveCGG]

GHAC is a Not for Profit Organization. Our goals are to Educate and promote the Fish Hobby. This could be a great addition for our hobbyists for all of the reasons everyone listed so far...

[BeefyG]

What about points for creating hybrids, getting 2 different fish to breed while doing it for purpose of combining their good traits together

Hybrids can be a very controversial topic. Some people are very passionate about the topic so it would probably be best to leave them out.

[johnnymisty]

It was just a thought the only fish I ever bred so far was the ever so easy convicts but when I get back around to doing freshwater tanks I'm all for learning how to breed good quality fish

[Totenkampf]

good quality fish bloodlines or those bred for certain traits like apisto agassizi 'double red' wouldnt fall under hybrids i think.

[moganman]

I don't have anything cool, but this is an interesting topic.

[mnemenoi]

I have looked over a variety of different systems used by clubs and most of the point system would be based upon fellow hobbyists and general trends in the industry. What I have seen used is different groupings, such as fish breeding (fresh, salt, and brackish), plant horticulture (producing and growing various plants and marine algae), Coral propagation (possibly including inverts). Each grouping would be determined by aquarists familiar with their respective area of expertise. I imagine it would take a bit to develop our own system for points and what is required in which to do so, but even in a relaxed atmosphere I imagine many would be helped by write ups and successful techniques. I really like the idea of relieving the stress to WC populations and the challenge of working with some more challenging species. (It might even justify me getting those checkerboard cichlids I've always lusted after, lol)

[TonyO]

I'm game for this. I think it will be something we need to discuss at a meeting. From my understanding, the most "successful" way of doing the breeder points is to have a scale. Also depending on the base currency, you could set breeding at a given value. Things like Mbuna or guppies would be a 1, but another more difficult fish would be worth 5 points, and rare/never before bred fish would be something much higher. I've also seen bonus points given for documentation of the breeding from start to finish.

That was one of my issues with the last system. They had mbuna at like 25 points, so anyone interested in those would rack up points quickly, yet my species of South American mouthbrooding cichlids were worth like 15 points (and I believe I was the only person who had them in the club, at that time). The point system is important.

sounds interesting if it applies to inverts and plants too? although i dont breed critters much, they occasionally grow out if no one eats them so it wouldnt take much just to get me to foster them better lol. i do agree that we, as hobbyists, have a duty to minimize the effects of out hobby on wild populations. the other aspect is that we can sometimes prevent a species from disappearing from the trade altogether. i have seen far too many herps go that route

We also had a Horticulture points program. I'm sure one could do something similar with inverts, if they so chose.

+1! I would be down for this!

We need more people posting quality breeding and set up information.

Exactly! We had to write articles for the newsletter. Again, sharing the information is often the most important thing. We had people that would write articles in what looked like 10 minutes, and they weren't very helpful.

from the link tim posted, a particular breeder will get points on a one time basis for breeding a particular species or subspecies. i think this would be the fair way of doing it although the breeder would still bank on the auction

Yes, points for a species (or subspecies, if specified) should only happen once. . .

What would happen at the auctions is that they would get flooded with whatever species the top breeders were working on. So, one of them would get fry, give them (and the parents) to the others, then we'd have 30 bags of the things at the auctions. That was one of my concerns with these types of programs, but with enough variety and participation, that would hopefully be negated.

I would hope, as well, that much of the actual record keeping on this wouldn't fall to Tim or the other officers. Let them handle the meetings, and get some others involved in an official capacity. Obviously, they wouldn't operate in a bubble, but I've seen great hobbyists burn out not because of the actual fishkeeping, but because of club business.

Like I said, if this were done properly, and points didn't become the main focus of the club and club business, then a program like this does have real value. . .

[TonyO]

Hybrids can be a very controversial topic. Some people are very passionate about the topic so it would probably be best to leave them out.

Well, there is a way to include them, if one wanted. . . a person would only get points for one of the parental species.

[Doug A]

Back in the day (about '91-'96) I was the BAP/HAP chairmen at the HAS. The system I used was one point for each species or wild population (like a sub species). The reason I did not used a system that gave more points to some species was that point system I saw was for a part of the country were the water was very soft. In those areas African Cichlids can be hard, and some fish that are hard for us are easy.