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Pterophyllum
01-21-2019, 06:38 PM
When it comes to selecting fish as potential breeders I find it really helps to look for negatives, "That ones got a misshapen fin", "I don't like the body shape of this one", and so on. I find taking this negative approach makes it easier to part with fish.
About a year ago I was sorting through some "Manu Nanus", my nickname for my silvers that have both Manacapuru and Rio Nanay fish in their their bloodline. There was one fish with a fair amount of glitter, but it was markedly smaller than most of it's siblings, so I took it to my shop and almost immediately regretted my decision. So instead of going on sale, it went into a display tank where he's been ever since. Over that time he's grown but is still very small for his age, but despite his size, or possibly because of it, he's a feisty and belligerent individual, not afraid to take on others much bigger than himself.
I took these photos of him a couple of days ago....


https://www.slickpic.com/pic/url/15758576/MjIxMTIxZjdmYzdjOGQ,20190121MTU3NTg1NzY3Zjhk/photo/1600
https://www.slickpic.com/pic/url/15758577/MjIxMTIxZjdmYzdjOGQ,20190121MTU3NTg1Nzc3ZDdj/photo/1600


...and have subsequently decided that with that much glitter, it's worth seeing if I can pair him up with a good sized female and hopefully get some better sized offspring which retain the colouration. So he got a reprieve and came home to a breeding tank.

Given his small size and aggressive attitude, I've named him Napoleon.

As an aside, has anyone else noticed a correlation between size (or at least growth rate) and guanine production? Paraibas for example, in my experience tend to be slower growing than their non paraiba siblings, and I get the impression that those with the best colouration tend to grow the slowest.

Mugwump
01-22-2019, 03:45 AM
..pretty angel....as for size....my Rio negro crosses produce some smaller females...but the males seem unaffected in size.....the females do seem to have more glitter coverage.....so I think you may be on to something....

..but the F2's have much bigger females in comparison, and very good glitter coverage is retained.....?.....the crosses were to Manacapuru's....

Pterophyllum
01-22-2019, 09:52 AM
my Rio negro crosses produce some smaller females

This is definitely a male, his breeding tube was down the other day.

Mugwump
03-10-2019, 03:51 PM
This is definitely a male, his breeding tube was down the other day.

...did he pair up?

Pterophyllum
03-11-2019, 01:32 AM
...did he pair up?

Sadly not yet. I tried him with a couple of different females and both just beat him up. I'll try him again when I have a suitable younger/smaller partner for him.

Mugwump
03-12-2019, 05:32 PM
..I've waited with some males too.....it can be karma fantastic when it just .....works....

Mugwump
04-01-2019, 06:19 AM
..any luck yet ?

Pterophyllum
04-02-2019, 12:02 PM
The problem is I have far too many potential breeders, and far too few tanks to put them in.
He has put on a bit of weight though, so I will try again soon.

Mugwump
05-27-2019, 10:23 AM
....how's it going?.....did he grow out yet?

Pterophyllum
07-09-2019, 08:36 AM
I've paired him with a different female and at least they're not fighting, but no eggs yet.

Mugwump
07-09-2019, 10:34 AM
..excellent!....good luck !

Pterophyllum
07-31-2019, 08:18 AM
No Dice,
they started fighting, have moved him to the tank in my dining room, hopefully he'll chose a mate, or vice versa, and once they've bonded I'l put them into a breeding tank.

Mugwump
08-03-2019, 04:20 AM
.....that's too bad....hopefully he'll pair up....I've had a couple bg that have never paired up....to siblings or an out cross mate.....and they don't even seem interested in doing so....

Pterophyllum
09-08-2019, 07:30 AM
Still no luck with this one yet. But I'm going to keep trying, this photo shows why....

I was trying to take some photos of a Bulgarian Green, but this photo really shows the glitter on this fellow lurking in the background

https://stored-edge.slickpic.com/MjIxMTIxZjdmYzdjOGQ,/20190908/MTYzNzc2OTFjY2Nk/p/1600/IMG_3946.jpg

Mugwump
09-08-2019, 11:08 AM
Boy that's one nice looking angel......both of them... ;-)

Phreeflow
09-13-2019, 01:16 AM
Agreed...very nice angels

Pterophyllum
09-17-2019, 03:49 PM
Here are some better shots of him...
https://stored-edge.slickpic.com/MjIxMTIxZjdmYzdjOGQ,/20190917/MTY0MDAyMTBjZmY3/p/1600/IMG_4172.jpg
https://stored-edge.slickpic.com/MjIxMTIxZjdmYzdjOGQ,/20190917/MTY0MDAyMTM3Zjdm/p/1600/IMG_4179.jpg
https://stored-edge.slickpic.com/MjIxMTIxZjdmYzdjOGQ,/20190917/MTY0MDAyMjNjNzhk/p/1600/IMG_4148.jpg

Mugwump
09-17-2019, 04:10 PM
Dayam that's one fine looking angel!.....great pics....thanks