Yesterday we processed some miscellaneous cichlids and got a pleasant surprise in a vat of Labeotropheus fuelleborni I’d set aside a while back. They were part of a group of juvenile Blue Marmalades I was keeping as potential breeders. Three of the fish turned out to be almost red, two non-marmalade ... Read More
Breeding
Green Lyretail Sailfin Molly
Ashley and I processed the Green Lyretail Sailfin Mollies today. This a is relatively old strain of ours, having been developed in the late 1990s by crossing some Red Leopard Lyretail Mollies from an Asian farm with Poecilia latipinna, San Antonio River, which we had collected in 1998. As usual ... Read More
Freckle Hifin Genetic Tests
I recently sent off a column to Tropical Fish Hobbyist (TFH) magazine about a strain of Hifin Platies we have that breeds true. For those of you who don’t know, the hifin gene is a homozygous lethal in swordtails and platies. Fish that inherit two hifin genes, one from each parent, die as embryos. ... Read More
Our Herichthys carpintis (Pearl Scale Cichlid) Spawned in Community Tank
This morning I came into the office to find our pair of Herichthys carpintis, the Pearl Scale Cichlid or Green Texas Cichlid, had spawned in the 130 gallon aquarium. I wasn't happy. Having seen them building a spawning pit, I'd planned today to clear a vat for them and move them to it for spawning. ... Read More
Blue Iridescent Sword
Once again the urge to create a new fish struck. So, today, while going through our blue mickey mouse maculatus, I imagined the iridescent blue of the platies on a swordtail. I selected a few female platies and, after some thought, picked a male swordtail to father the new color strain. Which sword ... Read More
White Mickey Mouse Sword
Today, while sorting through our White Mickey Mouse Maculatus Platies to select breeders for our breeding colony, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have this color pattern on a swordtail?” No sooner than thought, I set aside eight female platies. After finishing with the platies, I picked a ... Read More