Albino swordtails

[Shelley]

My beautiful red albino sword gave birth a few days ago, and this time I was able to find a dozen or so fry. 1 is bright red, just like the parents. A few more are lighter.. kind of an orange.. with the rest being white? Melody, you know the genetics of these fish.. is this normal?

Oh, I just got home with a trio of beautibus black swords.. are those Tux's? These guys are so black they sparkle blue. Pretty fishies :)

[Melody]

I think I'm starting trends....lol....you'll have to post some pic's of your new fishies! Love the blacks - they sparkle green, gold or blue, but its often hard to see in stores. I think that's why they've been overlooked for so long. They're far from new. Even the Chains have had them for years, so I guess I can't flatter myself into saying I started the trend after all. ;)

The shades of red can vary. The Whites could be a pastel Swordtail throw, (which is why I culled them - they didn't have the deep red and I suspected they may have have some pastel Swordtail in them). However, since you've seen a Koi thrown from that line already, I'd say there's a good chance they're koi.

Mine have yet to throw a koi - very strange, but then its hard to save their fry anyway so maybe I've just missed them. Maybe its just in the male or female's heritage that I sent to you. For all I know, that could be why they're all lighter, I was just guessing when I culled them....lol. The same breeder has the pastel albinos so that's where I got that guess. He also has Kois though. Kois often throw full red Albinos, so maybe the line was developed from Kois in the first place.

Sounds like you could get all sorts of Albino varieties, which is much more fun anyways.::D:

[Shelley]

Its always fun watching them grow and color up.

Ive been looking for some nice blacks for a while, these are the only ones Ive found so far that have the sparkle:yes: I will take a picture if them after they settle.


Mel, I had just put a bunch of 2 week old molly fry into my swordtail tank a few days before the sword dropped. The mollys are too big for the swords to eat, but not big enough to eat the new fry. The new fry kinda blended into the group. I think thats why I found as many new ones as I did. The last two drops I have only found a couple each. This is the first light colored drop tho.. maybe they blend in with the plants better? Those bright red babies dont have a chance hiding.

[jordonsmum]

Congratulations on the new babes Shelly!!! Are you on the island or mainland. For some reason I was thinking you were on the island. If you are I found some AMAZING black HIGHFIN swords today that were black bodies (sparkled, green or blue) with yellow or clear fins. Beautiful!!! I picked up 4 highfins out of the bunch.

[traco1]

Same here, wonder if we were at the same store.

[jordonsmum]

was it Langford??

[traco1]

Yep!http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_1_1.gif

[jordonsmum]

Sounds like we're neighbors..LOL They had some nice fish there tonight!!! He said that he sold all of the highfin lyretails at the beginning of the week:(

[Melody]

Its always fun watching them grow and color up.

Ive been looking for some nice blacks for a while, these are the only ones Ive found so far that have the sparkle:yes: I will take a picture if them after they settle.


Mel, I had just put a bunch of 2 week old molly fry into my swordtail tank a few days before the sword dropped. The mollys are too big for the swords to eat, but not big enough to eat the new fry. The new fry kinda blended into the group. I think thats why I found as many new ones as I did. The last two drops I have only found a couple each. This is the first light colored drop tho.. maybe they blend in with the plants better? Those bright red babies dont have a chance hiding.

LOL Everyone did some shopping today!

You could be onto something there Shell - with Albinos being so freaking blind, they need something going for them. I know in a few Livebearer species, if you get the adults accustomed to fry in the tank by growing them out a bit elsewhere and then adding them in, they'll leave new fry alone. Maybe that's part of your trick too, but its certainly not predictable with domestics.:mad:

I've never seen black swords without the sparkle, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there...lol....they're probably like Guppies then, and the metallic gene is one of its own. Good observation, thanks for mentioning it.:yes:

[jordonsmum]

It seems we're neighbors then :laugh: . What types of fish do you breed?

[CACAdmin]

The new fry kinda blended into the group. I think thats why I found as many new ones as I did. The last two drops I have only found a couple each. This is the first light colored drop tho.. maybe they blend in with the plants better? Those bright red babies dont have a chance hiding.

I know with platys many, many more of the light colored fry survive than the red wags. I think you're right in that it's pretty hard to hide when you stand out like a neon sign...lol.

[Melody]

I think we should track this stuff - its interesting.:yes:

[traco1]

Sounds like we're neighbors..LOL They had some nice fish there tonight!!! He said that he sold all of the highfin lyretails at the beginning of the week:(

Dang!! a couple of days too late!