What is your opinion on balloon mollies ethically?

Personal opnion is that they are deformed hunchback midgets.

Now if you happen to be a hunchback midget, please dont take offence. But to delibrately breed any animal for those traits is not really a good thing.

Natural looking fish, that swim and act normally are just so much better to watch.

Ian

Balloon mollies and other genetically engineered fish (painted tetras, blood parrot fish, most fancy goldfish, etc) are in general depressing stories. Rather than breed stronger more robust fish, many abnormal traits are emphasized so the fish will look "cuter". I see kids excitedly exclaim how "cute" fancy goldfish swim without realizing the swimming motion is a result of a warped backbone and squished internal organs, not to mention the suffering the poor fish is in. The same goes for balloon mollies I guess. They just don't look right, and will never survive in the wild. There are plenty of beautiful fish available that are natural, and that's my 2 cents.

i agree with the above poster. if they didn't have any more health or motility problems than a normal molly, it would be ok. but since they do, i think it's pretty cruel.

i personally don't even find them attractive at all. i look at them and they're just grotesque to me and i feel sorry for them.

Not a fan. Like the breeding of ANY animal with what should be a deformity that means it won't survive, but breeding it anyway for our own amusement, cruel and not really fair on the stunted and fragile animals that result. They look hideous too.

Don't like them.. breeding in a deformity.. not only that, it leads to overall poor health of the fish. I would almost be ok with it if it didn't end up doing so much harm to the fish in the long run.