picking breeders

[twocat]

Is it best to have a tank full of discus that are the same type or is it better to put discus with simular color in the same tank with the intent on breeding in the future?

[LizStreithorst]

It depends on what you want to produce. If you have a favorite strain put all of that strain together and pick the best 2. If you want variation, put compatable strains in the same tank and pick the best 2. Unless you want to hoe a long hard row, don't put PBs and non PBs together and pick the best 2.

[twocat]

I have german blues,scribbled tourquise,and tangerines that will be delivered this week. I currently have babies from your San Merah x Yellow Sunrise and some penang eruptions are any of these PB?
Is there some where to look to tell if a type of discus is a PB?

Is the reason for not breeding PB with PB discus is peppering issues?

[LizStreithorst]

Ask the guy you bought them from. People give Discus differet names but to me Tangerines and Yellow Sunrise sound like PBs. (I could be wrong on the Yellows, they could be brown based, but I doubt it).

The reason for not breeding PB to non PB Discus is indeed the peppering issue. If you do this you have to have a goal in mind and be willing to cull the heavily peppered fish. It's not a job for the faint of heart.

[twocat]

If you breed PB to PB is there less of a peppering issue compared to PB to non PB?

[Jhhnn]

From what I've read, Liz is correct wrt PB's- it's not good practice to cross them with non-PB varieties in general. (maybe snow whites? albinos? dunno)

14 bar snakeskins will always have a % of non-snakeskin 9 bar progeny. Some strains have greater natural variance w/ more throwbacks, etc. Some vendors, like Mike Beals, will occasionally offer snakeskins & turqs, for example, as mixed lots of siblings.

So far, buying a batch of siblings has worked well for me. They've usually been graded, so they'll mostly grow at the same rate, and since they've lived together their whole lives, they have a lot of dominance issues sorted out as well. If one or more is feeling poorly, it's easier to tell because there's a ready basis of comparison, too. And undesirable pairings just won't happen, either.

[LizStreithorst]

[QUOTE=twocat;e
Yes, there is much less, but it is still big issue. If you breed Pigeons you must be up to culling the peppered ones. Trust me or see for yourself. No matter how clean the parents are there will always be peppered ones in the spawn.

[twocat]

It sounds like I need to stay away from the PB.

[LizStreithorst]

There are some very nice Pigeons. I'm sure that it would be gratifying to produce good ones. But they do come with that with that one problem. It's the nature of the beast. Cary Strong produced some beautiful White Pigeons in his day.