What strains are these related too?

[RogueDiscus]

I have a nice neon sapphire male, which I assume is a variant of blue diamond, and a pair(?) of snow whites, all from Kenny/Forrest a while back. I understand the BD was a strain that was developed some time ago, and it can be crossed with other blues or turqs to produce scorpions, right? Can it be cross nicely with anything else? The pure white of the SW throws me. Where did that come from? I hope I have a pair since they are very nice, but just wondering; golden, albino(no red eye), ...?
Steve

[Ryan925]

I love the snow white. Kenny was already out when I got my last fish.

My next tank I'm already planning half SW and half something blue

[Rex82]

Snow White was originally bred from a brown from what I've always understood and being that it's a co-dominant gen it can be used to make red white and blue white fish

[Larry Bugg]

I have a nice neon sapphire male, which I assume is a variant of blue diamond, and a pair(?) of snow whites, all from Kenny/Forrest a while back. I understand the BD was a strain that was developed some time ago, and it can be crossed with other blues or turqs to produce scorpions, right? Can it be cross nicely with anything else? The pure white of the SW throws me. Where did that come from? I hope I have a pair since they are very nice, but just wondering; golden, albino(no red eye), ...?
Steve

Scorpions are a cross between a solid blue and snakeskins not turqs.

[bluelagoon]

The pupils in the eyes would need to be pink or red to be albino."no red eye" not albino.

[Rod]

I have a nice neon sapphire male, which I assume is a variant of blue diamond! I understand the BD was a strain that was developed some time ago! Can it be cross nicely with anything else?

Yes, neon sapphire is a variant of BD. The BD, strictly speaking, was not developed. It was found! It is a type of discus that is caused by gene mutation, which of course cannot be developed. Just luck. Once we have the mutation in place, then yes, other developments can take place to improve the phenotype (ie your neon sapphire) but these further developments make no difference to the integrity of the "bd gene".

There are quite a few strains incorporating the BD gene, and another 1 or more mutated genes. For example. Pigeon and Bd together is the basis for dark angel. There is the albino bd. Het's between snow white and BD, plus more. The essential aspect of the BD gene mutation is the pure pattern. It is solid patterned, with zero reticulations. Whereever you need purity of pattern, the BD's your basis and can be incorporated.

The pure white of the SW throws me. Where did that come from?
Steve

The SW is another mutation, found among a batch of brown discus. It is an interesting discus to work with as it is co-dominant and expresses a kind of blending of types in heterozygous form. Many fine looking discus have been bred using snow whites, but the mix tends to vary a lot, and its not unusual to get many ugly ones too.

Rod

[RogueDiscus]

Thanks Rod! As always, I appreciate your genetics explanations. This was exactly what I was looking for; I was guessing mutations for both!

Everybody likes pics. Here's a couple of the SW. The NS isn't as much to show off.

IMG_2108.jpgIMG_2121.jpg