Salty Sardine Posted October 24, 2018 Report Share Posted October 24, 2018 Do we have golden form of these leopardfish in NZ? If not how feasible is it to selectively breed for brighter yellow color in these fish (google Phalloceros caudimaculatus auratus for what I'm referring to) Can I just round up all the most yellow-looking leopardfish into one tank and remove any drabber looking one as they show up over time. Or do I need to have more thorough plan of separating the breeding pair/trio into their own tank like one would do for fancy guppies? By the way, is it still legal to keep these fish, i.e. they haven't gone the way of gambusia. I looked through old topic regarding leopardfish but they're seem rather dated and I'm unsure if the regulation (or the lack of) around the leopardfish has changed lately or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 25, 2018 Report Share Posted October 25, 2018 I have always loved leopardfish but not heard of the auratus. Mine seemed to be half the pale sort and half the golden ones when I had them so I would think selecting the ones you want ought to eventually give you consistently the colours you prefer. As far as I know it is still legal to keep these fish. livingart 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 25, 2018 Report Share Posted October 25, 2018 +1 to what Caryl has said, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty Sardine Posted October 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2018 15 hours ago, Caryl said: I have always loved leopardfish but not heard of the auratus. Mine seemed to be half the pale sort and half the golden ones when I had them so I would think selecting the ones you want ought to eventually give you consistently the colours you prefer. As far as I know it is still legal to keep these fish. When you mention that they're half golden, you mean like they're tinted yellow rather than have discrete golden patch? I think I seen few handful in my pond colony (out of around 150~ fish) like that. Just wanna check if this proposed plan make sense or in need of some refinement or adjustment, or there's another more streamlined course of action: 1) catch the leopardfish from pond 2) separate the leopardfish by gender to prevent indiscriminate breeding 3) sort the most yellow fish out of each gender (return the rest to the pond, continue to keep them separated by gender?) 4) put those yellow fish in their own tank 5) wait for them to produce fry and grow 6) remove less-yellow offspring from the tank (send them to pond with other?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 26, 2018 Report Share Posted October 26, 2018 So long as you are breeding with only the yellowest fish you will reach your goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaSa Posted October 30, 2018 Report Share Posted October 30, 2018 On 10/26/2018 at 11:40 AM, Salty Sardine said: When you mention that they're half golden, you mean like they're tinted yellow rather than have discrete golden patch? I think I seen few handful in my pond colony (out of around 150~ fish) like that. Just wanna check if this proposed plan make sense or in need of some refinement or adjustment, or there's another more streamlined course of action: 1) catch the leopardfish from pond 2) separate the leopardfish by gender to prevent indiscriminate breeding 3) sort the most yellow fish out of each gender (return the rest to the pond, continue to keep them separated by gender?) 4) put those yellow fish in their own tank 5) wait for them to produce fry and grow 6) remove less-yellow offspring from the tank (send them to pond with other?) Not sure if that will work. Helmut Stallknecht wrote in a german book 1989 that the only way he could breed the golden Phalloceros was to keep a mixed population of golden and normal colored fish together and catch the golden ones out every now and then for sale. If he tried breeding them in a pure line, they were weak and became infertile after a couple of generations. Hope this helps? Cheers, JaSa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted October 30, 2018 Report Share Posted October 30, 2018 This sounds like the same situation as with the xanthochromic green and gold frogs so I am wondering if it is similar genetics. If only mine would get romantic we might learn a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 30, 2018 Report Share Posted October 30, 2018 It all depends on how the trait is passed om genetically and what other undesirable traits are passed on with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaSa Posted October 31, 2018 Report Share Posted October 31, 2018 Another source that suggests to keep them together: Click Personally I believe it is a recessive mutation that is responsible for this trait - which potentially carries some lethal factors so breeding it in a pure strain could lead to infertility and other problems. I don't think we have this mutation in NZ to be honest. This could mean that line breeding wont work - which probably explains why I haven't managed to breed a golden (yellow) strain since February 2013 when I first had a yellow-ish fish showing up in my tanks. 10 generation of back-crossing and selection later the quality hasn't improved and is far, far from what you see on pictures if you google "Phallorceros caudimaculatus reticulatus auratus" Cheers, JaSa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty Sardine Posted November 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 Oh that's unfortunate that breeding for yellow trait in leopardfish didn't worked out, but it's good hear someone's firsthand experience with breeding them. Were you able to breed for different traits with these fish such as for example, greater number of black spots for a melanistic-looking fish, or are leopardfish just immutable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaSa Posted November 1, 2018 Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 Haven't tried anything else with them than getting the fish as yellow as possible, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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