guff
Poecilia
Posts: 8
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Post by guff on May 2, 2013 16:52:53 GMT 11
Hi guys, I got a breeding pair of Electric Yellows about a month ago (the female is now holding . When I got them they were both clearly all Yellow except for the obvious black strips on their fins. I'm noticing now that they are both starting to get a black "sooty" look to them as if they have just spent a day in the pits. The male looks quite funny with a black mustache. I will try and post a photo if I can take one tonight. Water parameters are normal, pH is about 7.6-7.8. I feed them daily on a variety of frozen foods (bloodworms, cichlid mix and vegie mix) as well as colour enhancing pellets and flakes. Neither of the fish are displaying odd behaviour (except the holding female who is a little lethargic but I put that down to the fact that she is holding). Any ideas what the marks could be?
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Post by firthy13 on May 2, 2013 18:14:27 GMT 11
the black is an indication of poor quality and poorly bred fish. it an be a result of inbreeding brothers and sisters together for too many generation but it can also occur naturally. the way we get around this is culling off any 'dirty' fish and only growing up and breeding the ones with the desirable traits, in the case of Labidochromis Caeruleus we breed the ones with the brightest yellow and have the least amount of black on there bodies. Effectively line breeding them. there is nothing you can do about it. its just the fish genetics. the best way around it is to buy good quality stock from the get go. here are some pictures of my yellow colony.
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moy
xenotilapia
Posts: 669
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Post by moy on May 2, 2013 21:54:48 GMT 11
Well Said Firthy13. I know where you can find some quality stock! ;-)
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guff
Poecilia
Posts: 8
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Post by guff on May 3, 2013 17:32:46 GMT 11
Damn, sounds like I got some duds!
I've since gotten two more females that are older and aren't showing the dirtyness yet.
Any idea where I can get a decent male from?
Also, is there any way of telling the poor quality fish before the black marks start showing?
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dazzman
xenotilapia
Mbuna Boy
Posts: 675
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Post by dazzman on May 3, 2013 18:17:14 GMT 11
not really, well not for soot anyway. Like most of the guys on this forum that have Labidochromis caeruleus I have some that were from what were supposed to be the best line available in Newcastle. Whilst my females have grown up to be very nice my male has started to develop soot also and I too will be looking to replace him. With experience you will be able to pick up if a fish has the wrong cranial/body/finnage shape and/or wrong colouration though.
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Post by Admin on May 4, 2013 2:21:18 GMT 11
Older fish even andy's line will develope soot. Nitrate has an influence on the amount as does age. A 5' yes five inch yellow will always have soot. Had and seen older colonies to 7 inches...They will also be a dulled yellow chrome colour. I have not seen many colonies grown out to their full potential. A 4' fish is only a juvenile but best breeding occurs in the first 2 years that is why most fast and well grown fish look great, NLS is another reason. If you truly want to guage the quality of your fish don't feed NLS, as many of you know I have not used the " ultra saturated color enhancer" for many years so I can guage and see the real colour of the fish. In most cases there was not alot of diff. Yellows were an exception to the rule and seem to need alot of beta carotene in the fry stage, up to 30mm to really shine as adults.
I could write an essay here on findings but its late, and have trialled several species and then collection points within species with varying diets... Too much info to try and get out in a single post.
Cheers
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