genetic traits of platys

[Spink]

Hi Guys!

I'm not one for genetics and knowing how to get a particular trait in a fish, so need some help.....

Can anyone give me any indication on how to guarantee breeding the hi-fin trait in my platys?

I had bunch of them, they bred, and some had normal fins so I took them out and now I just have a bunch of hi-fins in the tank.

They popped some sprogs and though they are small, they don't appear to have the hi-fin trait.

A previous small batch of juvies didn't have the h-fin trait either.

Do I just keep going and take out the normal and leave in any hi-fins, or do I need to get a bit more intensive and pair them up to see who drops what traits in their fry?

Any advice would be appreciated

[raewyna]

I'm not big on platy genes specifically but if you have bred hifin to hifin and got plain babies, then the hifin gene appears to be dominant and your parent fish are not purebred (ie are carrying the plain gene as well as hifin). If you try breeding the plain babies back to the parents, you will only get more half breeds. So I would guess continue keeping and breeding the hifin babies and after a few generations the population should become more pure. If you can recognise individual fish and monitor their babies you might be able to work out which ones are purebred, but that takes lots of tanks and lots more patience. Also, I don;t know how old the babies have to be to show the hi fin. My answer will have moved this back to the top. Hopefully someone else can come in with more direct knowledge. I just have a few red wagtail platies. The original two females have grown so big they look like hybrids, but are breeding (I thought the sword/platy hybrids were sterile). The male is a normal platy. The first babies are just about getting to breeding size and so far are a mix of big like Mum (female) or smaller and brighter coloured like Dad (but both sexes).